I want to throw some 110 octane racing fuel in my near stock 94Z is this going to burn up my valves?? My dad is telling me it will and told me "u better get a price on a valve job before you put that in." Someone prove him wrong (or right)

 

I'm not quite sure why you think you need to run 110 octane. Most likely this is leaded gas anyways which is going to eat up your catalytic converter afaik...

And as far as the valve issue goes... I'm not sure how our stock valves react to leaded gas, so he may be right.

 

Completely untrue. Octane has absolutley nothing to do with the energy content of the fuel, or the burn speed of the mixture. It defines the chemical compounds that form when the fuel is exposed to high temperatures and pressures. Some compounds that form under these conditions (end gasses) will auto-ignite. That is a low octane fuel. A high octane fuel will simply not form end gasses that auto-ignite. You will not burn valves based on fuel octane.

You do need to consider a couple of things though...

First, 110 octane is undoubtedly LEADED fuel, and will destroy your catalytic convertor(s) (assuming you still have them) and your O2 sensors..... so save up money for replacing those.

Second, "racing" fuels have a wide range of specific gravity. A fuel injection system is essentially "volume based". So if you select a racing fuel that has a relatively low specific gravity relative to the pump gas the engine was tuned for, you can get into a situation where things lean out a little. For an N/A setup, its usually no big deal, but for people running nitrous, for example, its advisable to select a racing fuel with a high specific gravity.

There is no benefit to running 110 octane for the average engine. If you have a blower or a heavy shot of juice, you need it to control detonation, while keeping as much spark advance as you can. But for an N/A engine, at less than maybe 12:1 CR, you are wasting your money.

EDIT
Lead will not burn valves. Lead actually coats the seating surfaces of the valve, and cushions the impact of closing. When they took lead out of gasoline, they had to switch to hardened valve seats in the head to make up for the missing lead coating.

 

I put almost 5 gals of 110 in my car one time at the track, I forgot to get gas before I got there. I have never had a valve problem, funny thing was that was the night I ran my old best 1/4 mile time. the only thing it would have a problem with would be catalitic converters, as far as I know.
So, it has been over 10,000 mile since I had 5 gals of 110 with nothing else in the tank to dilute it, and have not seen a valve problem.
But, not too sure if it may cause a problem with extended use. I hope this helps!

 

Thanks for the info Fred

 

Thanks guys for the input. Let me correct myself, this fuel is 100 octane if that makes any difference. Oh yea, and it ran me $359.9 a gallon. 4.2 gallons did it. Thanks again.

 

Ironicly, I've heard the very same thing from different mechanics. (including some European ones) I bet there has to be something or otherwise why would all of them say the same thing?
On the other hand, I've seen tons of people on this board running high octane without any problems. As already mentioned, you will be fine as long as you don't run leaded gas.