[ihc] Octane selection

[David Bongo <dbongo@xxxxxxxxx>]

I heard something at work on Friday, and I wanted to throw it out here
for you guys to comment on.

I got some coupons for "Shell V-Power Premium Gasoline" so, even
though my effective price per gallon would be higher, I decided to try
it.  The truck was dieseling just a bit, and I'd been told running a
few tanks of higher octane gas could help clear it out, so I tried it.
 The net effect was 2-fold: first, the dieseling stopped; second, my
fuel economy on that tank went from about 7.5mpg to 8.5mpg.  Not a bad
increase.  7.5 has struck me as slightly low, even for mail delivery,
but within the bounds.  (I've been told that 10.9 for my fuel injected
242cid Cherokee with headers and an O/D tranny was phenonomal.  So I
figured 7.5 for a 258cid carburated  non-header equipped Scout II with
no O/D wasn't terribly bad.)

Anyways, the station manager (a former Scout guy) told me that using
the premium gas would help preserve the exhaust system, among other
things.  Any truth to this?  Considering I'm (apparently) showing a
13% increase on economy, and with gas costing almost $2/gallon, it's
probably worth it on that front alone.  Time will tell if that was
simply a fluke reading or something legit.

On an off-topic note, can anybody give me any advice on home
electricity generators?  We lost power for almost 17 hours due to
Hurricane Charley.  Fortunately, the refrigerated and frozen foods
held up OK for the most part, but we're finally considering taking the
plunge.  Propane or gasoline are options, and it's not like we need
full power to the whole house.  Just refrigerators, mainly.  A few
lights, too.  A/C, TVs, hot water heater, etc would be nice, but not
really required.

Thanks in advance.

Dave