***Hi. I am Wilford Brimley. If you’re like me and millions of other American you’ve subscribed via RSS***

When pulling up to the petrol station most people look at the variety of gasoline available in a “good, better, or best” sort of light. But as you know people are ignorant and always think that bigger is better. So what do those numbers on the pump actually mean? Why should you spend twenty cents more a gallon on 91 “Supreme King Blend” over 85 “Regular Serf Blend”?

Well the answer is you shouldn’t. Contrary to popular belief those numbers, or octane levels, have little to do with how powerful the gas explodes in your engine. Instead, the octane dictates how much the fuel can be compressed in your engine before igniting. Every time your engine takes in fuel, the piston will compress it before igniting. Most car have around an 8 to 1 compression ratio in their engines which would require a regular 85 blend of gasoline. High compression engines often have a compression ratio of around 11 to one, giving the need for a fuel that can resist ignition till a higher compression is achieved.

So what does that mean? To put it simply- and very counter intuitively- the lower the octane level, the more likely the gas is to explode. In fact, if you put a supreme blend in a car that was made to run on regular blend odds are you’ll get worse gas mileage and experience a noticeable decrease in power.

The solution to this is to simply gas up with the fuel that your car recommends. Wow…that’s easy. Now watch this video.

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