I couldn't find anything in the forums that addressed this question, hopefully this is the right place to ask . . .

I have access to 102 unleaded at a local gas station, would running this provide the same general tuning opportunities as running a water/meth system?  I'm curious if something like the LMS Stage 5 tune would work with 102 instead of meth.

Thanks
Art

No one?

Well methanol is a lot higher than 102 octane.  E85 is 105.  I would say you would be on the edge and would need to be tuned properly via datalogging ect.  Contact one of the tuners of your choice and ask them directly. 

methanol is a lot higher octane, but you are squirting a relatively small amount compared to the gasoline.  The huge benefit of methanol over just 102 octane fuel is the cooling effects.  And if you are using water/meth it will suppress detonation quite well...which is similar to what a very high octane race fuel will do....thus allowing you to run more timing and squeeze more power out of the car.

You will benefit from both as long as you are tuned for it.  I would imagine with race fuel you will net 10% more power....and with water/meth you will net 10-15% more power. 

As far as the ability to run the stage 5 tune....you will need to email/call Livernois on that one.  I would think that the methanol tune would take advantage of the cooling effects of the methanol...whereas the 102 octane fuel won't supply that affect.  Will it hurt anything?  Maybe...depends on how close to the "edge" the tune actually is 

In addition to the cooling effects of meth, why limit yourself by tuning to 102 octane?  A 5 gallon tank of meth will last much longer than a tank of 102 fuel, especially under normal driving conditions.  I'm not sure where you live or what you use the vehicle for, but I know where I'm at - Id have a pretty limited range if I was tuned for 102.

IMHO tune for 91 or 93 (whatever is most common in your area) and then setup your meth system.

Check with Livernois.  They may be able to write a tune for you.  I asked them about 100 today and they thought it could be done. 

I'm running meth on my truck and I see a bit of cooling effect, but haven't seen anything in the logs that show anything substantial in change that seem to add power. Now I did just throw 5 gal of e85 in the tank and logged, the computer was adding anywhere from 3-6* of timing across the power band.

Thanks for the input guys.  I'll give the w/m kit a serious consideration after I'm comfortable with the tune on my yet-to-be-delivered Explorer Sport.  I've bought the tune/flasher, now just waiting for the vehicle to show up at the dealer, I'm like a kid at Christmas . . .

Art