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Originally Posted by alan_in_tempe
The extraordinary ability of one's mind to perceive the expected in the face of the opposite is quite unbelievable, yet quite real. It is way too easy to be mistaken about small differences in power measured subjectively (how it feels). The only way one should be confident that a perception of small differences in horsepower as a function of octane is tied more to reality than to expectation would be to be completely ignorant of which octane the car had when doing the test (say, by let someone else fill it for you, but not tell you which fuel was used, randomly switching between tanks).
On the other hand, if you have objective measurements of the performance (for example, controlled 0-60 times that are repeatable (and controlled for weather, SOC, etc.), then you would not need to be blind to the kind of gas being tested to reasonably conclude there is or is not a performance difference.
-- Alan
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Alan,
Going into detail re. the difference between subjectivity and objectivity makes you look very smart. However, there are things in life that, despite all the empirical evidence, just seem to do what it is not suppose to. If you don't believe me, try it, and if there doesn't seem to be any difference you can go back to your "faithless" existence. I'm just reporting what I (subjectively felt).
Steve