The New York Times reports:
Last week, Gunnar Heinrich, who runs the site Automobile De Luxe, wrote that a 2010 Cadillac SRX Turbo he had borrowed from General Motors for a review suffered serious internal damage during a test drive, and he had to be plucked from the side of a mountain road.
According to Mr. Heinrich’s article, using the wrong fuel was partially to blame:
The V-6 in the Cadillac requires a minimum 91 Octane. Lab tests had shown that the SRX was running on regular, which meant that yours had inadvertently fed the car 88 Octane gas and not the factory mandated premium.
At some point during travel, between 2,000-2,500 r.p.m. — or normal highway cruising speed — the engine’s management system had adjusted the air fuel mixture to work too lean causing a retarded spark –- but crucially –- it allowed for a simultaneous turbo boost, which led to a catastrophic pressure build up in the cylinder chambers.
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