Interesting discussion regarding octane levels. With the one huge caveat that the bad tanks of gas that I've suffered were both 93 octane, I have not sensed any difference in actual performance from 93 to 97. Meaning that "good 93" seems to perform no worse than "good 97". So Lao Jia Huo's Canadian buddy's comments do ring true. Perhaps this is why these grades were called "regular" and "premium" back in the day (in the US, where I'm from, anyway). Is it possible that because it costs more, the 97 octane fuel gets a bit better filtering and handling during refining, while 93 is refined to a lesser level of purity?

One belated suggestion regarding these stalling/backfire/ignition issues with the JH600: Upgrade to an Iridium plug. The Jialing stock plug is seriously inferior, and you'll get a palpable improvement in ignition with a better plug. Next step for me: An Iridium cable.

Finally, any word from our friends in Chongqing about the ECU firmware upgrade? They've only ever told me "October", which now is just a couple days away. Anyone have it yet? Or heard of plans to release it? Might be worth a call to Lao Zhou or Tang Wei...

cheers