Abstract A blend of low-octane (light and heavy naphtha) and high-octane (reformate) distillate fuels has been proposed for powering gasoline compression ignition (GCI) engines. The formulated ‘GCI blend’ has a research octane number (RON) of 77 and a motor octane number (MON) of 73.9. In addition to ∼64 mole% paraffinic components, the blend contains ∼20 mole% aromatics and ∼15 mole% naphthenes. Experimental and modeling studies have been conducted in this work to assess autoignition characteristics of the GCI blend. Ignition delay times were measured in a shock tube and a rapid comparison machine over wide ranges of experimental conditions (20 and 40 bar, 640–1175 K, ϕ = 0.5, 1 and 2). Reactivity of the GCI blend was compared with experimental measurements of two surrogates: a multi-component surrogate (MCS) and a two-component primary reference fuel (PRF 77). Both surrogates capture the reactivity of the fuel quite well at high and intermediate temperatures. The MCS does a better job of emulating the fuel reactivity at low temperatures, where PRF 77 is more reactive than the GCI blend. Ignition delay times of the two surrogates are also simulated using detailed chemical kinetic models, and the simulations agree well with the experimental findings. The results of rate-of-production analyses show important role of cycloalkane chemistry in the overall autoignition behavior of the fuel at low temperatures.