What is the Point on Using Premium Gas?

[curling]

I mean what is the point? It cost more does it really make your car run that much better?

And does it really increase fuel economy to offset the increase in price per gallon? Anybody know?

I mean I put premium in my bikes because they don't use much gas in the first place and to increase hp for high speed freeway wheelies. But I don't put in premium in my truck or my boat because it costs too much and i think it is a waste a money for those. Am I right?

 

[CENTURION44]

it burns allot cleaner but for regular cars...it serves no purpose...the displacement on stock engines are made for regular gas....when you spend over 75K$ on a car is only when id use premium and ofcourse in a motorcycle....

 

[patsfan1379]

word is it combusts cleaner keeping the cylinder walls in better shape etc. etc.

??

 

[Lestat]

i use it in my car.. i drive a sports coupe, but not an expensive one. I figured cleaner is better.

 

[tiger88]

high prefromacne engines reqiure higher octane .. plus 93 or such has lower levels of sulfur in it (sulfur known to ruin high end euro v8s) Ie the nikasil problems

if your car or bike says put 93 in it, then do it.

 

[Dunk]

the computer in my car is modified for a 93 octane.

eyes gots to.

 

[SoKlueles]

for some reason i can not put the 86 gas in my car....it wont run right and it sputters......i HAVE to put the medium grade in it
and right now, it sucks cuz its a 26 gallon tank

 

[Lestat]

for some reason i can not put the 86 gas in my car....it wont run right and it sputters......i HAVE to put the medium grade in it
and right now, it sucks cuz its a 26 gallon tank

how's it going soklue?

 

[SoKlueles]

how's it going soklue?

ok

 

[Dunk]

for some reason i can not put the 86 gas in my car....it wont run right and it sputters......i HAVE to put the medium grade in it
and right now, it sucks cuz its a 26 gallon tank

if i had to guess ide say you drive a tractor?

 

[SoKlueles]

if i had to guess ide say you drive a tractor?

i drive a huge ass van
lol

 

[deltreefitness]

Some vehicles are recommend to NOT use premium. You should use the grade that is instructed by the manufacture. Doing otherwise will cause your vehicle to not run at it's optimum and may cause damage your engine over time. Check the manual.

 

[Tset]

By using a lower octane than what is required your engine will get detonation/knock which pretty much means it will run like crap, and run the risk of blowing it up. The higher the compression or boost (in turbo and supercharged cars) the higher the octane needed.

If you are at a higher altitude you can usually get away with running a lower octane due to thinner air.

 

[needtogetaas]

it costs me 21 dollers to fill my tank with reg.I dont evev wont to see what it costs with 93,97,98.

 

[SoKlueles]

i bet right now it would cost a good 60 bucks to fill my van up.......sigh
i wish i had a moped

 

[Y_lifter]

Rtfm

 

[Dial_tone]

I saw on tv that AAA says it makes no difference. Unless car requires it you gain nothing from it.

 

[Razorguns]

If your engine is specifically designed to take advantage of higher-octane gas - then use it.

If not -- don't waste the money and use 87.

My last Twin Turbo only used premium gas.

 

[wootoom]

i run 10 litres of 101 octane and the rest 93 in my vette

 

[JKerry]

if you run a higher octane than is necessary in an engine not designed for the high octane you'll just cause carbon build up that will decrease engine performance. if your manual says run 87, don't run anything more as it would be detrimental. i drive a '03 toyota mr2 spyder and my manual says 87.... so i use it. with higher compression higher octane levels are needed as someone said before which will lead to premature detonation.

 

[Deterass]

You only need it on high performance engines

 

[bran987]

is a v6 287 HP high performance or regular?

 

[Deterass]

is a v6 287 HP high performance or regular?

in what?

 

[bran987]

in what?

just a stock infiniti g35 coupe

 

[Deterass]

just a stock infiniti g35 coupe

i doubt it,most cars are tuned from the factory for 87 octane gasoline.

 

[Delinquent]

Like others have said, if it says 87 in the manual, then use 87. There are some exceptions like my 93 stang will run like shit with 87 gas. You'll start hearing the rods knocking like crazy. Early 90's GT's seem to only run well on 91.

Then you have guys who like to put superchargers in cars. This type of heavy modification usually requires the computer to be flashed to utilize the higher octane level.

 

[gonelifting]

Damn, now you tell me this?

I've been using the high stuff for 10 years in my Honda Accord, if I stopped and stepped down now, would it be detrimental? Maybe I won't risk it...

How about a 2001 (240HP) Nissan Pathfinder? Should I step it sown to the 87? Don't say "read the manual".

 

[Dunk]

I've been using the high stuff for 10 years in my Honda Accord,

just to be safe read the users manual you get from the factory with the car.

 

[Delinquent]

Damn, now you tell me this?

I've been using the high stuff for 10 years in my Honda Accord, if I stopped and stepped down now, would it be detrimental? Maybe I won't risk it...

How about a 2001 (240HP) Nissan Pathfinder? Should I step it sown to the 87? Don't say "read the manual".

Neither vehicle needs 91 octane. I've never heard of it being detrimental to back down to a lower grade. Just do it once and see if you notice anything different like rods knocking but I highly doubt it. The pathfinder definitely doesn't need it though

Edit: oh yea, downgrading octane isn't like downgrading from fully synthetic oil to regular oil which will cause probs. Just wanted to add that in just in case anyone got confused