@Triedaq , thanks for the good story. My co-worker before the stock thing drove a 10 year old Toyota, smaller than a Corolla, maybe a Tercel. I noticed this b/c he was fairly bulky and tall and it seemed unusual for him to be squeezed into such a small car when he’d pull into the parking lot at work. But the size discrepancy wasn’t bothering him at all. After he bought his Mercedes he didn’t seem very happy when he’d arrive at work. For one thing he’d circle the parking lot for 15 minutes looking for a place to park that was in the shade but not under any trees, and not near any other cars. I think he’d have been happier if he had followed your advice, trading up from the 10 year old Tercel to a new and somewhat bigger Toyota, maybe a Corolla or a Camry.
If premium fuel is required, you risk pre-detonation if you don’t use it. We aren’t talking about winning stoplight drags here, we’re talking about potentially damaging the engine.
If premium fuel is not required, it’s pretty much guaranteed the manufacturer isn’t going to claim it is. It’s not like they make more money when you pay more at the pump, and there are customers who will pass on any car that requires premium. It would be foolish to claim that premium is required when it isn’t.
Predetonation could be a problem, but don’t most cars now have a knock sensor or similar that changes the timing in case of predetonation, thus eliminating the problem, at the possible cost of engine peak power?
However with a turbo engine design the knock sensor method may not be fast enough to completely prevent detonation when the driver steps on the gas to accelerate quickly. Maybe that’s the reason the instructions are “premium required” for this vehicle.
They do, but not all cars are capable of retarding the timing enough to eliminate the predetonation if you use the wrong fuel in them.
Maybe I should write in. I’m a frugal engineer, but nothing like my wife. When she walks in the room, ALL the dead presidents run screaming.
I wish that I could say that!
Because I knew that I would be getting rid of my Charger w/in a few months, I replaced its badly-worn tires with “Falls” brand tires from a local tire store. Even though they were inflated properly, taking a turn at any speed over 20 mph resulted in incredible squealing from those tires. People used to turn and look because they must have thought that a vehicle was careening out of control, but it was just me, driving and cornering at a safe and sane speed with my crappy off-brand tires.
Never again!
Around here, Costco only sells Michelin, BF Goodrich and Firestone/Bridgestone
I’m assuming you meant your co-worker bought cheapo Firestones . . . ?
Firestones at Costco?
In my neck of the woods, they only sell Michelin, BF Goodys, and Bridgestone.
I thought Bridgestone and Firestone were part of the same company?
They are, but at least at my Costco, they only have the Bridgestone-branded tires.
I can say that because I just got tires today. Used the road hazard warranty at 8/32nds. I was amused that they refused to put the new tires on the front axle. “well see it’s dangerous because…” Erm. You rotate them when they’re 2/32nds apart. And they’re 2/32nds apart now. Derp.
I was less amused that they put on the ticket notes a line about “member says he may rotate the tires himself, and was strongly advised against it.”
This is not a new practice . It is rare that a tire shop will put 2 only new tires on the front of any vehicle . And putting the ’ customer may rotate tires themselves ’ is just good business practice.
I know. It makes sense ordinarily because most people replacing 2 tires have the other two tires worn down significantly from new. I don’t, because they’re relatively new tires to begin with. I just ran over some L brackets and destroyed the rear ones. The old tires are at 8/32 and the new tires are at 10/32. i.e., they’re right where they need to be for the new tires to be on the front axle. 
Long time ago, but it was the lowest price tire brand they offered. I think it was Bridgestone rather than Firestone.
Long ago Costco sold Kirkland brand tires. They were low cost and not particularly good.
Yes, that is the case in my area also.
They sell mostly Michelins, some BF Goodys, and some Bridgestones, but no Firestones.
Is Firestone considered to be inferior to Bridgestone?
For the record, I don’t consider either to be stellar
Firestone are the less expensive than corresponding Bridgestone tires. Blizzaks are Bridgestone and Winterforce are Firesone winter tires. It looks like Firestiones are lesser tires.
After a “bigly” negative experience with Bridgestone Re-92 tires, I would have to be paid a significant amount of money to buy that brand again. And, after my aunt’s disastrous experience with OEM Firestone 500s–as well as the replacement Firestone 721s–you couldn’t pay me to put Firestone tires on my car.
I’ve had very good experiences with Firestone Destination LE and LE2 tires. The OEM tires and 2 replacement sets, averaging 50K a set with no problems. One set of Winterforce tires - great traction, low price, really, really noisy!
Never had Bridgestones.