Gas, regular vs premium

Maintenance/Repairs
,
1

Will I ruin the engine or in any way harm the running of the car by using regular gas in an suv that calls for premium?

2

Is this the turbo 4? If so, I would always use premium. What does your manual say?

3

This is a turbo charged vehicle. Why would you buy a performance vehicle and then try to skimp on the fuel it needs to run?
If you want a fun to drive SUV that uses regular, look at the 2010 Mazda CX-7 sport models. It has the 2.5L I-4 that runs on 87 octane.

4

The 2.0L turbo engine has a recommendation of premium for maximum performance. You can use regular but will get degraded performance that may or may not translate into a loss of MPG.

5

You will save less than $100 for each 10,000 miles driven. And that assumes you get the same gas mileage. If regular mileage is 1.5 MPG less with regular vs. premium, you actually lose money.

6

Check your owner’s manual:

  • Requires premium: damage may result if you don’t use it.
  • Recommends premium: No damage, but you will get lower performance and likely reduced mileage. It might even cost you more to use regular.
7

What does the Owner’s Manual say, recommended or required?

Recommended - regular will work with a decrease in performance/mileage.

Required - Premium only.

Ed B.

8

Better not mess around with a VW. Use premium.

9

Normally I would say that it all depends because there is no one size fits all with this issue. However, on a turbocharged vehicle and if you’re not mechanically astute then I would say stick to the premium fuel or you will risk engine damage.

Here’s what could happen…

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10

As others have noted, using regular in a vehicle that calls for premium may not be saving you as much as you realize.

The “detuning” your engine does to attempt to avoid detonation damage from regular will also likely reduce your MPG.

For example, suppose regular costs $2.80/gal and premium costs $3.00/gal, and your vehicle gets 20 MPG with premium. Then, if switching to regular drops your mileage more than 1.4 MPG, you will be spending more money to fill up with regular than premium. This is not unheard of.

11

Thank you all for you advice, suggestions and input