In this instance, I learned it by carefully reading the owner’s manual. I had read that the car ran on “regular” gas, which I had forgotten in 1974 meant leaded gas, not any particular octane! That car had a little “octane selector” knob on the distributor that the previous owner had dialed back to make it run on 87, but with a tank of 91 in it and the knob back to where it belonged the thing ended up having a lot more pickup and getting better mileage.
I don’t know what you guys are talking about me hijacking, I was just asking a damn question. Take it easy people. No need to get angry. All i am saying all the new cars are recommending premium fuel. I keep hearing different things. Some people say it doesn’t matter if you use regular or premium and some people say there is a difference. I’m just confuse who is right or who is wrong. I plan on getting a 05 or 06 350Z probably in the next year or so, and I want to know if there is a need to use premium or not.
I live in sacramento, CA and there is a 76 gas station here that sells 100 octane fuel. Would that make any difference? Not for my saturn.
freakazoid
Hijacking a thread is when someone interposes their own question into an existing thread, rather than responding to the original question, and that is what you did. This is not a crime, obviously, but it makes the succeeding responses very confusing, as you can see from Mike thinking that I was talking about the FJ Cruiser, rather than about your Saturn.
When you have a question–even if it is similar to the topic in an existing thread–you should begin a new thread. This is much less confusing for all concerned.
Oh ok. Will do next time. Thanks for the heads up
I see. The reason I was asking because like I said earlier, I am thinking about getting a 350Z and I know it will suggest to use premium fuel. I have a cousin who has the a 350Z and he puts premium in his car. I’m just trying to gather info weather or not to use premium if I don’t need to.
All i am saying all the new cars are recommending premium fuel.
All?? Are you sure about that? Where did you get that information?
Some people say it doesn’t matter if you use regular or premium and some people say there is a difference.
Yes there is a difference. It does matter even if the only difference is the price you pay.
Let’s start with one fact. Octane is NOT a measure of power or quality of gasoline. It is a measure of how fast it burns. Faster is not by nature better or worse.
Cars (engines) have different needs related to octane. They come in three flavors.
High Octane Only: These cars need high octane to prevent engine damage. They are generally high performance engines.
High Octane Recommended: These are more common today and are generally high performance, but if they detect lower octane fuel they adjust their timing lowering power and mileage in the process, but protecting the engine. I believe most (maybe all) high performance cars today fall into this group.
Regular octane recommended: These care are designed to run BEST with regular octane and using high octane will cost you more and under some situations (not often) can cause damage to the engine when running high octane. Using high octane on these engines will not increase mileage or power.
I’ve used regular gas for 3-1/2 years and 80K miles, kept careful records, and have never been able to tell the difference with mileage when I’ve used premium instead. Not even one tenth of an MPG, for the exact same kind of terrain, road, load, etc. Never got a knock or a ping.
When I go off road, or on a major trip over the mountains, or haul a load, I’ll often put a tank of premium in. Don’t know if it helps, but I feel better.
I’ll let you know in another 100K miles if the carbon buildup is worse…
If you get a 350Z, then treat it right and buy the gas it needs.
(But, note: When I had a 300ZX, it said in the owner’s manual to use regular…)
Now, back to FJ Cruisin…