I have a 1995 Dodge caravan 3.0 with 158K miles on it (not all mine). This summer, I have tried premium (93 octane) because the car had no power to speak of and was only getting 18-19 mpg. Since changing to premium (8 weeks and 3500 miles ago, I have averaged 23 mpg (27 high, 21 low) and have saved about $60 assuming 19 mpg on regular - this when premium costs between 20 & 30 cents more per gallon than regular where I am. I have not changed my driving habits (that I know of). Additionally, the engine accelerates smoothly now (instead of hesitating at every upshift) and can maintain 70 mph at about 2200 rpm (it was needing 3000 rpm on regular).
I’m sold…I have had cars in the past where premium made no difference at all and have always thought that there was no difference…
you bought a performance vehicle why chince on the fuel to run it? And yes, you will most likely see damage done to the turbo(though more likely the engine than the TC) if you go regular
If the car pings, go to a higher octane. If you notice a reduction in power go to a higher octane.
A QUESTION WAS ASKED ABOUT
Top Tier Detergent Gasoline
IS THIS JUST A ANOTHER BOONDOGGLE BY A COUPLE OF OIL COMPANIES. MY CARS HAVE BEEN DOING FINE USING ARCO AND COSTCO GAS.
I recall when I was told do NOT USE SHELL. You could even see the yellown on your plugs.
You think the debate about Regular vs Premium is bad here, its downright bloody on my Bass Boat forum! The vast majority of outboards 150 HP and up are designed to use Regular, but you can’t convince some people! I guess if a person will pay $15 for a single bass lure he/she doesn’t mind paying an extra 20 cents a gallon - that’s only $8 to $10 for the average complete fill up.
I am on my 2nd Nissan Maxima, both recommended octane of 91 or better. I used both regular and premium in the first and saw a decrease in power & gas mileage and hesitation with regular. I tried a mix of premium and mid-grade with the current vehicle and saw the same thing. The loss in gas mileage(~10-15%)is enough to offset the additional cost of premium over regular. Experience triumphs over discussion and postulates.
OK. I have to agree with using premium in a car built for it. The additional cost per gallon more than outweighs the poor mileage! Have that problem with the car I usually drive now…and Tom & Ray will love this…and my ole Peugeot! And since it is a Peugeot, if you put regular (87) in the tank the last thing you want to do is attempt to pull out quickly into traffic! Wheeze, gag, cough and then limp into the lane.
I had a 1990 Audi 200 Turbo. Ran great on regular gas, milage was the same. Sold it at 280,000 miles and was running great.
However my 2000 Audi A6 2.8 (V6 no turbo) had horrible acceleration with regular. Great with premium. Milage basically the same. So if you don’t have a lead foot, regular was fine, But with high speed city merges with short ramps, I bought only premium.
Now my 2006 VW Jetta TDI burns Waste Vegtable Oil. Gets maybe 2-4 MPG less, but performance is the same. 25,000 miles burning WVO this year alone. negates my carbon footprint.
Whenever you start driving a new car, calculate the miles per dollar for regular gas vs premium gas. For every single car I’ve ever driven, I get more miles per gallon for regular gas, with one exception: I used to drive a 98 Kia Sephia, and it actually got more miles per dollar when I used premium gas.
How to calculate miles per dollar? Simple. Whenever you fill up your tank, reset the trip odometer. The next time you fill up your tank, divide the current miles by the total price for the fill-up. Do it a couple of times with regular gas and a couple of times with premium gas.
The article makes it clear that premium won’t help in a car designed for regular, but the reverse issue isn’t mentioned:
Will premium damage a car designed to run on regular?
In other words:
Will it help? No.
Will it hurt? I don’t know, the article doesn’t say.
A car never needs higher octane than it is rated for. It cannot run well if the car manufacturer says it has to run on higher octane and regular is used. If it is recommended, higher octane should still be used. The car was purchased for the power advantage available with the premium gas. If someone buys a Porsche, why would they want it to run like a Rabbit?
It can make a difference in other ways. My 97 Subaru Legacy is rated for regular and that’s what I use. But where I get it can make a difference. The first few months I had it, I was buying gas from a cheapo outlet and after a few days I was driven completely crazy by an amazing exhaust resonance at about 2500 rpm. This engine spends a lot of its time around that speed. I was ready to sell it off, it was that bad. But when I tried a different brand of regular the resonance went away completely.
I think what happened was that the off-brand stuff was just a hair under the octane rating it was supposed to be so the computer retarded the spark the way it was supposed to, and that set up this weird resonance.
The moral of the story for me is that there are lots of things to pay attention to besides just whether it pings or not.
I have a 92 Toyota Camry V6. The manual recommends 89 gas. I’ve tried it with 87 and it is just… sluggish. Might be ok for city driving but I don’t feel as safe with the less-responsive acceleration on the highway (especially here in Massachusetts!)
Have any of you ever tested the octane of the fuel you buy? Do you assume those yellow stickers are Gospel? Do you think some consumer watch-dog group keeps an eye on the oil companies and unbranded marketers and tests the octane to make sure it meets the posted level? The FACT is, NOBODY checks octane claims. Testing for octane compliance is a long and arduous process and few labs can do it.
Since most cars run fine on regular fuel, I suspect most cars ARE running on regular fuel no matter what the sticker on the pump said…
Today, much of our gasoline is imported from many different sources. It is bought and sold on global commodities markets, transported by ship and pipeline and marketed under many different names. Hoping you got the octane you paid for is a BIG leap of faith, especially when your cars engine can not tell the difference…
It’s not true that all major gasoline retailers sell Tier 2 gasoline with a high level of detergent additives. Exxon/Mobil is missing from the list, as are other big names in the oil business. See http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html for list of brands that currently sell Tier 2 gas.
A bunch of years ago I owned a Mazda 323. Regular was specified. I remember it pinging slightly on a long trip, so started making every third fillup a premium fillup.
Took care of the pinging, which did help acceleration slightly. MPG not materially different.
I now drive a 1998 Camry. Regular specified, has never pinged. Acceleration is fine, have never bothered with premium.