I recently acquired my best friends 2001 Nissan Sentra SE 2.0L 4 cylinder 16 valve. Pretty nice little car. Only has 80k on it and kept the vehicles rust treatment up the entire time he owned it. it’s literally in mint condition. Regarding gasoline. He has been on me about using 87 octane in it. He is sort of a fanatic when it comes to this and only ever used 93 octane at BP or Mobile and while it’s not a super-fast car, it’s a sporty little engine and he states that because he liked to drive it hard on occasion he would never use less than 93 oct because he thinks using 87 would have damaged the motor. I on the other hand do not buy into the idea of this. Owner’s manual calls for 87 oct (or higher). As such, using higher octane will not hurt the motor as stated in the manual. But does he have a point in regard to driving the vehicle harder and keeping the higher octane in it?
Being shunned by my friend for using 87 octane
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Unlikely, unless the timing has been advanced or it's been modded otherwise. I'm sure Nissan thoroughly tested it with 87 to see if it would damage it. Does the knock sensor kick in often when driven hard or something?
He wasted money buying 93 octane for it. A Sentra is an economy car. An economy car by definition is a car that is cheap to purchase and cheap to own/maintain. As such, just about all economy cars are designed to run on cheap 87 octane gas. It wouldn't make much sense to design and build a car that is supposed to be cheap to own and then require it to use expensive 93 octane.
I'm sure Nissan knows that some people will floor the gas and drive their cars hard sometimes. They took that into account and they STILL recommend 87 octane.
I'm sure Nissan knows that some people will floor the gas and drive their cars hard sometimes. They took that into account and they STILL recommend 87 octane.
Lots of Nissans like my Fronty call for hi-test but will run just fine on 87! HOWEVER, I keep long term records and have found that it is CHEAPER in terms of $/mile to use hi-test (93 octane) as there is a real difference in gas mileage. With 93 on a trip I average about 24 mpg while with 87, it goes down to aboui 19mpg. That is roughly a 20% decrease in miles for a 10% premium in price per gallon. You need to run for about two months or more on 87 and then do the same on 93. See what the difference is. Knock detectors will retard the timing to allow the use of 87 but this will cost engine efficiency. My truck downshifts frequently on 87 octane which also hurts the mileage.
How are you planning to drive the car?
If you drive as hard as your friend did, you may now want to experiment with different octanes and check MPG. If not, 87 should be fine.
Do a battery disconnect and let the ECM learn your driving style.
I drive my '04 Altima like a human being most of the time but, when I jump on the gas now & again, she performs nicely on 87 octane gas. I have tried higher octanes in my engine but, haven't noticed anything special except lower MPG especially when(even when) driving normaly.
If you drive as hard as your friend did, you may now want to experiment with different octanes and check MPG. If not, 87 should be fine.
Do a battery disconnect and let the ECM learn your driving style.
I drive my '04 Altima like a human being most of the time but, when I jump on the gas now & again, she performs nicely on 87 octane gas. I have tried higher octanes in my engine but, haven't noticed anything special except lower MPG especially when(even when) driving normaly.
All he did is throw money out the window. If its designed to run on 87, it wont add any benefit whatsoever to put in a higher octane. Driving a car hard on occassion doesnt do anything besides use up more fuel.. Maybe your friend should educate himself on what octane is. If your car needs 93 octane it would say it in the manual.
Originally Posted By: Boomer
Lots of Nissans like my Fronty call for hi-test but will run just fine on 87! HOWEVER, I keep long term records and have found that it is CHEAPER in terms of $/mile to use hi-test (93 octane) as there is a real difference in gas mileage. With 93 on a trip I average about 24 mpg while with 87, it goes down to aboui 19mpg. That is roughly a 20% decrease in miles for a 10% premium in price per gallon. You need to run for about two months or more on 87 and then do the same on 93. See what the difference is. Knock detectors will retard the timing to allow the use of 87 but this will cost engine efficiency. My truck downshifts frequently on 87 octane which also hurts the mileage.
His car does not call for high octane fuel, so its not the same situation as you. I have used high octane and regular and the difference was insignificant. He wont benefit from 20% better mileage by using it.
Lots of Nissans like my Fronty call for hi-test but will run just fine on 87! HOWEVER, I keep long term records and have found that it is CHEAPER in terms of $/mile to use hi-test (93 octane) as there is a real difference in gas mileage. With 93 on a trip I average about 24 mpg while with 87, it goes down to aboui 19mpg. That is roughly a 20% decrease in miles for a 10% premium in price per gallon. You need to run for about two months or more on 87 and then do the same on 93. See what the difference is. Knock detectors will retard the timing to allow the use of 87 but this will cost engine efficiency. My truck downshifts frequently on 87 octane which also hurts the mileage.
His car does not call for high octane fuel, so its not the same situation as you. I have used high octane and regular and the difference was insignificant. He wont benefit from 20% better mileage by using it.
Run two tanks of 87 and two tanks of 93. Some high compression or turbo engines do run better on premium than regular. Others do not care. My turbo Cruze cares, but our Fit doesn't.
Originally Posted By: Mark72
I recently acquired my best friends 2001 Nissan Sentra SE 2.0L 4 cylinder 16 valve. Pretty nice little car. Only has 80k on it and kept the vehicles rust treatment up the entire time he owned it. it’s literally in mint condition. Regarding gasoline. He has been on me about using 87 octane in it. He is sort of a fanatic when it comes to this and only ever used 93 octane at BP or Mobile and while it’s not a super-fast car, it’s a sporty little engine and he states that because he liked to drive it hard on occasion he would never use less than 93 oct because he thinks using 87 would have damaged the motor. I on the other hand do not buy into the idea of this. Owner’s manual calls for 87 oct (or higher). As such, using higher octane will not hurt the motor as stated in the manual. But does he have a point in regard to driving the vehicle harder and keeping the higher octane in it?
Run what the manual says. Your friend probably imagined it was a higher performance car than it really was.
It can say "required" or "recommended" for high octane if it even mentions it.
I recently acquired my best friends 2001 Nissan Sentra SE 2.0L 4 cylinder 16 valve. Pretty nice little car. Only has 80k on it and kept the vehicles rust treatment up the entire time he owned it. it’s literally in mint condition. Regarding gasoline. He has been on me about using 87 octane in it. He is sort of a fanatic when it comes to this and only ever used 93 octane at BP or Mobile and while it’s not a super-fast car, it’s a sporty little engine and he states that because he liked to drive it hard on occasion he would never use less than 93 oct because he thinks using 87 would have damaged the motor. I on the other hand do not buy into the idea of this. Owner’s manual calls for 87 oct (or higher). As such, using higher octane will not hurt the motor as stated in the manual. But does he have a point in regard to driving the vehicle harder and keeping the higher octane in it?
Run what the manual says. Your friend probably imagined it was a higher performance car than it really was.
It can say "required" or "recommended" for high octane if it even mentions it.
That sentra has the lesser common SR20 motor for that year. It used to be on the "hi-performance" models like my older SE-R. While they can run on 87 octance, i've always ran it at 93. But i've advanced the timing and had other mods.
Most cars will simply just retard the timing if you run lower then expected octane. My maxima runs 93 octane because at Sam's club its cheaper then normal 87 at other places. Once in a while my maxima had some knock using 87. It does say RECOMMENDED.
My g35x is a RECOMMENDED as well. I dont think nissan has many REQUIRED 91/93 octane other then maybe the GT-R, maybe that turbo Juke.
Personally do what YOU feel best and if you do go with 87, just lie to your friend so he can ****.
Most cars will simply just retard the timing if you run lower then expected octane. My maxima runs 93 octane because at Sam's club its cheaper then normal 87 at other places. Once in a while my maxima had some knock using 87. It does say RECOMMENDED.
My g35x is a RECOMMENDED as well. I dont think nissan has many REQUIRED 91/93 octane other then maybe the GT-R, maybe that turbo Juke.
Personally do what YOU feel best and if you do go with 87, just lie to your friend so he can ****.
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
All he did is throw money out the window. If its designed to run on 87, it wont add any benefit whatsoever to put in a higher octane. Driving a car hard on occassion doesnt do anything besides use up more fuel.. Maybe your friend should educate himself on what octane is. If your car needs 93 octane it would say it in the manual.
This. All of it.
All he did is throw money out the window. If its designed to run on 87, it wont add any benefit whatsoever to put in a higher octane. Driving a car hard on occassion doesnt do anything besides use up more fuel.. Maybe your friend should educate himself on what octane is. If your car needs 93 octane it would say it in the manual.
This. All of it.
I'm sorry...did I miss something?
Who owns the car now?
That's the person who chooses what goes in it...
And yeah, 87 is all it needs...but your friend sold the car, so he no longer has any say in what the car gets...
Who owns the car now?
That's the person who chooses what goes in it...
And yeah, 87 is all it needs...but your friend sold the car, so he no longer has any say in what the car gets...
Tell the guy if he wants to talk to someone he can talk to himself.
Let your bud feel free to fill YOUR car with 93.
I agree with a lot of what's said. Even though it's not a race car, I would try all three grades out for yourself. My ex-gf had a Mazda Protege that didn't care what octane it had. That car got the same mileage. The Sentra may like mid, maybe it won't make a difference.
While 93 may be easy enough to find in your area, the large majority of high performance cars are tuned for 91 AKI octane if premium is called for. A few cars could use ultra premium, such as newer Porsches, Evos, STis, etc. In California where there are a lot of these cars, we can't even find any fuel higher than 91 unless it's blended with race gas.
Originally Posted By: Astro14
I'm sorry...did I miss something?
Who owns the car now?
That's the person who chooses what goes in it...
And yeah, 87 is all it needs...but your friend sold the car, so he no longer has any say in what the car gets...
This.
I'm sorry...did I miss something?
Who owns the car now?
That's the person who chooses what goes in it...
And yeah, 87 is all it needs...but your friend sold the car, so he no longer has any say in what the car gets...
This.
SR20DE is a great engine. It will give you better performance on premium fuel, especially in the summer. It will also run without damage on regular. I'd take good care of that car, you don't see many SR20 cars in decent shape anymore. That is one of Nissan's best engines ever.
Originally Posted By: Astro14
I'm sorry...did I miss something?
Who owns the car now?
That's the person who chooses what goes in it...
And yeah, 87 is all it needs...but your friend sold the car, so he no longer has any say in what the car gets...
remind him of this, and then, if the topic come up again, tell him to
I'm sorry...did I miss something?
Who owns the car now?
That's the person who chooses what goes in it...
And yeah, 87 is all it needs...but your friend sold the car, so he no longer has any say in what the car gets...
remind him of this, and then, if the topic come up again, tell him to
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