is premium fuel worth the cost in Germany?

[WeyounDS9]

Am I crazy for spending extra on 93.5 Octane premium when the mid range in this country is 90.7 Octane?

So I am currently in Germany.
My 2023 Armada "recommends" Premium.
In the US thats a minimum of 91, so this is what the recommendation is for.

Yesterday just drove from Kaiserslautern, GE to Strassburg going about 100 mph much of the way. (and back)
This was a welcome opportunity to "blow out the crud" out of my engine as I do a lot of very short trips , and its a DI engine.
Given these speeds I want to have the best fuel available.

But I am not at sealevel ( and every 300m altitude reduce your octane need by 0.5 Octane I once read.
Its cooler weather.
And the lowest rgade they sell here is 90.7 Octane (translated to US units) it costs about $7 per gallon anf the Premium is 93.5 Octane and costs about $8 per gallon.

I had been using the "mid range", which is their lowest grade, reasoning that my 91 recommended, car can handle 90.7 readily, which is nearly the same rating , the 90.7 Octane here is basically like maybe California Premium.
And that should be good enough, especcally as the car is also stated to be able to handle 87.
And its winter.
And I am not at sea level.

Still I seen several studies where vehicles had more power , almost regardless of the stated Octane requirement, when filled up with higher Octane.
And I saw one study years ago where vehciels had higher internal wear if run with the lower grade vs a higher grade even if cleared for the lower grade.
and I do go over 100 or even 110 mp regularily.

So lately i started to spring for the premium.
Makes me feel better, but it may not be rational at all.

What does the hive think?

 

[Zee09]

If it makes you happy that's all that matters. I always fill back up at a half a tank and you can switch on and off to the 90.7 and then the 93.5 putting you in the middle like 92 +

 

[KGMtech]

Well, you're driving a big SUV at high speeds, so the emphasis on fuel economy and general cost savings can't be much of a motivator for you, so I guess you'd spend the money on something.

 

[WeyounDS9]

Thanks for all the responses so far!
Good points made by all.

Also sorry for the typos.
It was middle of the night in my time zone, when I wrote that .

 

[fantastic]

They sell 93.5? When I Google search it shows 95 Ron equivalent to 91 octane. 95 Ron sounds like it's what you need & should be using at those speeds.

 

[WeyounDS9]

They sell 93.5? When I Google search it shows 95 Ron equivalent to 91 octane. 95 Ron sounds like it's what you need & should be using at those speeds.

95 RON is their Mid range.
The "regular" has been discontinuted.

95 RON is approx 91 Octane, or more precisely 90.7 Octane.

They also commonly sell 98 Octane which is their "premium", though higher grades are available some gas stations.
It is this premium that I am referring to, when I write about 93.5 Octane

In my original post, I translated all local Octane numbers into US parlance for this audience.

The price differnece between the mid range and the Premium is roughly a dollar.
Which is a lot of difference to just go from a "california premium" to 93.5 Octane.

Whethere there is more detergent in the higher grade I have not been able to ascertain.
That would be important to me as I have DI car.

I make decent money, but I am not a 1%er and like to save money since my (much younger ) gf is high maintenance when it comes to expenses.

 

[fantastic]

Thanks, Sounds like you need the Mid Grade 95 RON.

 

[97prizm]

Sounds like Germany needs lower fuel prices.

 

[Marcozi]

In the US "octane" is the average of pump octane and research octane. In Europe "octane" is just research octane, and it's several points higher than our octane. I believe 93.5 octane is about 90 octane in the US.