I presumed he/she was using a typical 6 ounce bottle and dumping the entire thing in. I see it on Amazon for just under $5. Looks like he/she saves $5 per fill-up by using regular instead of premium even when including the Lucas product too.
Using a lower octane fuel than recommended
- Thread starter The Critic
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Self Importance usually requires an announcement. Thank you. Otherwise I would never have known.
Kestas
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Premium costs 19% more than regular where I fill up. All three of my cars that recommend 91 octane get regular. I've been doing this for many years. Each car has a knock sensor to accommodate 87 octane.
Some say this is false economy, which may have been true a decade ago when premium only cost 5 to 10 % more. This thinking is outdated.
High octane has the greatest impact during acceleration (high load, low rpm). Once the vehicle is up to freeway speed the octane has little effect. My fuel mileage loss is not noticeable. I do notice reduced acceleration though. My goal is to get from point A to point B economically.
It is worth mentioning that automakers have moved to premium fuel for their designs to more easily help meet CAFE requirements. The standard measures miles per gallon.... not miles per dollar. The automakers answer to the carrot that is put in front of them.
Some say this is false economy, which may have been true a decade ago when premium only cost 5 to 10 % more. This thinking is outdated.
High octane has the greatest impact during acceleration (high load, low rpm). Once the vehicle is up to freeway speed the octane has little effect. My fuel mileage loss is not noticeable. I do notice reduced acceleration though. My goal is to get from point A to point B economically.
It is worth mentioning that automakers have moved to premium fuel for their designs to more easily help meet CAFE requirements. The standard measures miles per gallon.... not miles per dollar. The automakers answer to the carrot that is put in front of them.
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My jeep recommends 91, requires 87.
I use 92 or 93 when towing in hot weather.. or if costco/sams has it for not .60cents more per gallon.
otherwise esp in cold weather the 87 is barely noticeable..
I have noticed that 89vs87 in the ram is more noticeable than 93(vs 87) in the jeep
My Hemi Ram gets a mix since Sams Club has no mid grade. They only have 87 and 93. Truck does just fine on the 87 and never pings. I alway use straght premium when I tow with it. Gets 11 mpg when towing our 5th wheel. Otherwise around town on regular its 17.5. My Goldwing 1500 called for 89 but it ran much better on 87 so that is what it got.
I never implied that they did not test it at the pump. I only remarked what is being dropped by the transporter is often not at 87 octane, so the transporter must be doing some sort of spot inspections themselves before they drop the load. Again, I think the observation here is that most people will run whatever fuel they want to in their car that they think works for them. In my cars in my area, 89 mid grade makes my cars to seem to run smoother. I have one car that is flex fuel capable and in the warmer months it only gets E85, which makes it seem to run as well as the mid grade does in the colder months.
Per Missouri law, regular must be no lower than 87, premium no lower than 91, and the MON for regular must be no lower than 82. It’s possible he was talking about the MON rating, which is just half the equation.
https://s1.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/2csr/2c90-30.pdf
I believe its recommended on all gens (4th to current) to use higher octane, the 7th and 8th gens do( had a 7th, and now a current gen) , I don't run the higher octane in mine.Early 4th gen Maximas recommended premium (recommended, but not required). I always used regular and had no problems at all
My ride is recommended premium and I do just that. Being that it's turbo'd and DI I've been running Shell 93 in it pretty much since day 1 off the lot. The few times I used 89 I did notice a slight drop in MPG, but definitely wasn't enough to give it much thought. Main reason I burn 93 is to hopefully minimize carbon buildup from the DI process. Car is over 8 yrs old/approaching 90K miles and has never had the slightest hiccup. Will change the plugs around the 100K point and keep rocking it. Granted any top tier fuel is likely as good as any other, but I prefer Shell as it's plentiful in my area and as I stated I've never had a single fuel related issue using it. It's far from cheap compared to 87, but I'd rather pay a bit more now along the way than possibly have issues that really cost. Ask 10 people and you'll get 100 different opinions, so use what works for you and ignore the rest!
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I did it for a couple years in my Lexus LS460 (60,000 miles or so). I won’t say it ran as good as it did on premium, but for me, it wasn’t exactly “bad” either. I saved quite a bit on fuel costs, as I was driving 600 miles a week...and my commutes were easy up and down the highway, no spirited driving where I really needed premium anyway. My fuel economy measured the same with either grade.
And I have a friend who owns a Mercedes E350 and he runs regular fuel only, and he hasn’t had any problems.
Now, would I suggest any of this to someone I don’t know^? No, I would just suggest running whatever the manufacturer calls for, but for me, it made financial sense to save $80-$100 a month.
One caveat is I am dosing it with Lucas fuel treatment every tank.
Last time I paid close to 30 bucks for a gallon at Walmart. 128 ozs and I have several of the 5 oz bottles. So I get right at 25 doses that works about to about $1.20 for a 5 ozs dose. A little less expensive than filling the Maxima with premium I guess hat it calls for instead of the 86 or is it 89? that I use..
The pull can be quite drastic, it's often not trying to run at the limit. So not recommended.
No one finds me funnier or more self-important than I do...and I heard a Jeremy Clarkson voice in my head as I wrote it.
Well answer this.I've had several people make the statement that premium gas doesn't contain 10% ethanol.I always thought that 87,89.91/93 all was 10% ethanol blend.The reason I mention this is with my riding and push mower the last container of gas I always mix stabilzer in my final purchase of gas but serveral just get 91/93 cause they said they were told it wasn't an ethenol blend.Smart people I thought always at the end of grass mowing season used stabilizer in their last five gallon of gas.
Zee09
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I assume it contains the same ethanol that is noted on the pump unless you are buying a specialty product.
Yes where did you see that a certain octane rating doesn’t contain ethanol?
Just because it is the law doesn't mean it might not happen.
I think (not 100% certain though) that some stations, maybe Shell or Sunoco (???), advertise or say that their premium fuel doesn't contain ethanol. I suspect I may have misunderstood that though based on something I saw just this week. A nearby Circle K sells ethanol-free fuel that's rated at 90 octane. It's the exact same price as their 91 (or 93?) octane that contains ethanol.
Zee09
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That is why I mentioned unless it is a specialty item. Neither my local Shell or Sunoco offers that but I have heard about it.
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