Wasting money on premium gas

Status
Not open for further replies.
That was my aunt, she was buying it for an old clunker that took 87 octane. Here its almost 80 cents higher.
I gave her the bad news
smile.gif

Was she happy- no................
 
Wonder how all that started? I remember years ago someone telling me if you put higher octane gas in your car, it will be faster.
 
It's amazing how crazy people can be.

When I bought my 2002 Honda CBR600f4i motorcycle, people with the same said to use 93 octane because it's the best. Later on I read the manual and the recommend octane rating is 91 RON (87 AKI).

1. I could notice a slight increase in power through the butt dyno
2. I was getting better mpg (going from 150 miles to fill up to 180 miles until fill up)
3. No overwhelming smell of unburnt fuel coming out the tailpipe.

#3 is what led me to read the owners manual. I couldn't believe how strong that smell was. I could only think when smelling the unburnt fuel how much money I'm letting exit the exhaust pipe.

People are stupid and I was a stupid not to read the manual in the first place.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
What does premium mean in US of A gasoline?

More cleaning agents in that gasoline? Less or no sulphur?

Did you read the linked article? It just means higher octane number.
 
This has been stated many times fro many sources for the past 30 + years. Even vehicles that claim to require premium don't usually require it. On those you may lose some horsepower because the engine will have to de-tune itself a bit, but it won't really hurt anything. We've been sold a bill of goods by marketing people. And, of course, on BITOG, if a little is good a lot is better.
 
Most cars would benefit from a bump from 87. Specially as many times you wont even be getting 87 if the E10 separated out. My rogue runs better with a couple gallons 93 on to of the ho hum 87. Sort of adjust the timing with the fuel thing. A little tuner trick.
 
I have the opposite problem...my dealer told me not come whining to them if I ran anything less than 93 octane and then threw a CEL.
Seems like a lot of FXT drivers in CA have surging trouble in hot weather partly because they can only get 91 octane and the engine really wants 93.
I have no trouble getting 93 where I live, but when I go up to NH to ski it can be hard to find in the mountains.
The owner's manual says 93 is preferred, 91 is fine, and down to 87 is OK in a pinch...apparently, that's a bunch of [censored], at least for certain FXTs in certain conditions.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
What does premium mean in US of A gasoline?

More cleaning agents in that gasoline? Less or no sulphur?


91-93 octane ([R+M]/2).

89 is often called something like "plus" or "silver".
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Why is this suddenly a thing?

I've seen like 10 articles in the last week along with 7 or 8 youtube channels posting videos on this.


I've been seeing this for, like, 30 years. ok, more like 25+, ever since I started read car magazines and Consumer Reports, watching TV, etc.

This is a bit like finding out that smoking is bad, speeding reduces mpg, and water is wet. A few vehicles benefit from higher octane; many might do better on higher octane if being worked hard. But for most daily driver's, duh, regular is fine. People who don't know that are the automotive equivalent of "living under a rock".

I suppose I shouldn't be so hard on them. I was leafing through a magazine last night and there was an article on how to use Facebook. I glanced and realized there was more to it than I thought--didn't bother reading as I have no desire to get onto Facebook. But, point was, beginner articles will always abound, as there will always be beginners out there.
 
In SW Ontario, Premium is $0.13-$0.17 CAD more per litre than regular. Regular has been $0.94-$0.99 for a while now, so my Maxima is costing me about 15% more at the pump. For the amount I drive, it amounts to $205 CAD extra per year to use 91, as the owners manual recommends. Big whoop.

6 months ago my wife's 2009 Flex (not ecoboost) threw a CEL for rear bank O2 sensor, 1 bottle of Techron and a tank of 91 and CEL is gone.
Otherwise the Flex runs just fine on 87.
 
Most people do not know Octane rating is a measure of how much gas can be compressed before it starts to self ignite like a diesel (knock). They think is has more additives or some other magic.

If you do not have a high compression engine, it does no good.

The EPA has mandated minimum additive levels. Top Tier Gas uses 3X that Level - Costco does 5X .

Take some of that money and add a bottle of Techron occasionally.
 
The stuff people imagine about things is amazing sometimes.

The energy density of gasoline is not related to the octane rating. Higher compression engines (which require higher octane ratings to prevent knock) are by design more efficient. But that's as far as it goes.
 
Both my 2003 and 2004 GMs run better on Premium. So does my lawnmower, gas blower and weed wacker. I use it exclusively on the lawn equipment, but only 1-2 times a month inside my vehicles.

Hard to find it at BP or Mobil/Exxon (gas/credit cards) for less than 60 cents above the price of regular 87 octane.
 
Ahhhh.... lets bash premium gasoline again.

Lets not be fooled by generalizations please.

Sure modern engines will re-tune themselves to protect against uncontrolled combustion such as detonation and/or pre-ignition.
No argument with the preceding.

However there is no free lunch.

When the engine control module detects uncontrolled combustion it retards timing until the uncontrolled combustion is eliminated.
The cost of retarded timing is reduced efficiency and performance.

The loss of performance and efficiency is usually quite small and goes unnoticed by most folks.

Truth be told the extra cost of premium is not offset by the increase in combustion efficiency in most cases.

Having a data logger reveals that even vehicles specified at 87 octane minimum frequently have knock retard events when pulling hills, accelerating on on-ramps etc.

The vehicles that I drive are more responsive with 93 in the tank even though specified at 87 octane minimum.
This is not just an impression, data logging 0-60 times consistently and repeatedly proves the above statement.


Bottom line is that money is saved by running 87 in vehicles specified for it.
No argument with the above.

However just because your supercharged,turbocharged,or high compression engine specified for premium survives the abuse of 87; please don't think you can violate the laws of physics.

Detonation and pre-ignition events have a nasty habit of disassembling expensive things.
Below is just one of many examples of the above.
http://www.focusst.org/forum/attachments...hread-image.jpg

Just thought this thread needed a little "balance".

Good day.
 
A big part of the problem is the actual naming of the octanes.

"REGULAR" - well OK I guess...
"MID GRADE" - hmm a step up
"PREMIUM" - only the best for my car!

If I didnt know anything about cars, and pulled up at the pump, of course you'd think the higher the number, and better wording attached to it would be better for your car.
 
When I pull up to a pump, if the pumps states there's ethanol in the gas, I immediately drive away and go elsewhere for non-ethanol gas. To me that's more important than the octane number going inside my GMs.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

OVERKILL
Offshore wind industry in dire straights
2
Replies
26
Views
2K
4WD
S
Ford Hit With 1.7 Billion Verdict on F250 Roof Collapse
2 3 4
Replies
67
Views
6K
totegoat
JDebler
Dropped some coin on Inverter Generators, want to break in correctly. Advice?
2
Replies
36
Views
16K
z71bill
3
Synthetic oil bad in a lawnmower? Any truth in this self proclaimed experts statements?
10 11 12
Replies
221
Views
57K
weldor
Jackson_Slugger
7-Eleven Owner to Buy Marathon’s Speedway for $21 Billion
2 3
Replies
43
Views
5K
PandaBear
Back
Top