[OUZO Power]

So who here uses Premium gas over regular? Do you get more miles per tank? I have been told the ECO light turns on more often.

I am trying a tank of Premium right now.

If the results are what I anticipate then premium should cost a few cents less per km or mile.

I'll let you know of my findings.

 

[dvpatel]

Try the search? Pretty heated discussions in the past about using Premium.

 

[wild willy]

I use premium in my 04 all of the time. See sig......

Why use premium? I get it for free.

 

[TurboTurtle]

I did a test on my 07 Pilot, it had the eco too(when I still had it), used 87 ,89, 93 and got the same gas milage out of all three octanes.

 

[DAP91Si]

Our vans don't need premium. Most cars that need premium are those with high compression engines or turbos chargers. High octane gas does not ignite as easily as a lower octane gas thus reducing pre-ignition(knock).

 

[jackrabbit000]

I've tried a couple of tanks of premium and have to say that it doesn't make any bit of difference in gas mileage. No change in ECO coming on more often either.

 

[roadcarver]

Last week, I had the opportunity to fill up with premium (for the price of regular unleaded) since the local gas station ran out of regular unleaded.

I did not notice any performance increase or mileage.

 

[vanana]

I believe you're wasting your money. High octane is for high compression. Our vans don't need premium gas and will not benefit from it. Use it if you want. Any difference you see will be minuscule to none and definitely not worth the investment.

 

[skinny2]

Buying a quality regular unleaded will benefit more than any premium fuel.

My Nissan "recommends" premium for maximum peformance....but I can get away with regular of certain brands/stations. I can tell a profound difference between certain regular fuels and also between regular and premium. However, the good regulars perform quite well (and without knocking or very noticeable power loss) but the interesting part is I've never noticed a change in economy. I run the same route to work everyday and have never varied by more than .5mpg on that route regardless of fuel.

If the vehicle doesn't specifically call for premium...you'll not see a real difference.

 

[wild willy]

My Nissan "recommends" premium for maximum peformance.

My Nissan requires it...Unfortunately. I have never tried regular or even mid-grade to see if there was a difference.

Now, the GTO I had...I ran premium for about 6 months. When I switchd to regular...no change in MPG....but a definate loss of power........especailly in the summer months.

 

[kenny1773]

I am surprise this thread is this calm here

On some forums 'type of fuel' discussions get very heated.

The subject is complicated, you could google and read for hours and still not know who to believe.

In a nutshell higher octane buys you more resistance to combustion, nothing more, nothing less (a more stable fuel is one way to look at it).

The BTU content from premium to regular is about the same depending on what is used to increase the octane (so in some cases it is slightly less with premium)

BTU content is really what drives your MPG, energy doing work. Unless you add more energy (BTU) you are not going to get more work done (drive more miles).

If your engine is designed to run on premium, this basically means it has a higher compression ratio (or has forced indcution) than an engine set to run on regular.

Your cylinders can compress the fuel further before sending spark in an effort to get more power. You want higher octane to make sure the fuel/air mixture doesn't explode upon just compressing it. Higher octane helps ensure the mixture waits for the spark before exploding.

Engines that recommend premium, but can run on regular, generally have electronics that retard the timing to compensate for the more sensitive lower octane fuel, so the engine will make a little less power (no more than a couple HP on a dyno) as a result. You still go the same # of miles, but your 1/4 mile times might be 1/10 of a second off

I personally don't see any benefit to running premium in the Ody.

Running premium in an engine that isn't designed for it MIGHT cause extra carbon build up to happen.


I will also say that meaningful measurements of MPG can't really happen using pump gas from a retail pump gas station and using your odometer vs gallons purchased as the basis.

You MIGHT be accurate to 2-3mpg at best.


Retail gas is another problem. The wholesale distributors mix and match so often, that you really have no idea what you are buying at the pump. I don't buy into 'top tier fuels' anymore, it is a thing of the past. Our EPA regulates fuel so heavily that all are pretty much the same from brand to brand. Additives that one brand may add aren't enough volume to matter in the long run and you don't have sensitive enough equipment at home to really measure (and you can't closely enough control the environment the car is driven in from tank to tank)


Best advice here is follow the owners manual and use what Honda recommends and you will be safe.

 

[skinny2]

I've never met a fuel that makes a lick of difference in the Ody. Regular junk from anywhere seems to run fine.

With the Nissan I can get some knock on certain regular fuels (like I said it calls for premium) but other regular fuels perform close to premium. Comparing the bad regular gas to premium....it's more than a couple hp. I would say more like 20hp. With my commute, I routinely redline for passing and pull some very big hills and can clearly feel the difference. I've come down to two stations that I get premium performance on regular so that's where I try to fuel. Detonation is not good so I when in doubt...I go with premium.

 

[kenny1773]

the bad regular gas

This is where you lose me

What exactly is "bad" regular gas and why exactly is it bad?

The EPA has very specific formulations for fuel and it is against the law to violate that.

What you may mean is there are bad gas stations.

Certain stations do not spend the money to maintain their equipment like they should and inspections are not what they should be, so some low budget places get away with not so pure fuel actually coming out of their pump. Things like they don't change the tank filters often enough, etc, etc, but when the regular gas comes from the wholesale distributor and goes to the gas station, it is basically the same gas put into every "regular" grade tank at the gas station.

The gas makers so mix it up at the distro center that there is no way month after month, year after year, you get the same exact fuel at the same exact station every time. It just can't happen.

Most additive packs above and beyond EPA regulation are diluted too much to really matter.

Just seems odd the way you word it 'bad gas'


Here is another explanation for you.

Ethanol which is mandated as a fuel additive to 10% in pretty much all pumps nationwide now is an octane booster.

From what I understand, it is almost impossible to get DEAD ON 10% the way they blend it (since ethanol is hygroscopic, it has to be blended later in the distribution process)

What you are calling bad gas probably has a little less ethanol in it and what you are calling good gas probably has a little more (and really has a higher octane rating) but since the 10% blend is fuzzy logic done by the blenders and not measured at the pump, we will never know

 

[skinny2]

Thanks. I'm relatively familiar with the distribution network. I (vicariously through my company as the Treasury manager) buy about 1.5MM gallons of diesel every month. I'm intimate with the supply chain and distributors to say the least. No need to get too technical...I just go with what works.

I don't know if it's the additives or equipment...but I can generally buy BP regular for my Pathfinder and have no issues. It runs about like premium from other shops. Shell is hit/miss. There's a non-brand shop on one end of my commute that the regular gives me no issues as well but it's usually more expensive than the BP station on the other end.

I have a mental list I use for which stations work and which don't along my normal commute. If I'm out on the road I will try to get BP and so far haven't had issues. FlyJ was probably by far the worst as I was actually getting some pinging under light load on the highway. Unless i'm towing I usually try to stick with regular. Perhaps the correct term would be "better" regular gas vs normal. I dunno.

Of course I can't buy from BP if my wife is with me because we're boycotting them Oh and my company is boycotting them as well, but for another reason. Of course as I'm sure you know that just means we say we won't buy their fuel but good luck actually pulling that off.

The Ody runs fine on FlyJ (apparently rot-guy by Nissan standards) or BP.

 

[OUZO Power]

Results are in.

It didn't make a difference at all. Had the same MPG.

 

[wild willy]

I have gotten gas for my Altima for the past 10 years at Giant Eagle...and no other station......Not top tier.....Never skipped a beat....runs better now than it did new. Same with the Ody.....just goes there 3x as much.:stupid:

 

[skinny2]

You might try some regulars if you want to try and save a buck. IIRC Nissan used to say "premium required" and then switched to the more marketing friendly "premium recommended for maximum performance". Past experience in these types of vehicles was that premium did indeed result in better mpg (although sometimes questionable if it was cost effective...) but very little performance change. With the Pathfinder I see no change in economy between premium/regular but do notice the performance in some fuels. The onboard computer rarely varies more than .5mpg average on my daily 60 mile commute and yes I've checked it to actual.

 

[wild willy]

You might try some regulars if you want to try and save a buck. IIRC Nissan used to say "premium required" and then switched to the more marketing friendly "premium recommended for maximum performance". Past experience in these types of vehicles was that premium did indeed result in better mpg (although sometimes questionable if it was cost effective...) but very little performance change. With the Pathfinder I see no change in economy between premium/regular but do notice the performance in some fuels. The onboard computer rarely varies more than .5mpg average on my daily 60 mile commute and yes I've checked it to actual.

I called Nissan Motor Corp to question them on this. They told me NO...on the O2 you must run premium..it is required. They told me that 03 forward were reprogrammed. I asked if my 02 could be flashed to 03 specifications...They told me no. We both know this not to be true......But....for the extra few bucks a tankfull.......fock it......Peace of mind. It has been good to me....I b good to it

 

[kenny1773]

I can generally buy BP

- no worries, I am not a BP boycotter. The way I see it, they need some money to pay for all the damage they caused. I would rather not see them go out of business. You are correct in your below statement about not really being able to avoid their fuel anyway, even if you try.

my Pathfinder

I think that says it all in my mind. I owned a 1993 Pathfinder SE, bought it new, it never did run right on any fuel, ended up trading it for a Toyota when the engine conked out for the 10th time. I was tired of spending time having the dealer not fix it right

The Ody runs fine on FlyJ (apparently rot-guy by Nissan standards) or BP. [/B]

lol, yep that about sums it up I still blame the pathfinder and not the fuel

 

[colnago1331]

I called Nissan Motor Corp to question them on this. They told me NO...on the O2 you must run premium..it is required. They told me that 03 forward were reprogrammed. I asked if my 02 could be flashed to 03 specifications...They told me no. We both know this not to be true......But....for the extra few bucks a tankfull.......fock it......Peace of mind. It has been good to me....I b good to it

If your car requires premium - or even if it's recommended that you use premium - there's no reason not to do it. Cost? Please. Premium costs $0.20/gallon more, on average, than regular fuel. On a 15 gallon tank that's $3.00 per fill-up. Over a year that's $150.00. If you can't afford the extra $150 per year then you shouldn't be owning that car. Buy one less cup of coffee at Starbucks each week. Your car will thank you for it.

Just my $0.02.