hi, i usually put premium gas octane level 93 in my car since its recommended, but since the gas prices are up, i'm paying like 3.80 or more....which is insane...so i started putting Plus....octane level 87 i think?....I'm wondering if the two really have that much of a difference in quality? And if that is going to have any negative effects on the car's motor...since i'm running lower octane level...

 

Stick with 91 if possible. This is sufficient to meet the cars needs in terms of performance.

Ultimately it depends on your model - if you have a 03-04, premium (ie. 91) is recommended for best performance (but it can deal with lower grade fuel), while 05-06 pretty much requires 91 octane from the factory (esp. with rev-up engines).

Lower quality gas can cause premature combustion leading to early engine wear.

Gas prices are bad, but make sure you give your car what it needs.

 

Lucky me company pays for gas =]. Premium all the way baby . Now if only I could get my car back from Lia collision >.>

 

well i have an 03.5 so thats goood....good thing i don't have a rev up motor......damn i don't wanna spend all my paycheck on gas.....what if i mix the two.....like put plus in one week and premium the next...?

 

Plus is usually 89 octane I think... Regular is 87.

In any case, what's the price difference between plus and premium? 15 cents/gallon? So you save $2.25 on 15 gallons? If you fill up once a week, you're saving a whopping $9.00 a month on 15 gal., or $12.00 a month if you run the tank dry.

$9-12 just doesn't seem like enough savings when you figure that gas already cost over $290 for the month. If you fill up every other day then maybe the savings is worth it, but I'll stick with premium.

 

I always enjoy reading people's comments that "oh, well its just another $2 to $3 to fill up with premium." If its really not a big deal guys, will you please send me that extra $3 a week you have burning a hole in your pocket?? If its not too much trouble, I'd sure appreciate it. I figure if I get enough people to donate their extra cash, I'll have enough to fill up for free.

 

Steady, I posted the comments below in another section where someone asked the same question as you. Not surprisingly, it seems like this same question of "which octane" comes up weekly.

 

You might not see much difference except maximum hp at the top end, where octane rating can certainly be a factor.
But the engine was designed to run on it for maximum efficiency, which translates to more power and better mileage.
The difference might be small, and maybe you don't notice a difference, but nothing changes the facts as to what it is designed and tuned to run on, otherwise the owner's manual would have a different recommendation.
No rocket science there.
The fact the mfr. does not state they will void the warranty opens up the book to stretch the limits on lots of things. Glad the mfr. can reason that most people read the manual and follow the recommendations without having to explain everything in block letters.
The ECU will sense the difference in octane,or tendency to knock, and pull timing back a skosh to compensate. So any real engine damage is prevented.
That's just another feature, as the mfr. knows any octane is better than running out of gas in an emergency.

 

Sometimes I get better mileage on 91, sometimes not. Haven't really noticed anything to prove correlation.

This last road trip, I get 22.5 mpg on 88 octane, then 24.7 and 26 on 91 and 90. The main difference is the first tank had some fuel injector cleaner on it, so the poorer gas mileage might have been because of the octane, random chance, or the cleaner in the car. The next 2 tanks might have been because the car was cleaner, or the higher octane.

 

I get 25.4 mpg combined on 91, roughly 24.2 on 89. Once I do the math, it's about even. I'd rather have a tank last longer than 'think' I'm saving money.

 

Luckily, since I work for an oil company, I don't pay for gas...it is given to me! Girlfriend gets her own card too. Sorry guys. I usually run anywhere from 100-110 octane anyhow. Trying to rope in all the HP I can.

 

This isn't directed at you, OP, so much as everyone that complains about gas, but SERIOUSLY we have amazing gas prices compared to many places in the world - stop complaining!

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lis...bal_gasprices/

Oh, and why even worry about saving $0.20/gallon? You'll sacrifice fuel economy a bit, not to mention you're not putting the grade of gasoline into the engine for which it was designed. At 15 gallons a week, 52 weeks a year, you're only saving ~$150.

Furthermore, consider that if you get 19mpg with 87 octane instead of 20mpg with 93 octane on a 15-gallon fill-up, every 20 fill-ups you will have paid for an entire extra tank of gas. At $3.50 estimated for 87 octane, that's $52.50. Multiply this times 2.5 (roughly a year's worth of gasoline), and you might save $20 over the course of a year by switching from 93 octane to 87 octane.

 

Uh, negative... donating the $2-3 a week to you gives me none of these benefits: more horsepower, better gas mileage, and peace of mind knowing that there's no risk of knock/ping. If I had a '95 Civic I might do it, but I paid dearly for this G and there is no effing way 3 bucks a week is going to be the deal breaker for me when it comes to taking care of it.

I'm just saying, like BlueDevil, it's one thing to complain that gas is expensive, but it's ridiculous to think that switching to a lower octane to save $0.15 per gallon is going to make a significant impact.

 

i only put 93 octane in my G

 

well i have a 03 coupe 6sm and i only get like 19.5 mpg at best unless im going on a road trip i dont under drive it but i dont think that im speed racer either is that normal for that car? also it takes me 17.5 gallons to fill up my car? and premium is the only thing that my car drinks