Excellent financial analysis, ryoken. I had first decided on mid-grade, but after 3500 miles switched up to premium and won't ever go back. In the DFW area, regular is 87 octane, and for 10 cents per gallon more you get an extra +2 at 89 octane. But for 10 cents more than mid-grade, you get another +4 for 93 octane.

I also realized that I am easily spending more than $12 per month just to keep the G looking nice. Premium fuel is the least I can do to keep her running her best.

<font color=red>2004 G35 Sedan 6MT Desert Platinum/Willow</font color=red>

 

I'm always amazed by this discussion. You spend $30K plus for a car (whether it be a high performance car or not) and then debate whether it's worth spending some extra pennies at the pump for higher octane gas. I can't believe spending extra for higher octane gas is as big a deal as it's being made out to be especially when we all know we spend money on other things at are just wasteful. To top it off, the lead news story lately is how much the price of gas has risen. [Sigh]

 

"especially when we all know we spend money on other things at are just wasteful."

All I have to say is to each their own. what you may call wasteful is a good use of money to someone else. Just because you spend $30K on a car doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean that you have to wash it every week, vacuum it, drive it slow or fast, etc. There is no correlation what so ever.

ETicketRide
2003 G35 Sedan/Ivory Pearl/Willow Premium/Sport/Tint

 

"All I have to say is to each their own."

I couldn't agree with you more. However, I think you've missed the point. Let me try with an example. I filled my tank this morning and the difference today between regular (87) and premium (93) in my area is 16 cents. Multiply that by 15 gallons and it comes to a whopping $2.40 per tank of gas. Wow! What am I to do? All kidding aside, I just can't believe anyone is going to spend much time lamenting over this. I say pay for the gas and enjoy the ride.

 

My experience with octane related performance is that what you really loose is throttle response. That is what ignition timing advance in low and mid RPM's gets you. Sure, you may loose peak horsepower as well, but many people I know well (major performance enthusiasts) all pretty much agree you can't feel anything less than 15 - 20 rwhp anyway. But throtte response can be very noticable..<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by JJSg35 on 03/07/04 07:00 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

For me who drives ~25k a year, the cost can be a bit. I usually fill up about 15-20 gallons (I'm one to fill on E), and do so 1-2x a week, depending on trips I may take.
At once a week, premium is $166 a year more.
At 2x a week, it's $333 a year more.

The difference in cost won't break the bank (I came from an Explorer where I was lucky to break 18MPG downhill with a tailwind.), but...
That extra $ could be:
The year's oil changes of Mobil 1 and/or oil analysis
A year of XM or the receiver
A Nav DVD update
Window tinting
A year's worth of wax/wash/etc products

I've been running premium since I got the car. I plan to run it for 5k and watch fuel economy and performance. From 5-10k I'm going to try regular and note the same. If regular drives the same, it's regular then. I could use the extra $$ for the car or other areas of life.