I'm not wading too deeply into this discussion here, but Trey's Wife, here's an FYI:

You are 100 percent correct that all '03 and '04 sedans and coupes as well as the '05 automatic sedans and coupes only require 87 octane per Nissan's explicit specification. The company recommends premium fuel for "maximum performance," but technically you should be fine running 87 octane.

The '05 298-horsepower 6MT sedans and coupes require 91 octane (aka premium) or better. This is not a recommendation. It is an explicit requirement spelled out in your '05 Owner's Manual, which indicates that using 87 octane is verboten except in emergency circumstances. Since you're running 93 octane in both cars, I'm not calling you out personally. But threads like this produce so much bull**** that it's important that people with '05 6MT sedans and coupes know that 87 or 89 octane is not an option in their cars.

Now, carry on with the argument.

 

91 octane. end of story

 

By all means I appreciate (and agree with) the statement of clarification there. I was speaking of my '04 specifically as frankly the '05 6MT is the hubby's problem .

 

Just use 91 octane. Period. The End. Bye Bye.

 

If you run 100 octane and have had good results with it then its all in your head.


And your post says "As always" as if it applies to every type of vehicle. Which i am sure is what you meant until i educated you on Octane ratings. So now you need to change your original meaning to make it suit the cirumstances. That's fine though.

In what way is fuel rated higher better than fuel that is rated lower? What aspect of it is better? Please substantiate your statements with some kind of explanation, facts, links, etc. Try www.google.com. I think you'll find yourself horribly wrong.

No, i won't run lower octane. My users manual explicitly tells me to use 91. So that's what i'm going to use.

 

I don’t run 100. re-read my post, it says others have reported good results... I didn't "change any original meaning" whatsoever!!! Especially wouldn’t do just to suit someone else’s opinion! And finally, if you are running 91 why did you say anything about 87? My first post was regarding 91 - In my area it's the highest you can find on a regular basis.

What's with this website anyway? Seems no matter what someone posts someone else wants to bicker about it!

 

I have run 93 octane in my 05 G 6MT since day one. Every single time I go up the parking garage ramp after taking a ticket I get ping hell. It only does this on the ramp so I have not taken it in to the dealer.

 

I wasn't referring to YOU specifcally. i meant it in a rhetorical sense.

this website is to help people learn and get information. if i see someone giving disinformation, then i'll say something about it. At the time of your post you obviously did not know what octane rating determined, and you said "as always, higher octane is better" which is false. Even if we are speaking specifically of G35s. 100 octane would be worse like i mentioned earlier on a bone stock G35. You are one of those people who think that just because it's higher it's better and it'll giv eyou better performance and better gas mileage. Probably just like 95% of other drivers out there.

Do a little research first.

If the 03/04 manual suggest a different octane, then there should be no reason you cannot use that octane and you should NOT be experiencing Knock with whatever octane the manufacturer recommends. Or like i said before, either the manual is wrong, or the engine is broken.

So just because i run 91 i'm not allowed to talk about 87? sowhat?

I'm not saying that the car does not have a problem and that higher octane won't be the solution. It may very well be the solution. But your "as always" post is what got me off because it is wrong and that's the bottom line.

 

Listen, the guy was running low octane. I said the higher the better because in CA you generally have 87, 89 and 91... 91 being the higher. Geezzz man can you just give it a rest!!!! As far as the 100 thing DAMN! I even said in the post that it would open a can of worms! Low and behold it did!!!! WTF!

 

Okay, a bit of history on the VQ might be needed here. The Vq since its release in 1995 has always required at least 91 octane. In 95-99 4th gen Maximas, and 2000+ Maximas still not pretty much the whole Nissan line-up. You CAN run lower octane but it will make you loose some performance. I have owned too many VQ cars to count and can tell you that once the computer learns the different octane, you will notice a big difference in power. Dynos have been proven over the years the VQ can loose as much as 15-20 hp just from octane.

The VQ when put on 87 octane gas has more of a tendency to start more rough (also takes a bit longer to start), requires more throttle to get the car moving than it does with 91+. I have always ran 93 octane in all my VQs. Till now with the Loaner G35 Sedan 05 I have which is a auto. I tried 87 for a few tanks, and put 93 in it. It is a different car with 93 octane. I tested a few things. Under 87, I could not powerbrake the car to even try and get the rear tires to start to slip the slightest bit. With 93 octane, it doesn't take much to even make them start.

The VQ will probably last as long with 87 as it would with 93. But if you care about your car, and want the most you can get out of the power the car suppose to perform (280 hp vs 298) depending on auto or manual, use 91+.

 

never mind....

 

FYI, this will end this discussion immediately. IF you want to know the real history and how octane works with the VQ, go here:

http://grocerygetter.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=396716

No more opinions. Post one and it continues a few more posts down and keeps continueing. So keep reading you will learn a lot.

 

the manual says that 87 is acceptable, i.e. the car will run on the ****, but I would never floor it or drive over 5000 rpms while using the crap. If you drive all highway, or never use the top 3rd of the powerband, then by all means use 87. The computer just retards timing and thus you get less power when you use the low octane 87 or 89. If you dont ever use the power anyway then dont worry about it. I traded my 03 Pathfinder with the VQ35 in it and it also said the same thing in the manual. In the 25,000 miles I had it, I never put 1 tankfull less than 93 in it though. Ran great the whole time.

 

Fantastic link. I think this should be the first thing posted the next time this question comes up. Sure would save a lot of opinions, etc right off the bat.

 

This whole post was right on the money. Well said and exactly right IMHO. Read and digest, people.