I live in the Atlanta area and have an 08 G35S sedan. We are currently undergoing a significant gas crisis; with the availability of premium fuel virtually nonexistent. I have never used regular fuel - and I know the manual says that with the 3.5 liter motor you can use regular fuel. My question is: What can I expect when I'm forced to use regular; since regular is all that's available - and even regular is in short supply?

 

I am with you man, I am just north of Atlanta. I am luckily at 3/4 tank and I think I can stretch that another week or so, and hopefully things will be better by then. I am wondering about the possibility of running regular 87 octane + octane booster. Is that more likely to do damage than the 87 alone? Anyone?

 

I have to opposite problem a few places here have ONLY Premium

 

If your manual says you can run regular then you can run regular but you might see some performance loss. Better than running out of gas though!

If you have a manual though, your manual will say ONLY premium and it means it! We have the problem of trying to find premium as most places here are still either none or they run out really fast because no one has any.

 

I'd just get a bottle of octane booster until you get through your current fuel dillema. The lower octane will cause the engine timing to retard a bit and you'll also get worse gas mileage. Short term it's probably no biggie, but I'd still go the octane-booster route first.

 

The sales guy told me that sometimes you might not be able to find premium and it would be ok to run a tank or two. He did say the 'service engine soon' light may come on, but will go out once you start feeding it premium again. That was just his unofficial banter.

 

you wanna know how to solve the gas crisis? Tell everyone you know to "STOP FILLING UP THEIR TANKS WHEN THEY DON'T NEED IT!" The problem is not a shortage of gas.......the problem is people filling up when they have more than half a tank because "it might not be there tomorrow" and filling up all the 5-gallon gas cans they have.

We're going through the same thing in Chattanooga, and the stupidity of these people astounds me. I have friends that just got back from Mississippi (you know, 8 hours closer to where the hurricane hit) and guess what? Gas EVERYWHERE!

As far as what to actually put in your car, I've been told by several people that 87 with an octane booster will work with no long-term ill effects. But if you want a fix to the problem, join the cause against stupidity and start spreading the word

 

I totally agree, people need to quit freaking out.

 

That's not exactly the full story. The problem is that they can only sell the low emissions gas in areas with a certain population density. There was a story on the local news here this past week about this. There is gas that could be shipped to them but they couldn't sell it. That's why there are places with gas and places without gas. The places that need it most are the least likely to get it. It should start getting better in another week or so from the news reports but the refineries are just having to play catch up.

If you can, drive to the outlying areas outside of what is considered part of the "metro area" and I'm betting you can find gas no problem. That's EXACTLY what the problem here is. My mother and sister can get any gas no problem. I'm 45 minutes away and I can barely find premium. I'm about to start hunting since I am just under a half of a tank.

If you have a manual do everything in your power NOT to use anything but premium. Unless an Infiniti service tech tells you to run regular, you need to assume the manual is right. I would never trust a sales guy without some kind of backup.

 

good luck to all of u who are in need. why is theri a gas shortage there, Ike ?

 

Yes, because the refineries were without power for a week or so and some longer than that.

 

I put 10 gallons of 87 octane in my tank when it was 1/4 full and I noticed a difference the first 25 miles or so, but now I can't tell much of a difference. MPG is about the same. I think the engine adjusts automatically. I was hoping to top if off with premium soon to dilute and 87 octane, but looks like I'll have to fill the tank with 87 if premium isn't available by the end of the week.

 

man i left for atlanta right in the middle of that. when i left home friday evening, i already had a full tank and gas was running out here in middle TN. lines were miles long with police overseeing the rationing at the remaining stations.

once in atl i had a 1/4 tank of gas and had to drive around for almost 1.5hrs through 25 gas stations before i found some 93. this was after the car show i went to started to die out at 5pm on saturday. they had 93 at the citgo on the left when you get off at the Jonesboro exit on 75 south.

i filled up and was good to go. on the way out of town i missed a turn and found some 93 at a shell about 10 miles north of the 285/85N junction on sunday.(all of this 2 weekends ago)

 

Same problem in Houston, although I've found that Shell and Valero have premium. Most of the other brands only have regular unleaded.

 

It's like the tale of two countries. Here in PA you wouldn't even know there was any gas shortage if you didn't watch the news. Seems to me that we need to have greater reserves to avoid situations like this. I'm shocked that this shortage in the south hasn't been used as an excuse for gas prices to rise across the whole nation.