Nissan mechanic told me today that I should run 85 octane in my car until this shortage blows over. He said it don't make a lik of difference. Saving money is my main concern right now. Choosing between diapers and gas aint fun.

 

I wouldn't run 85 in my car. It won't hurt it because it has knock sensors but is it worth it for 20 or 30 cents a gallon. And I hope your kidding about the diaper thing if money is that tight sell the Z and get a sentra.

 

You WILL have a mileage difference, possibly enough to negate the price difference.

 

Hahha.. yeah 85 will not make a big diffrence if any, if you redline yoru car every gear you change then you should deffently go on 93 but otherwise.. and espacially now.. with the gas prises why would you redline your car... save those 30 cents witch is $30 on ever $100 spent on gas... it will not **** up your engine...

 

Around here at the moment...if you want gas your ONLY option is premium at most pumps.

 

Seriously, if gas is hurting your wallet that much that you would consider taking a chance on messing up your engine (even though it's slight) then you should get a different car. I'm in car sales and it amazes me how gas prices go up and people start flooding in the door dumped in their cars trying to trade out into something that gets better mileage but is gonna cost more because of their negative equity just because of gas prices.

 

damn, i know gas prices are ridiculous, but i can still afford to put premium on my 350z. Tell you what, the day i don't i sell it. 85 octane? >>>no way!

 

OMG... THats a joke hes about as smart as a box of rocks. If you listen to him your just as dumb.

 

just fill it up half way with premium and top it off with distilled water...It won't make a lik of difference...just don't use tap water


warning for the gullibles do not really try this, it's a joke

 

sweet! now I can get gas for $60 a tank instead of $66.... ohh all the magical things I will do with that extra $6... only suckers use premium

 

Man, you think you got a problem?!
I don't know how much gas in the states costs, but here in Germany we pay 1.46 Euro per liter for Super Plus which is 98 octane and has to be put in the Z (still not the highest, you can gas up your Z even with that V-Power Stuff, 100 octane).
If you convert it into gallons and dollars you have to pay like $7.09 per gallon.
Now that's some crazy ****.

 

diapers or gas?? This isn't MadMax...just chill out. Stupid panicky people are elevating the prob. at the pump by filling up every car or container with it making it more scarce... and seriously if you need to choose between diapers and gas then you should be driving somethin' else.

 

YOUR TECH IS A MORON...

 

Well the tech has point......partially.

True you can run 85 octane, but anytime you run low octance, you retard the timing via the knock sensor therefore you lose hp.

Why purchase a Z if you want low horsepower?? Drive an econo box at put the rest of coin towards something else like flowers for your garden or some high quality face moisturizer.

 

Yeah and their will be some serious knock going on.

 

I think the whole premium only thing or you'll screw up your engine is a bit exagerated. They say the same thing for the G35c, yet the FX35 with the exact same state of tune can be run on 85 just fine and it's manual states that 93 is just "recommended" for maximum performance, but not mandatory.

 

There are people who will think that if you put 85 octane in your tank, your engine will blow. These are the same people who think that if you don't change your oil every 2,500 miles, the engine will break down. Neither is true, but you can't argue with them as the oil companies have sold people on the 2,500 mile idea.

Note: Putting higher octane gas in your tank and charing your oil frequently isn't a bad thing, just as it wouldn't be bad to change your oil every 2,000 miles. My exgirlfriend's mother never changed the oil in her Maxima (she didn't know she had to if you can believe that). The engine seized up at 68K miles due to not enough oil, though the oil that was in the engine was thick as hell, heh.

 

maybe it's a way for job security for your tech.

 

I've already done comparisons using the same engine in our Pathfinder (also 21 gallon tank)

On regular (87) our mileage was about 19 MPG, for a total of 399 miles per tank
On plus (89) our mileage was about 23 MPG, for a total of 483 miles per tank
On premium (91) our mileage was about 26 MPG, for a total of 546 miles per tank

At an average of 10 cents difference between regular, plus, and premium, that means to travel 1000 miles:

On regular, we would need 52.6 gal @ 2.799 = $147.23
On plus, we would need 43.5 gal @ 2.899 = $126.11
On premium, we would need 38.5 gal @ 2.999 = $115.46

So, although it cost more each fillup, because we could go farther on a tank of premium, it actually cost over $30 LESS to use Premium.

YMMV, but this is what I've found with the VQ35 in our Pathfinder.

 

This is nice info, but first, what grade does the owner's manual call for in the Pathfinder's VQ?

Second, did you only run one tank of each through the engine?

Third, were all these tests performed with the same driver/ same style of driving/ same routes to/from wherever?

Not to debunk your theory, but if I drive the crap out of my Sierra and get 14 mpg, I know I could put premium in it and baby it and bump that to a stratospheric 16 for a single tank worth.