To Switch To Regular Gas Or Not???
04-25-2006, 04:39 PM
#21
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from sports compact car's test of a nismo 350z.
this is more relevant to how higher end gas effects mods but you get the picture basically they are saying how cali's 91 sucks. but just imagine 87
"That kind of power isn't going to happen on the regurgitated dinosaur excrement the California refineries like to call premium gas. Even in stock form, the 350Z lives its 91-octane life on the knock sensor, and with the ECU retarding timing almost as fast as the NISMO parts increase cylinder filling, there's no power to be had. What NISMO needs for the octane limited is an ECU with a less aggressive timing map, but it doesn't have one at this point.OK, enough crying about our gas. If you live in the land of 91, be prepared to splash in a few gallons of $6.00/gallon 100 octane at every fill-up if you want all those parts to make anything more than noise."
http://sportcompactcarweb.com/roadtests/0405scc_nismo/
here in NC we have the good 93. we even have race gas a a few pumps around here. (not that i use it for daily driving but at least we have the oppurtunity)
this is more relevant to how higher end gas effects mods but you get the picture basically they are saying how cali's 91 sucks. but just imagine 87
"That kind of power isn't going to happen on the regurgitated dinosaur excrement the California refineries like to call premium gas. Even in stock form, the 350Z lives its 91-octane life on the knock sensor, and with the ECU retarding timing almost as fast as the NISMO parts increase cylinder filling, there's no power to be had. What NISMO needs for the octane limited is an ECU with a less aggressive timing map, but it doesn't have one at this point.OK, enough crying about our gas. If you live in the land of 91, be prepared to splash in a few gallons of $6.00/gallon 100 octane at every fill-up if you want all those parts to make anything more than noise."
http://sportcompactcarweb.com/roadtests/0405scc_nismo/
here in NC we have the good 93. we even have race gas a a few pumps around here. (not that i use it for daily driving but at least we have the oppurtunity)
Last edited by **; 04-25-2006 at 04:43 PM.
04-25-2006, 05:38 PM
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Originally Posted by cfdemarco
I put 87 in mine. With gas prices being as absurd as they are there's no way in hell I'm buying 93.
So if your engine stops running or starts perfoming poorly don't expect any mercy from nissan and dont post your problem on here.
I dont understand why people buy the cheap stuff if your only going to save 30 cent and will have problems in the long term. What the hell is 30 cent going to help if your car breaks down.
Last edited by lw3; 04-25-2006 at 06:18 PM.
04-25-2006, 06:09 PM
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Originally Posted by lw3
You need to sell your Z if you cant take care of of properly. The Z has a high compression engine(10:3:1 to be exact) and if you know anything about engines the compression ratio determines the octane you should use. Your trans am probably had a ratio of 8:?:1 which is very good for 87 but If it were mine i would still put 93 in it.
So if your engine stops running or starts perfoming poorly don't expect any mercy from nissan and dont post your problem on here.
I dont understand why people buy the cheap stuff if your only going to save 30 cent and will have problems in the long term. What the hell is 30 cent going to help you if your car breaks down.
So if your engine stops running or starts perfoming poorly don't expect any mercy from nissan and dont post your problem on here.
I dont understand why people buy the cheap stuff if your only going to save 30 cent and will have problems in the long term. What the hell is 30 cent going to help you if your car breaks down.
And BTW, the compression ratio for the LS1 is 10:1:1, which would put it well within the range for premium being the desired fuel. Like I said, I put 87 in that car for almost three years, and it ran like a champ every day.
04-25-2006, 06:19 PM
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Originally Posted by cfdemarco
It's not a question of taking care of it properly. The engine does not absolutely require premium fuel. Sure, it will not operate to its peak performance when regular is used, but I can live with that, as the decrease in performance is too small to even notice. Using 87 will not destroy the engine. What percentage of 350Z owners do you think use premium fuel? Aside from the true 'enthusiests' such as some of the people on sites like these, probably not that many...but I'm sure that all of their engines have blown by now
And BTW, the compression ratio for the LS1 is 10:1:1, which would put it well within the range for premium being the desired fuel. Like I said, I put 87 in that car for almost three years, and it ran like a champ every day.
And BTW, the compression ratio for the LS1 is 10:1:1, which would put it well within the range for premium being the desired fuel. Like I said, I put 87 in that car for almost three years, and it ran like a champ every day.
04-26-2006, 12:48 PM
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Originally Posted by cfdemarco
I'm sure it'll be just fine. I put 87 in my LS1 Trans Am for three years and it ran like a beast.
Seriously...it's not a Ferrari. It will run fine on regular.
Seriously...it's not a Ferrari. It will run fine on regular.
04-26-2006, 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by cfdemarco
It's not a question of taking care of it properly. The engine does not absolutely require premium fuel. Sure, it will not operate to its peak performance when regular is used, but I can live with that, as the decrease in performance is too small to even notice. Using 87 will not destroy the engine. What percentage of 350Z owners do you think use premium fuel? Aside from the true 'enthusiests' such as some of the people on sites like these, probably not that many...but I'm sure that all of their engines have blown by now
And BTW, the compression ratio for the LS1 is 10:1:1, which would put it well within the range for premium being the desired fuel. Like I said, I put 87 in that car for almost three years, and it ran like a champ every day.
And BTW, the compression ratio for the LS1 is 10:1:1, which would put it well within the range for premium being the desired fuel. Like I said, I put 87 in that car for almost three years, and it ran like a champ every day.
you may save 5-8 bucks at the pump, but more trips to the station will have you spending more in the end. i know this is true because i tested this when on a road trip, highway, so driving styles were the same. on the way there, 87 octane, got 18-20mpg. on way back, 93 octane, and i got 24-25 mpg.
its your dollar though.
04-26-2006, 01:23 PM
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Originally Posted by cfdemarco
I'm sure it'll be just fine. I put 87 in my LS1 Trans Am for three years and it ran like a beast.
Seriously...it's not a Ferrari. It will run fine on regular.
Seriously...it's not a Ferrari. It will run fine on regular.
Low grade gas is cheap, so everyone likes it. Is the most fast burning fuel you can get. It burns faster and hotter than the other fuels. It tends to burn unevenly and leave lots of deposits in your engine.
High grade gasoline is made of longer molecular chains. Gas is usually rated in octane's which is some what misleading (see below) because octane's are a 8 molecular group chain in the petroleum family. It is the slowest burning gas, giving you a longer, and more even power stroke. It also burns colder, which is especially important for those of you that live in hot areas or if your car is prone to overheating. Running high grade will keep it cooler. It also tends to burn more completely, leaving less deposits and not sending as much back out the tail pipe.
(not my words)
04-26-2006, 02:10 PM
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Originally Posted by grifferjr
your engine will be fine running the lower octane. the Z has some technology in the engine (cant recall exactly what it is called now) that senses the lower octane and compensates to keep the engine from knocking. from what i was told, the way it does this is to inject more fuel per cycle (sorry i am not a technical guy so i have to use simple laymen's terms). what this amounts to is less miles per gallon. so in the end you are just hurting yourself cause you will be filling up more.
you may save 5-8 bucks at the pump, but more trips to the station will have you spending more in the end. i know this is true because i tested this when on a road trip, highway, so driving styles were the same. on the way there, 87 octane, got 18-20mpg. on way back, 93 octane, and i got 24-25 mpg.
its your dollar though.
you may save 5-8 bucks at the pump, but more trips to the station will have you spending more in the end. i know this is true because i tested this when on a road trip, highway, so driving styles were the same. on the way there, 87 octane, got 18-20mpg. on way back, 93 octane, and i got 24-25 mpg.
its your dollar though.
04-26-2006, 02:50 PM
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Originally Posted by cfdemarco
I put 87 in mine. With gas prices being as absurd as they are there's no way in hell I'm buying 93.
04-27-2006, 04:14 AM
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Originally Posted by lw3
You need to sell your Z if you cant take care of of properly. The Z has a high compression engine(10:3:1 to be exact) and if you know anything about engines the compression ratio determines the octane you should use. Your trans am probably had a ratio of 8:?:1 which is very good for 87 but If it were mine i would still put 93 in it.
So if your engine stops running or starts perfoming poorly don't expect any mercy from nissan and dont post your problem on here.
I dont understand why people buy the cheap stuff if your only going to save 30 cent and will have problems in the long term. What the hell is 30 cent going to help if your car breaks down.
So if your engine stops running or starts perfoming poorly don't expect any mercy from nissan and dont post your problem on here.
I dont understand why people buy the cheap stuff if your only going to save 30 cent and will have problems in the long term. What the hell is 30 cent going to help if your car breaks down.
I'm no expert and make no claims to be. My experience with knock comes from Harley tuning and finding that higher octane allows more aggressive timing but that even the highest octane can be overcome with too much timing to produce knock. Old Harleys aren't smart though and don't adjust with such new fangled things as knock sensors and fancy self-adjusting ECU's. You pick an advance and use the right gas accordingly. Compression ratio plays a large part too and is a big part of the same tuning. It's all about cylinder pressure and timing.
Feel free to disagree, but this is MHO. Btw, I run the highest octane gas I can get in my Z, but only because it's not my daily driver and mileage isn't important to me.
Rich
04-27-2006, 04:56 AM
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i would put in the cheapst gas... i dont care much. ill just trade the car in within 3 years anyway. I have own high end luxury cars 3 times the price of my z yet i would still put in 87 ocatane. Theres just no point in keepin a car long term. Its a bad investment. Everyone knows that cars are the worse investments. Its just cheaper and easier if you switch up your cars every few years
04-27-2006, 06:46 AM
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WOW - I would question your logic here.
You think taking a massive depreciation hit (that every car experiences in its first 36 months) by replacing your car every three years makes more financial sense than owning one car for a longer period of time??
The marginal amount of money you will save on 87 octane will not offset the depreciation.
You think taking a massive depreciation hit (that every car experiences in its first 36 months) by replacing your car every three years makes more financial sense than owning one car for a longer period of time??
The marginal amount of money you will save on 87 octane will not offset the depreciation.
Originally Posted by Gooey
i would put in the cheapst gas... i dont care much. ill just trade the car in within 3 years anyway. I have own high end luxury cars 3 times the price of my z yet i would still put in 87 ocatane. Theres just no point in keepin a car long term. Its a bad investment. Everyone knows that cars are the worse investments. Its just cheaper and easier if you switch up your cars every few years
04-27-2006, 07:20 AM
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Getting a lower rated gas than recommended for some reason reminds me of a poseur. It's like getting a new huge plasma TV, and using rabbit ears for the signal. Sure it works, but if you're spendning so much on something, why only use some of its potential?
04-27-2006, 07:54 AM
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My 2003 Enth 350Z is almost 4 years old this August.. I have always put PREMIUM gas in it.. about .20 higher than regular.. Since i share the drive and ride with my other car.. I only fill up the Z about once every 3 weeks.. THEREFORE the prem. gas is about $100. MORE a year than regular.. I strongy believe that is well worth the extra small amount a year.. BUT each to there own.. THE extra performance I HAVE FOUND is well worth that extra $$$..