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2003-2009 Nissan 350Z

To Switch To Regular Gas Or Not???

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Old Apr 28, 2006 | 07:54 PM
  #81  
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Wouldn't you rather pay for dental floss than a tooth filling and dentist visit? That's the way I think of it
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Old Apr 28, 2006 | 09:02 PM
  #82  
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Fawk regular i use diesel.
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Old Apr 28, 2006 | 09:15 PM
  #83  
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Originally Posted by ShayanZ
Do you guys think we can use regular instead of premium. At least save up some like that. ((
DO NOT USE regular!!!

It is very tempting and I used to think that way too. And many times, when those TV reporters come out they say there's not much difference between grades and premium won't help your engine. True if your car only requires regular grade. But 350z needs premium. If you search online, most people will say follow what your owners manual says.
If you end up using regular, you'll experience "knocking" and this will eventually damage your engine.
Even if nothing happens, I would rather pay 20 more a month and have a peace of mind. Besides, changing habits and using cruise control will probably help alot.
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Old Apr 28, 2006 | 09:22 PM
  #84  
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buy a motorcycle, im pondering one recently
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 02:51 AM
  #85  
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I'm pretty frugal, but there is no way in hell that I'm going to put anything less than premium in my baby!
I was really surprised at how much my gas mileage improved by keeping my rpm's under 3200. I'm not saying that every shift is under 3200, but 8 out of 10 times it's under and I definitely noticed an improvement in gas mileage.
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 03:22 AM
  #86  
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I use premium and fill up ~10 gallons every 7 days. I tried putting regular in my Z once. Even with my usual granny driving, I had to fill up again after 3 days or so
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 04:05 AM
  #87  
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Originally Posted by Gryphin
buy a daily driver
+1

I have a 95 Corolla as my daily. 30 MPG or more. However I feel like a tool driving it.
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 04:26 AM
  #88  
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Originally Posted by LIdrew
+1

I have a 95 Corolla as my daily. 30 MPG or more. However I feel like a tool driving it.

You have to do a shiv-ton of driving to make BUYING another car save you money... I spend about $200 a month on gas so thats like $2400 a year. So even if the Corolla got 2x the mileage the Z gets (which it wont) thats still $93 a month in gas to drive the corolla ($200 / 2 = 100 then minus $7 b/c it takes reg gas)... then I am looking at least another $40 for insurance so that leaves me $67 to pay for the car to BREAK EVEN. So If I picked up the car for $3000 (which I doubt I can) I won't actually start saving any money for about 4+ years. I could pay cash for the car I guess but I would rather leave that money in my stock account and drive the Z everyday.

EDIT: Not to mention the fact you are pretty much going to be losing value on the Z while you aren't even using it! I just can't imagine saving money by owning two cars.

Last edited by hypeiv; Apr 29, 2006 at 04:30 AM.
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 05:19 AM
  #89  
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Hahah ShayanZ <----- PWNDED!!! Premium it is.

I would buy a Bike but parents would want me to leave the house. Id do it in a heart beat.
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 05:25 AM
  #90  
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gotta run premium in a bike too.. and you dont get that great of mileage on a bike.. if you ride hard anyway
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 05:33 AM
  #91  
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One tank of gasoline with less than 91 octane is no big deal. You will get some minor pre-ignition, but I doubt there will be long term adverse effects.

The problem is consistently running the engine with the wrong gasoline. The potential risk does not offset the savings.
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 06:01 AM
  #92  
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Originally Posted by ClaytonC01
gotta run premium in a bike too.. and you dont get that great of mileage on a bike.. if you ride hard anyway
I got great mileage on my r1 ~40mpg. If you get a bike say goodbye to the Z. It will make any car feel like a snail by comparison.
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 06:23 AM
  #93  
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Originally Posted by asp17
HOW MANY MILES DO YOU ALL GET ON YOUR FILL UP WITH REGULAR OR PREMIUM?? ANYONE COMPARED?? I GET ABOUT 290 ON PREMIUM. HAVENT TRIED REGULAR TO MUCH "YET"
How the heck are you driving? Geez.....I get about 400 miles per tank in my car.....and that's just my regular driving (which gets spirited at times).
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 06:27 AM
  #94  
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Originally Posted by davidv
One tank of gasoline with less than 91 octane is no big deal. You will get some minor pre-ignition, but I doubt there will be long term adverse effects.

The problem is consistently running the engine with the wrong gasoline. The potential risk does not offset the savings.
Correction: pre-detonation not pre-ignition.[/i]
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 06:39 AM
  #95  
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Originally Posted by davidv
Correction: pre-detonation not pre-ignition.[/i]
Ahah. I don't think pre-detonation exist. You either explode your mix, or you don't.

Pre-ignition (or auto-ignition), aka ignition of the fuel air mixture before the actual spark, will often lead to detonation of the other part of the mix. Piston goes up, heat builds, the fuel/air mixture ignites and start to burn (burning = slow flame front). Further more increasing cylinder pressure while the piston still goes up and BANG, the rest of the mix detonates (explode) at once. This is often called mild detonation since only part of the mix actually detonates.

Full detonation of the whole mix is rare these days, with knock sensing intervening before it gets that bad.


As for mileage. I get ~360 miles on my Z. On long haul, it goes up to over 500 miles.

Ah, my Titan barely get 340, with a 26 gallons fill...
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 06:46 AM
  #96  
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Originally Posted by gatti-man
I got great mileage on my r1 ~40mpg. If you get a bike say goodbye to the Z. It will make any car feel like a snail by comparison.
40mpg on an r1? you must baby that thing..
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 07:50 AM
  #97  
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Plus, you really want to use a good grade of Premium.

I did some "cost analysis" based upon my driving style and gas mileage. Believe it or not, it was about the same price to use Shell/76/Chevron as it was to use Arco, if the price difference was 0.10 or less. At 0.12 difference, the cost benefit was in favor of Arco, but there was still a significant effect to HP.
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 08:17 AM
  #98  
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Heh I cant wait to get a Z to save some gas Sure the price at the pump will be the same, but I can see its cost. Right now my Explorer get 15 mpg on a avg week. Bad week is < 12mpg(7-8 times a year), and a good week (2 times a year if that) is 19-22mpg.

So when you have a car that drinks the cheapest stuff I can find like there’s no tomorrow is harder to fill up, then a Z drinking prem. It is a sports car after all with 250+ hp(at engine). My explorer on the other hand is 135hp (at engine, if that). Which one makes more since? My mom gets the same gas mileage as me, but she has a SUV with 275/275 engine... (except she never has bad weeks). I find it easier to fill up her SUV than mine. To bad I cant drive it more, sucks not living at home :P

So people with Z's should not really complain, at least you have the numbers to back up the mpg. I on the other hand I don’t. The explore is just big and boxy. Not heavy by any means according to new SUV standards.

Last fill up $49.00 (16.61 gal) for a total trip of 249 miles at 14.99 mpg 320 miles is the farthest I can go on a 22 gal tank....

Last edited by HardTech; Apr 29, 2006 at 08:20 AM.
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 09:23 AM
  #99  
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wow dude.. my explorer gets 22 mpg highway and its a v8..
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Old Apr 29, 2006 | 10:34 AM
  #100  
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If you want to be really cheap without hurting your engine mix 89 octane 50/50 with 93 octane. That will give you 91, which is the highest in California. The cars are made to run on 91 since that is the highest available in some parts of the US.

Since 89 is 10 cents less per gallon you only save an average of 5 cents per gallon by mixing. Not much but hey you wanted to save money.
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