DruDragzOn

I drive all the way to Sunoco to get gas for ultra 94 and this guy gave me regular, octane rating of 87! I guess I'm just paranoid but will it cause any harm to the car if this happens? I've always gotten either 93 or 94 octane gas and for the first time I'm using 87 right now.

spitfirez

iTrader: (1)

It won't do any permanent damage. You might hear some knocking and I would take it easy as far as aggressive driving is concerned until you get some high octane gas which should be as soon as possible.

Ultimateone

I thought 94 was phased out in NY and Jersey?

DiRN

The highest I've seen in a long time is 93.

KrazY-2K

You guys are lucky. We're stuck down here with crap 90 octane.

orhanz33

i see 94, but barely... does it really make a big differece? 90-93-94? i usually get the best of whatever they got, it would be nice to know why i do this

DiRN

I always just pull in and ask for Premium, which is 93 at my usual gas station.

DavesZ#3

iTrader: (26)

The thing that amazes me is that you guys are apparently going to real "service stations", i.e. ones that have an attendent that pumps the gas. I haven't seen one of those in about 10 years. I didn't think they even existed anymore.

The price differential for full service must mean that you're paying over $2 per gallon, huh?

DB19

There are no self service stations in New Jersey or in Oregon. It is illegal. All gas stations are full service.

NISMO_GUY2003

Too many people blowing themselves up by not knowing how to use the self-serve lanes properly??

KrazY-2K

How hard is it to get out and put hgas in yourself?

ares

iTrader: (2)

the octane resists burning. seems odd. but in high compression engines the gas and air may want to ignite by itself before the spark, and before the piston ever makes it to the top of the stroke.

this means the force of the blast actually tries to push the rotation backwords. it wont suceed cause for every time it detonates early the other cylinders are firing normall and force it through. but the engine does not appreciate it.

Id reccomend purchasing octane boost, its an additive that you put in the gas tank. and refill with the hightest when you get to half a tank to try and raise the overall octane in the tank.

Rushguy

Never seen higher than 93 here in Florida, almost every brand has 93 here tho. Didn't Utah switch to full service only when some congressmans son blew himself up? I'm a freak when I put gas in, I even hold my hand under the nozzle to make sure nothing drips on my car when I take it out.

superstuddc27

iTrader: (1)

i dont' really understand the concept though, i just know the fact. it's better to put higher octane obviously, esp for a sports car and all but how does it work? i also heard that you have to be constant so if you put 91 all the time and go down to 87 then 89 then 94 then 87 again it's not good. so what's really happening? if i were to keep 87 all the time or a 89 how would it matter?
thanks
-dave

Xevious

on the 2004 when u hit the gascap thingy and look at it it says premium only, i know in the manual somewhere it says atleast 91 octane i believe, here in california it sux hard, around ~$2.30 for 91 octane gas and thats as good as it gets here, ive never seen higher than 91 octane for as long as ive lived..

ares

iTrader: (2)

higher isnt always better actually. if its too high it wont burn fully. luckily cars dont vary THAT much in compression, 8-11 is about it, so 87-91/93 pretty well covers everything with the proper amount.

I dont know about going up and down hurting anything, but the engine has a knock sensor and I think adjust the timing or the A/F ratio or something to correct it, but it results in less hp.

Bassmaster

Premium octaine 91 is over $2 a gallon here in WA. and thats pumping it myself.

Subbacultcha

(at least here in Cali) I'm pretty sure the only difference between the 87, 89, 91 octane fuel is the amout of octane boost (resistance to spark) they contain. 91 octane is not higher QUALITY gas over 87 octane. Have you ever noticed fuel tanker trucks that come to refill the gas stations only have TWO tanks? That's because one tank is 91 octane and the other is 87 octane -- the gas station makes the middle 89 octane fuel with a 50/50 mixture of the other two. I find it funny how gas stations all advertise that they have some "special" additive (chevron techron, arco cleantec, etc) to clean the engine, when it's California law that requires all gas stations to have a cleaning additive in their fuel.

oscarmayer00

You guys are so funny. Do you still put batteries in the refrigerator too? If you don't race your Z regular fuel is fine.

Burning regular when the owner's manual specifies premium won't void the warranty, nor damage the engine, even the most finicky automakers say. "You're giving up perhaps just a little bit of performance that a customer wouldn't really even notice, it's so slight".

Today's engines use highly evolved versions of a device called a knock sensor to adjust settings automatically for low-octane gas. And more engine control computers have adequate memory to allow separate sets of instructions for various octanes. The engine control computers keep pushing to maximize performance on whatever grade of fuel is used.

Premium, in fact, sometimes is worse fuel than regular. It resists knock because it's harder to ignite than lower-octane fuels. As a result, some engines won't start as quickly or run as smoothly on premium, notes Gibbs, the SAE fuel expert.

Extreme pressure inside the cylinders causes knock, which is the sound of the pistons literally rattling inside the cylinders. Too much too long can damage the engine. A little now and then won't.

The only modern engines that should really need premium are those with superchargers, which force-feed fuel into the cylinders. "You're driving along and just tramp the gas and the knock sensor cannot sense the knock fast enough in some cases," because the supercharger boosts pressure so fast, says Bob Furey, chemist and fuels specialist at General Motors.

Automakers say they don't test premium engines on regular to check the difference, but some auto engineers estimate that power declines roughly 5%.

"We can't guarantee the vehicle will perform as specified if other than premium fuel is used," says Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman Michelle Murad. All U.S. Mercedes engines specify premium.

All Porsche engines are designed for premium, too, but it's not available everywhere. "Our cars must be able to drive all over the world, and so we are able to run on regular," says Jakob Neusser, director of powertrain development at Porsche's research and development center in Weissach, Germany. "You don't have to feel that a mechanical problem or anything else will happen" using regular gas, even in the highest-performance, regular-production Porsches.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...emiumgas_x.htm