Buying premium gas is waste of money

[supersnoop]

No, octane is in there somewhere as well as unleaded. I may have to dig out my Car Magazines from then, because I've peeled so many lawyers on the Act, I still can't find it.
One thing I did not know, that is discovered in researching this, is apparently gasoline is not the same octane in every part of the country. Regular can be as low as 85 octane, and premium as low as 90. It's 87 and 92 here. Bottom line is, you're not going to hurt your car burning premium, but the trending story this week is your only burning up money you don't need to be spending..

Different octanes are offered in places at different elevations. It's an oxygen-content issue during combustion. Again, there are still many cars that actually do require "premium" and do NOT adjust engine settings if lower octane is detected.

 

[PlutoPony]

It's interesting how much spread in price there is between regular and premium gas around here. It used to be no more than 10 cents/galloon but now it's a good 45-50 cents - why? Is there that much difference all over the country? I'm in the metro DC area... Is this simply supply and demand driven or something else?

 

[tvguy]

Different octanes are offered in places at different elevations. It's an oxygen-content issue during combustion. Again, there are still many cars that actually do require "premium" and do NOT adjust engine settings if lower octane is detected.

Which ones are those? That's what the knock sensor is all about. It certainly is possible, like back when most auto makers went to catalytic converters in 1975 and Volvo and BMW went with thermal reactors for a few years so their cars could still burn leaded gas.

 

[supersnoop]

Which ones are those? That's what the knock sensor is all about. It certainly is possible, like back when most auto makers went to catalytic converters in 1975 and Volvo and BMW went with thermal reactors for a few years so their cars could still burn leaded gas.

Well, the original article copied into the OP says that 16% of Americans drive cars that require premium unleaded. My 2004 BMW X3 and 2013 Lexus RX 450h both require premium. My 2007 BMW 760Li and 2000 Chevrolet Camaro SS recommend premium, but will run on regular. My Tesla Roadster requires a different type of fuel.

 

[daughtersrus]

Which ones are those?

According to this article, there are 485

http://bestride.com/research/buyers-guide/these-485-2017-and-2016-cars-require-premium-fuel

 

[DawnM]

Unless you live on the East Coast right now and can't get regular!

 

[tvguy]

According to this article, there are 485

http://bestride.com/research/buyers-guide/these-485-2017-and-2016-cars-require-premium-fuel

There are only 263 models sold so THAT can't be correct.https://www.statista.com/statistics/200092/total-number-of-car-models-on-the-us-market-since-1990/

 

[supersnoop]

There are only 263 models sold so THAT can't be correct.https://www.statista.com/statistics/200092/total-number-of-car-models-on-the-us-market-since-1990/

*Trim Levels*
The Z06 requires premium, but it's only "recommended" for the base Corvette.

 

[grumpysteelman]

Different octanes are offered in places at different elevations. It's an oxygen-content issue during combustion. Again, there are still many cars that actually do require "premium" and do NOT adjust engine settings if lower octane is detected.

Well...pretty much all production cars would. The question is how aggressively they try to add the timing back in. You could ping a car to death that had the ability to compensate for lower octane over time. Some cars add timing back in just a few seconds (dynamic) and some wait for the fuel level to increase (triggered).

My Camaro SS is actually part of a group that compensates for lower octane and then has trouble reactivating the premium fuel ignition map. A flaw, as it were.

 

[supersnoop]

My Camaro SS is actually part of a group that compensates for lower octane and then has trouble reactivating the premium fuel ignition map. A flaw, as it were.

On the 4th gens (which I had), the timing reset when the fuel level increased.

 

[grumpysteelman]

Not on this girl. 2009-some of 2011s have this ailment. Not sure if mine suffers from the condition - since it's late 2011 - but she gets 100 octane when I need to "clean her out"

 

[PlutoPony]

Not on this girl. 2009-some of 2011s have this ailment. Not sure if mine suffers from the condition - since it's late 2011 - but she gets 100 octane when I need to "clean her out"

WHOA - where do you find 100 octane and how much does it cost?

 

[grumpysteelman]

WHOA - where do you find 100 octane and how much does it cost?

Sunoco gas stations often have it. It's $8/gal here.

 

[kymom99]

Omg! LOVE that car!

Sunoco gas stations often have it. It's $8/gal here.

Not on this girl. 2009-some of 2011s have this ailment. Not sure if mine suffers from the condition - since it's late 2011 - but she gets 100 octane when I need to "clean her out"

LOVE your car!

 

[grumpysteelman]

LOVE your car!

Thanks! She has wheels now, but I haven't taken any good pictures.

 

[kymom99]

Thanks! She has wheels now, but I haven't taken any good pictures.
View attachment 196640

Beautiful scenery too

 

[MillauFr]

Well, the original article copied into the OP says that 16% of Americans drive cars that require premium unleaded. My 2004 BMW X3 and 2013 Lexus RX 450h both require premium. My 2007 BMW 760Li and 2000 Chevrolet Camaro SS recommend premium, but will run on regular. My Tesla Roadster requires a different type of fuel.

My Tesla runs fine on regular. What do you use?

 

[kathy884]

In the owner's manual it recommend 91 octane gas for my Nissan Murano, so rather than regular or the 89 octane, I've been putting in the 93 (premium), the only one that is 91 or above. Those are the three octane choices offered at local gas stations for me. The car will operate with regular too. For our Ford and Mazda there is no such recommendation of a higher octane gas, so we use regular.

Is the study saying that owners who are following recommendations in their owners manuals are wasting money and that the recommendations car manufacturers are giving are unnecessary / wrong and cause consumers to waste money who are foolish enough to follow theses or is the study saying that people who have cars without that recommendation in their owners manual are wasting money by buying gas that has a higher octane level than what the manufacturer recommends for their car? I am wondering if they are including the first group that would include people like me with that study. And in that case, isn't the real culprit the car manufacturers who are publishing the owner's manual?

I know many people use regular even when the owner's manual recommends something else, as they think following that recommendation is unnecessary, and they may be right. I'm one of those people who not knowing any better does all the regular maintenance and follows other recommendations in that manual as close as possible, thinking that is the best thing for my car. I typically only get a new car every 10 years or so and drive each car I get about 200,000 miles, so want to keep the car in good shape and have it run as trouble free as possible. (I may be wasting money on gas, but my automotive knowledge is so low that I'm not one to follow my own path on maintenance and recommendations. I don't know who to trust on this topic, and just decided to go with what my owners manual recommends.)

 

[grumpysteelman]

In the owner's manual it recommend 91 octane gas for my Nissan Murano, so rather than regular or the 89 octane, I've been putting in the 93 (premium), the only one that is 91 or above.

I typically only get a new car every 10 years or so and drive each car I get about 200,000 miles, so want to keep the car in good shape and have it run as trouble free as possible. (I may be wasting money on gas, but my automotive knowledge is so low that I'm not one to follow my own path on maintenance and recommendations. I don't know who to trust on this topic, and just decided to go with what my owners manual recommends.)

Generally speaking, you're doing the right thing.

91 octane is the lowest level of premium that is (usually) universally available. MFGs don't usually specify 92/93 because not everyone has that available. If you drive gently and don't drive heavily loaded or tow anything - 89 octane is probably ok - but you're doing what I would do.

The premium required or reccomended is not a note to be taken lightly. Many people make buying decisions based on whether a car takes regular fuel or not. It is not in the carmaker's best interest to specify premium - unless the added performance is more attractive and outweighs the sales lost due to people buying other cars with cheaper fuel requirements.

Generally speaking - and I'm an Engineer myself (but not a design engineer) it's funny how laymen second guess the manufacturer recommendations.

There are some exceptions to manufacturers recommendations - if they "include" the services with the car for the first few years, you better believe that the oil change intervals are on the "extended" side - since they're paying for it! BMW is the worst for doing this.

 

[ellie05]

In the owner's manual it recommend 91 octane gas for my Nissan Murano, so rather than regular or the 89 octane, I've been putting in the 93 (premium), the only one that is 91 or above. Those are the three octane choices offered at local gas stations for me. The car will operate with regular too. For our Ford and Mazda there is no such recommendation of a higher octane gas, so we use regular.

Is the study saying that owners who are following recommendations in their owners manuals are wasting money and that the recommendations car manufacturers are giving are unnecessary / wrong and cause consumers to waste money who are foolish enough to follow theses or is the study saying that people who have cars without that recommendation in their owners manual are wasting money by buying gas that has a higher octane level than what the manufacturer recommends for their car? I am wondering if they are including the first group that would include people like me with that study. And in that case, isn't the real culprit the car manufacturers who are publishing the owner's manual?

I know many people use regular even when the owner's manual recommends something else, as they think following that recommendation is unnecessary, and they may be right. I'm one of those people who not knowing any better does all the regular maintenance and follows other recommendations in that manual as close as possible, thinking that is the best thing for my car. I typically only get a new car every 10 years or so and drive each car I get about 200,000 miles, so want to keep the car in good shape and have it run as trouble free as possible. (I may be wasting money on gas, but my automotive knowledge is so low that I'm not one to follow my own path on maintenance and recommendations. I don't know who to trust on this topic, and just decided to go with what my owners manual recommends.)

I think this thread has some really good points just to be clear the article is not focusing on people following the recommendations for their car in fact several times they said you should follow the recommendations . They are talking about people that have cars that recommend regular gas and use premium thinking it is better because they don't understand how octanes work.

Here is what boils down to me and even in the article they mention it. If your car recommends premium and you put cheaper gas you risk knocking of the engine, in my opinion if you plan to keep your car a long time why even risk putting that pressure on the engine to save a few cents ?

Perhaps more important is to stay away from smaller gas stations to avoid carbon build up. Most cars that recommend it or requiere premium are luxury cars and I would never understand why people choose to spend thousand of dollars more on a luxury car, but refuse to put premium . This is a cost that should be calculated in the ownership cost.