Midi-Chlorian

I just bought a 91 Maxima a few days ago and have been doing research on what kind of gas to use. I know its suggested in the manual to be 91 octane or higher and its not recommended to use blended gas that has Methanol, but it said nothing about Nitrogen enriched gas.

Anyone out there using this V-Power? I want to get the best performance out of my Maxima.

Kountz430

i just use 89 and call it a day from what im seeing and every gas station is gonna have methonal in the fuel you'll be fine

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

I use nothing but either Shell V-power or Chevron Supreme.

ShocknAwe

iTrader: (3)

On an older car I would go premium. What is it? an extra $3 a tank?

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

In my area, it's an extra 30 cents a gallon, so figuring 15 gallons average, a whopping $4.50 a fill-up. Not bad at all, and WELL worth it

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

I get better gas mileage using premium fuel and she runs smoother.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Yeppers, me too. About 30% better, in fact, than I did when the car ran on regular

J_MAxxX

Yes & V-power is awesome, as well as Sunoco Premium.

Cliff Clavin

iTrader: (11)

The station I use has non-ethanol premium. It cost about $.15 more a gallon than normal premium, but I get better mpg with it. If you can get non-ethanol, it is the absolute best for your car. If you are worried about cleaning agents, you could always add a bottle of Techron or whatever every couple of tanks.

Generally, I will use Chevron premium or 76 premium. Chevron is preferred, but I get $.05 off a gallon at 76 and they are the ones with non-ethanol.

When I am out of town, I will go to Costco or wherever and fill it with premium or sometimes even mid-grade. Using that once in a while isn't going to ruin you car or anything.

Shift_A32B

iTrader: (14)

This ^
I use Chevron Supreme 95% of the time
5% of the time I use Shell V-power. Nothing else enters to my fuel system.

This ^
Even if its meant to run on regular or mid, I recommend premium on old cars. Just my 2 cents.

Fatboy98maxima

+++1 i use 93 shell and that comes out to about a $3 or $4 bucks more per tank i mean if u cant afford an extra 4 bucks per tank u in bad shape Just saying !!

7mJoe

I suppose I'm the only one that goes from low-grade to mid-grade. I generally try to stay in the 89+ ballpark, but when you're goin to school, eating and paying bills generally comes before buying premium gas.

I honestly don't notice much of a change in mpg unless I'm driving back and forth to school.

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

i used to use Shell V-power, but i heard rumors of people randomly getting water instead of gas out of Shell pumps and it happened to a guy i work with. another guy with a Supra i know filled up with Shell and got crazy engine problems and a CEL, cleared up when he put different gas in

i just use Esso 91 now

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

I roll 89 shell but will take chevron over it if I come across it 1st.

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

I have used exclusively Chevron in my Maximas for years now. Always 93 octane in the blue VE because of the JWT ECU. Black Maxima I'll run 89 every once in a while.

Shell is every bit on par with Chevron in quality but I've got a Chevron right on my way to/from work so Chevron it is. Plus, if you sign up for their rewards card thing (not a credit card, just like a store rewards card), you get "points" for each gallon of gas. 100 points is $1. One of these days I'll have enough points for a free fill up or a **** ton of junk food.

What really sucks now is that there are NO ethanol-free gas stations anywhere near DFW. The ethanol blend crap really kills gas mileage for me. I lose about 2-3 mpg with it.

Midi-Chlorian

We don't have Chevron out in Colorado, at least I dont' think so. But I put safeway gas yesterday and It ran fine, but today I started her up this morning and she was struggling.. I put in 91 cuz that was the highest they had there.. I heard in higher elevation 91 pretty much acts like 93 at sea level.

There was a 1/3 of a tank in her when I put 10 bucks worth of Safeway gas with some fuel injector cleaner.. Do you think the safeway gas is the culprit for making the engine run rough?

Edit: I did some research and I think what is making her sluggish is a cracked distributor cap. It was dry all the days that I've owned her save for last night it rained and was quite humid all day today. I just started the car a few minutes ago and it ran a lot better than it did this morning. Hope distributor cap is the problem.

Thanks for the info guys, paying a little bit extra seem worth it to me.

Cliff Clavin

iTrader: (11)

I definitely notice a difference. You are correct, it's like 2-3 mpg better with it. BMW seems to have a bit more power with it, too. We travel a lot, so sometimes I fill it at Costco with super. I can definitely tell the difference when I go back to non-ethanol.

I have been using non-ethanol in my chainsaws and I can really tell the difference in those. I have a Stihl from the 80s and a big ol' badass Jonsered from the 70s. I think the Jonsered is like 4 hp, but it is super heavy. I mostly use the Stihl. Both were not designed to run on ethanol. I think the Jonsered was designed with leaded gas in mind.

BigLou55

iTrader: (6)

im pretty sure you mean ethanol and not methanol. its hard now a days to find pure gasoline without a blend. There is a site though that has a list of all the reported stations that use pure gasoline. I use shell premium and my max loves it. Chevron as many have mentioned is also good but its not as convenient as shell is around my area so it just makes sense to get it, and its good quality fuel.

Rods03Max619

iTrader: (5)

Use the same, other Max was on BP at the AMPM, but now just nothing but Shell, safer since other ride got totaled at a AMPM....

nismax1994

I know this is purely anecdotal, but I'm gonna throw out that I have used only premium grade Chevron, Shell, and BP in my '94 GXE from 70k miles in 1998 to 350k miles today and have never replaced an injector.

T_Behr904

I've used Shell V-Power in all of my cars 98% of the time for many years now. When I had my supercharged GTP, I was able to drop down to a 3.4in pulley on stock timing without any problems. Also having premium gas at 93 octane around here helped out there too, since the standard premium elsewhere is either 91 or 92.

If you can find premium in your area that is ethanol-free, that's even better. Unfortunately, the only ethanol-free gas anywhere around here is only mid-grade 89, and it's sold at a non top tier gas station.

maxine1999

What about using 93 octane shell v-power with a bottle of 104+ octane booster? I used it once and it ran so much quicker. Is it bad to use the booster a lot?

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

Idk about a lot but it is a plus to use the booster. I know I do when going on trips and my car loves me for it.

lux97Max

iTrader: (24)

i use 87 and get great performance! and good gas mileage weird i guess,,, not to mention i took a cobra on 87 gas

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

I actually heard the same rumors about V-power and my Max really doesn't respond well with it anyway. Mobil or Exxon when they can be found and Hess. I steer far away from Valero and other no name terrorist gas stations!!

maxine1999

That's when I use it too. On long trips because it does burn a little slower.

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

I always keep me an arsenal.