I have a 92 SE 5 SP and I think I read that you should be putting in premium Unleaded with an octane of at least 91. I have been putting in regular unleaded with an octane of 86 or so. Should I be using the better stuff?

 

The 91 octane will give you better perfomrance and probably better milage since you won't be reving as hard to accelerate, but the car does not have a high compression engine and does not require 91+ octane to operate. At least this is what is stated in the 93 SE owner's manual.

 

I'm a cheapskate, so I use 89 octane unless I find premium (91 or better) for less than $1.10, use the good stuff. The extra few cents per gallon is nothing compared to the 30-40 more miles I get per tank running 89 versus 87. 91-93 gets a little better than 89 but not much. I use it just for peace of mind I guess.

 

I have a 93 se 5 speed and i use sunoco 94 octane, with advanced timing. It feels stronger than the lower octanes.

 

in my 92 se 5spd

 

I ALWAYS use 91 or better in my 92. Stupid California Gas.

 

I use 93 octane, nothing below!
How do you advance the timing? Is there a how-to anywere?

 

its pretty simple on the ve http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte671n/mymax.html

 

Check here:
Timing Advance Thread

 

91 octane all the way bro. and i didnt even know that they sold 86 octane anymore. but if i were you, id step up to 91. my 90 se has 172,000 mi on it and i still run 91, and it gets up and runs a lot better than 89, or less. it burns better, and you get better mileage.

 

I always use 93 octane. I need all the performance I can get since I have a VG. And I'll never put regular unleaded gas in, because I don't like pinging.

 

so I guess you didn't hear the one about the maxima driver who used 87 and then swtiched to 93... he got better MPG and SAVED money buy using 93... but this was on a 4th gen...

 

This debate has gone on before. The VG only requires regular unleaded 87 octane. 91 is the AKI of 87 octane fuel. The manual does state that premium is recommended for improved performance. I personally have my timing advanced to 20 BTDC so I always use Amaco GOLD 93 octane. The best thing is to stick with one brand of gas to help eliminate possibilities when a problem arises eg your car has always run good on brand X and it is running bad and has brand X in the tank it isn't likely to be bad gas.

 

When I use to go snowboarding in Utah, I saw 85 octane. That is what they sell at every gas station in Southwestern Utah.

But, here is NC, I always get 89 octane. And I always stick with the name brands (Amoco, Texaco, Chevron, Exxon), the clean stuff. I here our injectors tend to go bad, so I like to keep my fuel lines clean.

I don't notice any difference in running 89 to 93. But, I did notice a difference when I ran 87 octane. Gas mileage was worse. I am planning on advancing my timing here shortly, so from there on out, I will be running only 93.

 

I think the low density altitude (thin-as-hair air), reduces detonation enough that they can sell 85 and not have serious reliability issues.

 

Makes sense. I do only see the low octane rating in higher elevations.

 

Vq is different from vg as the vg has lower compression. 87 is reconmended for the vg and you will not see any gains by going 93-at least in my experience.

 

uhhh, actually that's incorrect.

the VG has 9:1 compression, and the VE has 10:1. same as a VQ.

 

That's what I thought, but don't have my manual to back me up. Maybe that's the gas recommendations for the VG? The SE and GXE both have the same owner's manual...

I think the VE is capable of running on 87, but poorly. I always use 93 premium if not for the performance then for the extra additives like Techron