hi, today i filled up my gas tank full with 89 and i drove about 100 miles and the tank went down half way almost.... is this good? If its bad what should I do to improve it... I already have a after math filter.

 

why not use super as reccomended?

 

Ummm. First off, what is an After Math filter? Second off, 100 miles to half a tank is not that great something is going on here. Either you have a really really heavy right foot, which I do from time to time, or you have a minor problem that needs to be addressed. When driving my max ***** to the walls, I get mileage like you describe. I doubt you are, otherwise, you wouldn't be concerned. To try toimprove your gas mileage you can try a number of things. Start with a simple fuel treatment. Cleaning the injectors will always help out. Cleanthe Throttle body. If you don't know how, check the FAQs in this forum. Then think about changing your fuel filter. If doing those things do not yield gains in mileage, have yourknock sensor checked out.

David

BTW. I think you mean an after market filter. Are you using a K&N replacement filter, or a pop charger system similar to the Jim Wolfe or Stillen setup?

 

first off, you should be filling up with 91. yes, 100 miles is bad. how many gallons did you fill up? and was it all city driving? check your knock sensors, drop in some those fuel injector cleaners, clean your throttle body.

 

David you are right its a after market filter, Im not using 91 because in the long run it cost more $$ which I cant afford since I am a college student. About 2 weeks ago i did the whole maintenence/clean up from the store for about $400..(oil/transmission/engine/rad fluids)I do hit the gas hard sometime but not often...like today i didnt for example.. It is a mixture of highway/city miles

 

but dont it say use unleaded fule only??

 

all fuel is unleaded now

 

Your maxima is going to **** up so bad if you are going to use 89. It's not so much because of the compresion but it has to do with the the whole sensor and emissions bullcrap. I would add tons of octane booster to the gas tank right now if I were you!!!

Oh yeah if you open your gas tank flap it reads: Recomended Premium Fuel only!!!

DON'T USE ANYTHING LOWER THEN 91.Otherwise your max is going to crap out on you one of these days
S

 

Guys, the reason why 91 octane or higher is necessary for the Maxima is to avoid detonation or pre-ignition in the engine. I also found the following in the FAQ: "Detonation means that the fuel and air mixture ignite at the wrong time due to the high compression and heat. This is VERY bad for the engine. The effects of detonation is cumulative, meaning the damage adds up. Higher octane gas will be more resistant to detonation and allow your engine to run as intended." (fixed some typos before pasting it here )

The few cents per gallon you are saving in fuel doesn't justify the end result of a damaged engine in the long run. I used to use lower octane fuels in my 2nd maxima, sometimes even 87. We'll I traded that car in a long time ago and didn't really see the actual harms detonation can do but I know that that maxima was heading straight down to the scrap yard. You can bet I'm religiously using at least 91 octane now.

 

93 and i get like 200 a tank
cuz i do all short trip city driving

 

No, it doesn't.The sticker on the gas tank flap says use unleaded fuel only, premium is reccomended for maximum performance. Premium is easier on the knock sensor, and the ecu doesn't have to retard timing. Using 89 isn't going to mess your car up. At worst, the knock sensor will crap out over time, but that doesn't hurt your car. It'll just switch to a safe map. It'll run pretty slow, but it's not going to hurt anything.

 

was gonna type the exact thing but you beat me to it.

 

about 80% of maxima owners arnt car enthusiist.. just middle aged parents who needed a good family sedan..i doubt all of them use 91+ gas..so yeah,i agree that using 89 wont damage the engine, cuase there are a buncho maximas still on the road.

however, using 91 plus will benefit your carperforamce, and a small margin ins milage. better timing, better combustion, optimal ECU settings.. so yeah.i dont see the dollar or 2 difference as too big a deal.

 

thanks alot guysss

 

BTW, next time you change your plugs, inspect your old plugs and watch out for the center electrode of each plugs. Any signs of damage to it or the side electrode are signs of engine detonation.

I don't see the point of saving at least $1.80 per tank for 89 octane since 91 octane are usually at least .10 cents more per gallon. The repair cost of a damaged engine because of accumulative detonation over a long period of time is much much greater.

To each his own I guess.

 

I have always used premium because it recommended it but a few times recently I tried mid grade and it ran fine, so one day I got brave and ran an entire tank of regular... the car ran perfectly and I saw no adverse affects. A friend told me as long as it isn't knocking or pinging I should have no problem with the lower priced gas.

 

Here's a good article which should provide more info regarding the subject: http://www.dynospotracing.com/octane.htm

 

it comes dowwn to this: can you run lower octane fuel? Yes. Wil it affect your gas mileage? Yes.

There's your trade off: Maybe $2-3 more on a whole tanks worth of gas compared to 200 miles per tank.


Also, if money is the issue, mush like it is with me: look into seeing if there's a BJ's or sam's club, or other wholesaleish store near you. A lot of these places have gas stations now, and their discounted prices apply to the gas too.


Right now, premium is like $1.80 at most gas stations, and i'm paying $1.69. As far as the quality goes: it's not like running 94 octance, but it'll give me close to 400 miles per tank.

 

Remember that 89 octane is also the MINIMUM octane rating for that fuel. So...i guess it could be 90 or 91 you never know...probably not though. I would say that the manufacturers list 91 octane to be on the safe side. They do not want engines coming back after 2 years with problems and have to fix them under warranty so therefore they say 91 minimum to prevent problems. Honestly i think if you go to a good quality gas station, Mobil or something, you will be ok running 89 provided you're not taking your car to WOT every time. If you do drive like theres a fire somewhere, the I would use 93.

Funny how its either 89 or 93...fuel ***** its hard to find 91.

 

[in my place is its 87, 89, 91 i think or 93
I usually use the middle one.. Ill go to BJ's and start using 91/93
thanks guys

 

It depends on where you live though...the highest octane in NM is 90...I am asumming because of the elevation though..I'm at 4,200 ft above sea level....I don't think you need as high of an octane at higher elevations...but don't quote me on this

 

it does depend on where you live. From what i understand, on the west coast the highest you can get is 91, and then race gas. On the east coast, we can get 94 (and i'm pretty sure years ago you could get 96) at the pump.


Oh, and all you northeast people: NY and CT (among others) are removing the MTBE from gas. IT's expected to go as much as .40 higher per gallon.

 

Hey phatmax where you live in nm. I live albuquerque and I can find 91 to 93 all day long. There's a station down on brodway called smiley's and he has 96 octane. it's 1.84 a gallon right now. I alway's run it and I love it. I get 400+ on a tank in town. Not saying it's the gas. Just do though.

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO uke: :cry:

 

I used premium in the summertime, but I tried to use 89 for some time now (cold weather) and there are no problems. I still get almost 400 miles per tank (maybe little more with regular tires) . I think that I ll go to premium when the weather goes warm. I personally don t see any change in power or mileage when compared mid grade to premium. But I drive easy ,and my foot is pretty lite. I know that is only an extra $ 1.80, but when you fill up weekly it adds up. Other than that , I d like to wish a very Happy and Healthy New Year to all the members.

 

Lucky...I use 93, and still manage about 220 to a tank...

 

I live in a small town called clovis, right on the border of texas...and now that you mention I think I do remember getting a higher octane over in ABQ...I don't go there too often and forgot..oh well...but for 90 octane which is the highest in my town..it's running 1.51 a gallon

 

Just for comparison, I was in my friend's 5th gen SE last nite and I asked him how much he gets per tank. He said between 300-320, on rare occassions 350. And he uses premium fuel. Just something to think about. BTW, being in the 5th gen feels much like being in the 4th gen when it comes to interior and instrumentation. But the car feels noticeably heavier than a 4th gen.

 

Uhhh.... actually my mother bought her maxima new in 96, and has put nothing but 87 octane in it, and it still runs like it did the day she bought it. Only thing she ever replaced is a starter. 115k + miles,

 

My cousin has used regular on and off in his E36 M3. He's had it for over 7 years now with no problems. Is his car gonna do a 5.9 0-60 on 87? Probably not. But you will find in life that people who have money aren't quick to lecture others on what saving pennies does and does not do.

I'll say this once again--I don't particularly care how much city driving a person does. You only get 200 miles on a full tank you best check your motor to make sure it's functioning properly. I just did a trip and got 440. I knew my mileage wasn't that good because I was doing 80-85 on the turnpike and I got caught in bump-bump traffic at the GW bridge. But I still cleared 400 miles. Is that good? No, because that means I got around 23-24 on the highway. But like I said, idling for nearly an hour around the GW doesn't help at all.

 

i get 300-360 miles per tank on average...and thats with a LOT of spirited driving if you know what i mean

 

I was just saying that you don't kill the car by using mid grade, not that it's reccomended. But I've run 89 before and like you, I've never experienced ANY loss of power or mileage. A couple of times, mileage went up with the midgrade. I get 350 miles per fillup (about 15-16 gallons), using either one. Never tried 87 octane before though.

 

I didn't know that the difference of $1.80 (4 times a month for example or depending on how often you refuel), between 89 and premium, can be a financial burden to people. But it doesn't hurt the pocket to pay $3 or more dollars for a cup of Starbuck's latte or cappucino every darn morning, and I'm sure not all of them "have money".

 

ive been using 87 (i know thats bad) but i go 300miles with it but when i really push it i can go 350 on a full tank + mine is auto
after this tank is over im goin for 91 its cheap here in OK its like 1.50 and 87 is like 1.32