I see several messages on this topic. I've been looking at buying a '97 SE ($78K miles loaded up for $8900 - am I getting taken?).

Never noticed that it was even suppose to use premium - but from the sound of the other posts Maxima's are suppose to use premium only? (Haven't bought one yet so I cannot check the manual.)

By premium, is that 91 octane or 93?

Is this one of those: 91 is preferred but 89 is still ok per the manual? (I had a GrandPrixGTP like this for a while. Actually think I came out ahead with 91 octane because gas milage seemed better - never measured for sure.)

Makes me wonder if anything bad may have happened from the previous owners running the first 7 years in the car without premium gas. Anything bad?

-Brian

 

if NY has 93 then run 93. if 93 is not availabie then run 91. higher octane will have better combustion, performance will be better as well, and ur engine will last longer in the long-run. therefore i don't recommend running 89...

 

always run 93 if its available, maxima engines REQUIRE it. I personally only run Sunoco 94 octane (which independent research shows it averages 95.5 octane!). For a great write up on what octane is, and why performance engines need it:
http://www.seansa4page.com/resource/octane.html
Hope this helps

 

$8900 for a 97 SE with 78k sounds steep. I got my 96 GLE with black leather and bose system and 27k miles for $7000

 

I got my 97 GXE with 57k miles for 6500 - texas car totally mint. But it had a salvaged title but is currently a clear minnesota title, so it's all good. I would pass that up unless the car is unusually mint.
If the lady didn't run premium gas the KR should notice that and (Im a newb so I could be wrong about this) just retard the timing which would cause her to lose power in order to cope with less octane.
Sunco 94 octane? Which stores have this gas? I never heard of it.

 

wait wait wait wait.... maximas REQUIRE the highest grade octane.... its not a stock boosted engine, i dont see why... but that worries me, cus im pretty sure the previous owner (lady owned since day one) didnt do that... and I didnt at first, but I do now...

 

Yeah $8900 is too much, based off of what people have mentioned here in the past.

I think the manual recommends 91+, maybe not 'requires' it. Supposedly if you're just using lower octane and not switching back and forth all the time, you won't have to worry about your knock sensor letting ping occur as it re-adjusts. Some disagree, so it's your call.

 

Our engines are setup with very little tolerance (hence why our lil 3.0L engines spit out 190 restricted HP stock, whereas a 92 camero 3.1L spits out a measly 140HP) which leaves little room for error. With our advanced/variable timing, it is imperative for optimum performance and engine life to run 91+ (93 ideally) to prevent damage to the engine. Especially if you pract ice hack and slash city driving (as I do), it will make your engine last 10x longer.

Sunoco is a chain of gas stations in the midwest, most carry like 5 grades of gas, including 94 octane (good stuff). Also all of their oil is imported from Brazil, as opposed to the middle east if that is of any concern to you (granted it really doesn't make a difference). A few of the Sunocos around here even carry 100 and 105 octane gas, best injector cleaner you can buy! (Granted it is like $3.50/$4 a gallon, but hey, 3 gallons of that, plus the remainer in 94 octane, and you have some pretty gas)

ALSO OF NOTE:
The knock sensor is basically a small microphone designed to hear the engine pinging/knocking, meaning it has to actually occur BEFORE your knock sensor can decrease the timing (losing power + gas mileage). So even if you run **** gas all the time, it will still have a detrimental affect on your engine, as the ECU will try to advance the timing, only for the engine to knock/ping a few times, then the knock sensor will have it retract the timing, etc. its a vicious cycle, that is made worse by city driving.

 

WTF? We have 10.5:1 compression ratio THAT'S why we need at least 91 octane. 91 is still low and 93 seems OK for high compression like ours.

 

if only we had 93 octane @ gas stations here in cali. if only........

i think we should setup a strike.

how come no 93 octane @ cali gas stations? i know we got race fuel but its too much $$$


lets strike.
WE WANT 93 OCTANE, WE WANT 93 OCTANE

 

Is premium needed for best performance? yes
Is it needed to maintain engine health/life? NO!



I think you meant emissions equipment clogger.

Again inaccurate.

The knock sensor detects the "onset" of knock and retards the timing LONG before it is even remotely severe and would have any effect whatsoever on engine life. People here have gotten used Max's with over 100k miles on them that they KNOW had nothing but 87 octane in them for their entire life up to that point and they have still been reliable engines with no problems. All you need to do then is put in a tank of 93 octane and the engine will be unrestricted for the first time in its life and ready to go.

 

And the compression ratio is 10:1, not 10.5:1. And compression ratio is just one factor in determining an engines susceptibility to predetonation.

 

just running lower octane, like was said alot of times before, will cause knock, therefore ECU is going to pull the timing. Causes power loss and that much more strain on KS, and O2 sensors.

Running lower octane isn't worth the trouble.

 

well I will def. be putting 93 in it from now...... 10:5:1 compression... didnt know it was that high....

 

in ny sunoco don't have 94 anymore it's 87 89 91 and 93 no more 94........

 

Is it 10:1? Sorry I thought it was 10.5 for some reason, can anyone confirm this? Either way it's pretty high and you should get a high octane gasoline to have a smaller chance of knock.

 

I got my 95 se w/ 117k miles for $3k

93 Octane Only...becuase she simply Deserves it

 

its called DOHC and SOHC. its called 2 valves per cylinder/ 4 valves per cylinder.

2k4 accord VTEC pumps 240hp outta 3.0L. we aint doing as good as u think either.

1996 Ford Mustang V6 3.8L 150 hp 225 torque. i used to think that it was PATHETIC until i found out that its got 12 valves