1st off to all the "big guys on campus" in these forums, i know i have been posting and replying a lot bcuz guess what? i had to reply 15 times just to be on here, and now that i am here, which i am proud to be, i have the desire to learn all can about this car because ive never payed any attention to nissan in my life. alright, i test drove this car 2 weeks ago, liked it, bought it. CEL came on not 1 after. ran check on codes, P0400-EGR & P0138-sensor #2 (o2). Now ive heard that these cars r not 2 great on gas, but mine is killing it. I found out that dealership had been giving it 87 octane. Understand my pain here, i already shelled out some serious cash and really cant afford to get raped @ a shop. This forum from the couple of days ive been here has been absolutley nothing short of informative (props to everyone) . ok so does the low octane have anything to with my low milage and slight low rpm acceleration, or just the ECU in safety mode because of the codes, or combination? i idle @700 rpm, owners manual doesnt tell me normal idle. ANY input to help me narrow this down would be GREATLY appreciated cuz from what i c on this forum with this gen car, its a pretty common problem. also, if by chance someone was using 87 b4 me for a LONG period of time...would me engine be fuct?

 

no... 87 octane won't mess up your engine because the knock sensor retards the timing to avoid problems, but 87 octane will reduce your mileage and your power, and ignor any retard who says that's not true. You should replace your O2 sensor, that will affect your mileage too (but not really acceleration).

 

I have run my 95SE auto (177K) with 87 for three years. I consistently get 20 MPG in town and 27 if I stay on I4/I75 below 85 because of the OD/ well below 3K RPM. The car runs fine but I'm sure someone will post with the "penny saved-KS foolish"... I used to run 91 in my 96SE 5speed(111K)until gas started pushing $3; now I run 87 in it also. No loss of power,no codes (except rear O2 sensor on the 95 soon after I bought it and never replaced it since FL stopped yearly emissons. The manual only gets 25 (same as it did with 91)on Interstate because 5TH gear is 3K at 80 and, as you know, it's a chore to get down to 70/75 and not get stuck in right lanes and/or locked out of left lane...however, UNLIKE most drivers, I DO move over if flow is going faster and move back when I can set cruise. The way you drive these cars has a lot to do with their gas mileage; they can be fairly economical yet powerful if you ease into throttle and stay below 3K OR a pretty fast gas guzzling 4door....

 

I'm running a 87 test on my car right now. I have tested and found that my Maxima gets better MPG on the interstate with 93 vs 87. I get 31mpg with 93 vs 26mpg with 87 (cruise when poss set just under 80mph) I have been gitting around 18mpg in town on 93 and it looks to be about the same with 87 so far. I ran about 1/2 tank of 87 last week to clear out the 93 and I filled up the other day with 87. I do short trips (5miles to work) so it will take a few weeks to burn this tank. I'll report back after this tank.

 

I get about 22 mpg city with 91 vs 18 mpg with 87.

 

i've used 87 in both my cars, 94 gxe & 97 gxe since i've had them. my 97 gets 22 city, 29 highway. does better than the 94.

 

i use 89

 

Well... let's see here. The manual of your car says to use 91 or above, right? Who knows better about what the car is supposed to run than the engineers who designed the engine? I hate it when people complain about premium being too expensive vs. regular. Let's do the calculation here: Difference between regular and premium is maybe what? ~$0.20??

$0.20 x 16 gallons/tank = $3.20
$3.20, if you filled up every week, times 52 weeks = $166.40/year more versus 87.

I would gladly pay the $170 more per year to have it running right than cheaping out on a couple bucks per tank and having to deal with knock sensor codes, detonation and crappy gas mileage, but that's just me I guess.

 

Like I said before, I run 87... and don't have to deal with crappy mileage, knock sensors or detonation. I have never seen any real gas mileage improvements with higher grade...however, I DO notice a difference in mileage related to the way I drive!! If you go by the book then use 93, especially if you drive hard-n-fast. Higher octane does increase performance when you push the revs. Your call! See countless threads on octane in here, but I'm stating my experience. EVERYBODY has a different opinion and says they have the facts to prove their call. Try it and see for yourself

 

I can agree with just about every statement made above, but I "prefer" to use 93 octane and pref. v-power. In my car and imo, maybe its the placebo effect but my car rides like a beast with 93. Like Tuna said its only $3 more, for cleaner gas. Fix your o2 and clean your egr watch the improvement, and I think 93 keeps the knock sensor demon away.

 

You don't have to deal with detonation because the knock sensor retards your timing to get rid of it If you haven't seen gas mileage improvements then you must be oblivious or your car is in severe need of maintenance.
You don't have to "push the revs" to notice a difference in performance. Biggest difference I noted switching was in the 1500 to 3000 range at part throttle.

Everyone is entitled to opinions, but he FACT is that higher octane will result in better performance (even at part throttle in lower revs) and if the car is up to spec on maintenance and you drive normally it will make a difference in gas mileage.

You choose to run 87 because you don't feel like spending the money. Fine, it's your car. But you don't need to come on here and try to justify it to Maxima.org by spreading false information.

 

BTW, you save an average of 4.5 dollars a tank by using regular.

I've done this debate too many times. I will just leave it at that. You can search for the old threads on this listing all the pro's and cons. At the end of the day my maxima still gets premium...

 

Does this include the fact that you're likely filling up a bit more often?

 

No, most of them don't believe that

If you want to factor all that in, I think you lose money in the long run

 

NO WAI!!!!

With the extra $4 I save by putting in regular, I can get an extra Miller Lite at the bar.

 

the answer - it depends

try it and investigate it

i use 87 cause my KS is dead and there is no point in using 91. using anything higher than 91 will be money wasted because the engine will not take advantage of the higher octane.

i drive in the city most of the time hwy for 5 minutes a day so all city i get 22 mpg and the car is very well maintained except for the dead KS, i would change it but cant buy online.

 

I run 87 octane in my beater maxima and notice zero effect on performance. I've never logged my gas mileage however.

 

What are you talking about? Yes you can. At the very least call up a Nissan dealer (like Dave B) and have one shipped to you. Is it that difficult to do such a simple order?
Neal, you have a turbo Maxima. You're not going to notice smaller performance changes in your NA one

 

..... I used to run 91 which is the highest sold here. A few months ago I switched to 87 and everything is about the same, performance has decreased a tiny bit but nothing to have a cow about.

 

i put regular in my 1997 se n now the cel came on is this coinicendce or because of the gas

 

It is a coincidence

 

yes it is difficult when u have credit card problems

I was thinking to get it just from the dealer for 200 whatever they charge but i dont think its worth it, i am satisfied with the performance, but the gas prices are ridiculous here and its not worth putting 91 for regular driving. Therefore its not worth putting in a new KS for me. Getting better mileage with more expensive gas is the same thing as getting arguably lower mileage with cheaper gas.

 

Then pay for one in cash? MO?

 

online ? cash u r confusing me I CANT BUY ONLINE

 

Umm, I am sure DAVEB or other online nissan dealers will take a MO if you call them up. If not, how much do your local dealers charge?

 

my local dealer aksed for something like 230 for a KS thats with tax canadian
its was in that ball park, i bought a lot of stuff from that local dealer so if i talk to the manager i am sure i can get it for under 200 but thats still triple what everyone else is paying online

 

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...r,partGroup,19



They accept MO's, checks, bank transfers.... I order from them all the time. I am pretty sure they ship to canada as well.

 

I started a post due to the fact that my 99 I30 on nite just died on me. Here is the deal with that!!! I had a clogged fuel filter. Most likely the 87 that we was using. Now I have switched to premium, 94 from shell, things seem to be better. Only thing is, I too, have the drop in rpm's when I am at a stop sign or light. Sometimes I have hesitation when I take off, either way rabbit start or cruise.

 

Dude, your problem is easily solved, you can buy a pre-paid Visa card, usually at any check cashing spots, banks, some regular merchants can sell them too. I own a cellular business, and that is part of a package I signed up for, it is backed by Visa it is the same thing.

 

ill have to look into that then -- i was not really trying that hard anyways to get a KS cause i wanna keep using 87. im not sure if we have those same places that do that up here in canada

 

Here I dont know if youve seen these b4 but I just did a quick searcg on prepaid visa in CA, and got this banks name...


https://www.vancity.com/MyMoney/Abou...ducedinCanada/


check it out.

 

Hey TATANKO, your opinion/ experience doesn't make ANYTHING I said false. Save your judgements- read the variety of posts... Apparently, not everybody agrees with you. Please don't call all these other .org members (or me) a liar if our experiences (stated factually) don't match your (all-knowing) library of "factual knowledge" and/or your 18 years of experience. Maybe, individual trial/ personal results to evaluate other peoples experiences should be the individual decision maker, in this over-worked topic. Nobody (I didn't) said 87 is the BEST way. Some of us only gave OUR/my experiences: in our/my manner of driving, with acknowledged trade-offs accepted by using 87 octane gas. NOBODY responded that you are "wrong" in your opinion/your experience and/or that all things being equal- we probably/I would, all use 91 Octane(FACT)..but lay off the preaching "my way is the only way" and condemming anything else as falsehood/ intentional "misleading" others. Both my cars are in excellent operating condition-FACT, run great- FACT, are totally reliable- FACT and I really love them-FACT... regardless of what gas I use(my personal experience). Thanks!

 

dude, i recently bought an oem one from ebay for $65. I don't need it anymore if you're interested. I just replaced my KS, and the improvement in the low-end was instantaneous!! (after resetting the ECU of course) I've yet to log my mileage though. I'll do it next time i fill up.

 

Nooooooooooo!

/mileage threads.