201,000 miles, engine was at one point rebuilt. Runs strong still. 98 maxima. Friend said what's the point in doing premium gas. There are no mods on my maxima

 

if an engine requires 91 octane or higher as stated in the manual, it doesnt matter if its brand new or 300,000 miles. it still requires 91 octane

 

^that's my belief too

All I run is 91 (no 93 here in CA).

 

I've used regular in my auto since ive owned it (3 years) and still get good gas mileage and acceleration. Manual says it is "reccomended" implying it is not mandatory I believe?

 

I have been using 87 for long time, no problem, that's what knock sensor it for, you will get slightly better fuel economy with 93.

 

disagree, 87 is crap compared to 93. keeps your vq running cleaner and i def get better gas mileage as well. at the very least i run 89 and even that doesn't compare to the 93 imo but still is a mix and seems to be ok with maxy.

 

My 4th Gen did not run well on regular. A mechanic I trust noticed right away when taking a test drive. I generally used mid grade in the 4th Gen and also use mid grade in my 7th Gen. I would not use regular.

 

I tried regular when i first got my max.

Ran like crap. No performance whatsoever.

I never ran regular 87 octane gas again.

Put 93 octane in the max and you WILL notice a difference.

Knock sensor job is to allow the use of lower octane gas so yes u can run regular.

 

Generally speaking, some of you guys that run 87 are funny. If the manual recommends to change the oil at 3750 miles, you do it, some of you even at 3,000 miles. But if the manual recommends putting 91 or higher in the car, you don't do. Why? Because you see the difference in cost every time you fill up I suppose. A whole whopping $3 to $4 difference.

 

knock sensor or not---carbon buildup will slowly occur and knock(pun intended) engine life down---use what it says--don't be pennywise and pound foolish!
03 nissan maxima 173K miles

 

Ditto. My father-in-law gives me heck for using premium in my max. But guess what? he has been through 4 cars during the 12 years I have had my Maxima

 

ha-ha, you showed him. i've never run less than 89 in maxy and since i've been running 93 she runs much smoother as well. i might get an extra 4 to 7 miles a gallon if my lead foot does'nt take over.

 

if it says recommended its for conditions where you could get pre-det and pinging. AKA if youre in the desert, drive under high-load situations like towing, etc you should run 91. normal conditions 87 is acceptable. when it says mandatory 91 octane or higher, you cant cheap out and run 87

 

i used 87 for a year and a half for 7k miles, RAN like CRAAAP felt like no performance at all. until i realize this car needs 93, Runs sooo much better and smoother, and of course my knock sensor and EGR went on after switching to 93, what u know the 87 octane killed my knock sensor and probably clogged up my EGR...

so please, use good gas for this car, this aint a Toyota Camry!

 

I ran both when I first got my Max. Even though I was buying less gas when I bought premium, I was getting more miles out of it than buying the same dollar amount of regular. I ran $20 to empty 87 and $20 to empty 91. 91 octane got me more miles on less gas.