Is premium gas necessary, or just recommended for these engines? Will standard 87 octane gas really cause any problems? Thanks...

 

Please see the thread "Is not using the required gas bad for your engine?" -- http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=274177

 

Yup you might as well just read the above link....to sum it up in a few words....87 won't save you that much that you should risk engine damage..
and the best quote was...
"if you want to get regular get a civic".. or at least that was the idea of the quote...
...Mike

 

our cars run optimally on 93
octane.....by using lower octane gas you'll cause your engine to operate at undesirable temps....therefore harmful

dude ..its only $0.10-0.15 cents difference- plus you'd probably get less milage out of using 87 on our cars

 

Please inform me as to why using lower octane gas will cause an engine to "operate at undesirble temps and is therefore harmful". I would think the cooling system should take care of this undesireble temperature problem. Bottom line--you will not hurt your engine by running regular gas, if detenation is detected, timing will be slightly retarded to minimize pinging. Premium gas allows maximum horsepower, and I have seen nothing but anecdotal evidence that premium gas also provides better economy.

 

are you saying that there's no difference in eng temp between any engine running 87 and 93?

theres a reson why 4bangers are recommended 87 and higher displacement engines need 93-

 

The best gas to buy is the Premium Octane sold in your area. On the East Coast, they sell 93, here in the Midwest, they sell 91 and 92. It just depends on where you live.

 

You seem to be extremely misinformed. Engine displacement has nothing to do with the need for premium fuel, its all about CR. I don't think many people would be happy to learn that their gas guzzling 5.3 L GMCs require premium fuel. Again, there is no relationship between temperature and octane rating.

 

Integras have always run premium... They get 180 HP out of a lil dang engine.. It has nothing to with displacement at all. It has pretty much everything to do with compression on an NA engine, or boost level if you are running low compression (but FI pretty much requires highest octane anyways!)

 

That being said... lower octane fuel ignites easier under heat and pressure than higher octane fuel. The difference lies in the compression ratio of an engine. The higher the compression ratio, the higher the octane needed to prevent pre-ignition.

87 octane may or may not have more energy packed into it than 93 octane, but the 87 will surely provide less power in a high compression engine (9 or more to 1 ratio)

 

I get the same mileage regardless of what octane I use. done several months on 87 (have NO money at college) and usually do the 93 octane. Never any pinging, power is the same, and mileage is the same. Thats just my experience tho, it is definatly a good idea to run the 93 octane to prevent any possibly pinging since we have a high compression engine

 

I used to experiment when I drove old Mazda and Ford 4-cylinders... I used to get about 1/3 to 1/2 more MPG on premium than I did on 87. That was from a LOT of tanks of gasoline used as a sample, so I feel confident in that average.

However, on my 92 300ZX TT, the better quality gas I used, the worse my MPG got. That was with the stock setting at 8.5 lbs boost. Of course, once I got an EVC IV that all went out the window, as the better gas I got, the more boost I'd run

 

When I run 87 octane, I hear very faint pinging, especially going up hills or under moderate acceleration. No pinging WOT.

When I run 91 octane, I hear no pinging. In my Max, I see no difference in MPG with either.

I like the no pinging, so I run 91. Anyone split the difference and run 89?

In previous cars, it depended on the car. I had a 91 Mazda 323 that specified 87, but would run tons better with 91 and got better MPG. When I lived in Ohio, I used to run that Sunoco 95 (?) octane on occasion in several different cars, and MPG always went down, but cars ran great!

just my experience to add.

 

Hight compression needs higher octane

 

premium is a must!!

pinging is bad.

 

Used 89 for a tank last week, MPG stayed the same... again... power was there, had several WOT runs up to around 80 (maybe a tad more too...) and there were no problems. I'll still use 93 whenever I can afford it tho.

 

i agree, use high octane, I have a buddy who has a 95 mitsibishi 3000gt and his car requires high octane gas, he has never put high octane in there!??! what a dumbo, but he drives it like a grandma so thats probably why is has got away with it.

 

With a Turbo car, it is even more of a must I would think. My girlfriends dad has a 97 3000GT VR4 and when thats pushin 12 PSI, I'd be very afraid of some serious pre-detonation. Depends on the weather too, anyone mention that aspect? When its colder out, colder air is gettin in the engine, and the chance for predetonation is reduced, correct? Thats my reasoning to myself why its ok to run 87 sometimes when the bank account gets too low

 

87 = i am too cheap and really need to be driving a diesel jetta.


case closed. again.

 

My buddy doesn't even have the VR4, cheapass ahha. that car seems to run forever though. Guess those cars do have decent engines. The design, i think was definietly ahead of its time but if its not a VR4 its sloooooow.

 

Just put in premium gas. It's only a little bit more.

 

Oh h3ll yeah... We can ping all day in our Max's and get a little worse mileage and some added stress on the engine.

You can ping on one occasion with a turbo engine at high boost (>12) and blow a gasket (if you're lucky)... There are plenty of pics out there of pistons with holes blow straight through them! I had a 300ZXTT pushin 17psi, trust me I know!!!

Let's not even talk about rotary engines

 

look at it this way....premiums cost like 20cents more than 87s. so if your tank was dead-empty, it'd cost you 18x$.20=$3.60 more. it's not that much more.

 

I bought my Max for the power. If want my car to run like my old '95 altima(but with a ping), I'll put 87 in it. The potential damage your car can experience will will make you wish you hadn't cheaped out on the cost of premium fuel.