is it bad to put Regular unleaded in our maxima's casue thats all i put.... and the price where i live it about 2.78.........

 

Yep. Pretty bad. Let's just say if engines could talk, yours would be cursing at you.

 

Well stated.

 

I mean it will run on low octane....but why bother. i have only own my max for 3 months and i can see mileage differences when i run premium vs regular. its not worth it to me to run the cheaper gas...cause i lose out on how far i can go...not to mention the engine cursing haha. (nypd arnold)

 

its bad, and i can feel the difference in power also, stick with the premium, eventually gas price will go down since companys are making hybrid cars. i really like the new lexus GS 450h 339hp V6, good on gas, fast, and sexy. i think its coming out in 07 or 08.

 

its not good for the engine: higher octane = greater resistance to detonation.

detonation is bad. you want the gas to burn, not detonate. detonation hurts the engine.

read the owners manual. it tells you to put in 91 octane or higher.

if you're too cheap to put in premium, go get a honda.

 

Brian - its not bad to put regular gas in our cars....we have knock sensors to retard timing if knock is detected....regular gas will make our high compression motors knock...so when the knock sensor detects that, it will pull horsepower and gas mileage....

so its okay...you take your pick....better hp and gas mileage...and pay premium...or use regular and lose hp and gas mileage

 

With the gas prices nowadays I tried to put in 87 just to see for myself how it's gonna run...

It ran like crap, i could hear it pinging, there was lack of power, i don't think it's worth it...

Good thing i only put in only half a tank, after going for about 50 miles i went back to gas station and filled it up with 8 gallons of Ultra 94, that stopped the pinging.
And the owner manual does say to put in 91 or better...

Just like Steven said: better hp and gas mileage...and pay premium...or use regular and lose hp and gas mileage and hurt the engine

 

and u r not loosing a lot of money also....u'll be short around $80 bucks if you go with premium...so i thik its worth it... and dammm does it really say in our manual to use 91 and higher? hmmm...
but iam running on plus rite now, but from my next gas tank (20 more miles) i'll be switching to premium
huso

 

Its cause octane rating means how long the gas burns right? And resistance to detonation? So 87 is gonna burn faster and quicker than 93 right? or is it slower? anywaythe 87 is gonna ignite sooner so its just gonna retard the timing, if it didnt then there might be unburned fuel in the exhaust which o2 sensors would pick up. did i get that right?

 

owners manual RECOMMENDS 91 or above...it doesn't say you have too...they say if 91 is not available, anything below can be used...

 

on my gas tank cover thingy it says "use premium gas for maximum performance"
so u r rite andrew, u dont ahve to use 91 and above, but for max, performance its recommended.
huso

 

yeah, same with mine...it says that on the gasoline tank...

i'm literally running on no gas right now....my needle is REAL LOW...the gas light has been on for like 30 miles...and my DTE reads like 20 miles left....haha i should go fill up tonight

 

ya just feed the car premium...if you treat it well it'll treat you well hah gas is like $3.45 the other day at chevron for premium and i still went for it but i was pissed cuz just a few blocks down chevron was $3.21 =/ gas seem to be more expensive by fwy entrences/exits i guess oh well.

 

whats DTE man?
is that something that is only available on 5.5 gen? or what?

gas is cheap here compared to other states, its like 2.66 regular, and 288 for premium

 

DTE = distance till empty or something like that it tells you on that odometer place

 

No, octane rating just means how resistant the gas is to detonation. 87 will not necessarily burn faster than 93 - I believe the way the fuel is burned is controlled by the injection spray pattern, swirl, etc.

When fuel detonates, it explodes, as opposed to burning. The explosion places a greater amount of stress on the engine components.

The car will retard timing to prevent detonation if a lower octane fuel is used. Retarding the timing means that the spark will occur at a later time than the initially set spark timing. In other words, when the timing is retarded, the spark is lit when the piston is closer to TDC relative to the initial timing.

I am unsure about the difference in the amount of unburned fuel. If anyone can chime in here, that'd be appreciated.

 

yes DTE stands for distance till empty....its a feature only on 2k2 and up....

 

Your telling me you can't afford $3.60? That is what you are saving when you switch from premium to regular. Its not worth it IMO. I would prefer to pay the 3.60 and save my engine.

 

i just filled up my tank with PREMIUM , i am starting to use premium form now on, it was only like $42 for like 15 gallons....
huso

 

heck yea i hear the pinging.... when i try to save gas now.... im real lit on the peadal and it sound like its gurgiling trying to get more....

 

i wish i had a DTE is there any way to put that in an 00-01? i have a 2k2 cluster...

i just ued 89 for the first time by mistake last week. Stupid sunoco and there 4 options 4 gas. I thought plus was 91 octane and going for 297. Instead it was 89 octane and the 3.05 was for the 93. Car ran ok but i didnt push it too hard. Maybe 1 or 2 runs. And yea, our cars will survive off of <91 octane but wouldnt recommend unless things get really desperate.

 

yeah it would be so tite if we could install DTE somehow in our cars.....
u 5.5 gen guys shoudl be really happy to have that, i wish i had it
huso

 

the DTE feature is really pointless if u ask me....i mean your gonna end up filling up at the pump just by looking at your needle...not your DTE

also the gas warning light is more important than some stupid DTE

 

Since the knock sensor adapts to the fuel and the manual say 91 or higher.... can i put 100 octane and have no problems??? I'm asking since i have a friend that get 100 octane pretty cheap....also i'm curious as to what difference it would make... I will bak up Drew when he says DTE is crap.. when my gas light goes on my DTE jumps from 32-16-28-back to 32 and well its just toying wit me...never actually helps out.

 

Dont worry your only really in **** when your DTE reads " - - - - " and if you dont believe me try it. When it get low enough it just stops reading numbers and shows that

 

well stated

 

Eh, even when you get the hyphens there's generally about 2 gallons left in the tank (give or take).

 

ive only been filling up with chevron premium since i bought it from its first owner, and it costs me around $45 or so @ $3.09/gal down here in Houston, TX

 

Dude,

Think about what your saving by being cheap...
In my area, buying 91 ($3.03) vs. 87 ($2.87) is only $2.40 per tank (based on 15 gallons).

Is the octane compromise worth an x-lg Dunkin Donuts coffee?

No-Brainer... Treat your Max well, or buy a scooter

 

Not that long ago, I was paying $2.80 for premium and everybody was like ur nuts. Now regular is $3.10. I figure I'll be paying high prices anyways, plus its only 20 extra cents per gallon. If you filled up from bone dry which is usually not the case, it would cost you an extra $3.70 per fill up. It's worth it to me for the premium, but I know lots of people whos cars recommend 91 or higher, and they use 87 with no problems for 100k+ miles...

 

I drive my 2K2 until the DTE reads "----" on almost every tank. Even when it firsts starts to read "----" you're not really that low. Once you have driven about 30 miles with it reading "----", THEN you are getting low.

 

I drove to the ---- for about 5-10 miles yesterday....i filled up with 16.68 gallons...what do you think is pushing it? i thought it was bad to run it real low cuz you can suck up all the bad stuff at the bottom of the gas tank?

 

Thats why we have fuel filters

 

89 is as low as i can push mine and with the AC on it feels like a boat...


i've driven 60 miles on the yellow light and couldn't even fit 17 gallons in it afterwards

i think my light comes on with 3-4 gallons left...

 

There are a couple of times I have put very close to as much in as the tank size, so THAT is pushing it. As I said, you are for sure safe for 20-30 miles after the ---- comes on. I usually use the dashed lines as a signal that I should fill up at the next opportune time......

I think the "sucking up stuff at the bottom of the tank" is more of a myth than reality. Gas is pretty clean nowadays and I remember reading about someone on here who pulled their tank off after many years and when they looked inside, it was clean as a whistle.

 

The money you save to put the cheaper gas in instead of the premium is not worth it to me. I would rather spend the extra couple bucks and put the best gas.

 

so how much did you actually fill up with? i think the most i have ever gone was 16.68 gallons...i usually go around 15 or 16 when I'm low...I never really tried pushing it to its limits...now I see that I drove a few miles on the -----, i feel safe that I still got a little more room to squeeze before I call it quits...

 

This thread is unbelievable.

 

I have put in over 68L a few times - that translates to 18 US gallons.