put regular gas in my car today. It's never had 87 before, what should I expect?

 

Just dont punch it.

It's the same as someone putting 87oct into a supercharged or turbocharged car/truck...

89/91/93oct is for the constant rpm that the cvt likes to eat when you hit the hammer, and the AFR may adjust according to the combustion timing... not too sure how quickly these computers re-program... you should be fine though.

keep it in grandma mode for the next few miles then fill back up lol.

 

That's why our cars have knock sensors/VCT/etc.

Just drive normally. The car has an ECU in place specifically for things like this. It'll do its job to prevent anything bad from happening. Worst you'll notice is a loss of performance.

 

I use 87 all the time, I have not suffered on MPG, or in the power dept either. Now I don't drive like mario andretti, when I get on it, it never hesitates.

 

Dont lie, you cringed at the price of premium

 

little baby midgets will exit out of your exhaust, showing their rage

 

Actually - it is virtually impossible for you NOT to have decreased power. The incremental adjustments made by the ECU probably were subtle enough that you didn't notice - but your timing WAS retarded to cut power and save the pistons, etc. The last three sentences of the following article are very clear.

http://www.freeengineinfo.com/knock-sensor.htm

The reason high compresion engines need higher octane fuel is because the fuel is more resistant to pre-ignition(detonation).

 

then you just answered the question - dropping all that weight from the midgets should definitely improve mileage and power.

 

The lower the octane, the EASIER it is to ignite. This is because smaller engines with lower octane don't run as hot so they need to be easier to fire. Engines that run on higher octane like 93 run hotter and so they need the higher octane that burn at higher temperatures and can withstand the heat.

So basically when you put the lower octane in a 93 craving engine, the gas will occasionally misfire without the spark plugs igniting them...hence the "knock". So yeah if you're wompin on the gas pedal, definitely expect a few knocks.

 

No I use premium or midgrade... Not because I feel using 87 will hurt the motor in anyway... I just don't care about $3 more per fillup.

And I am not "hating" on you dawg. People fill up with premium blindly not even knowing WHY they should past that the owners manual says too...

Your talking about 3-5hp diff between using regular and premium and ONLY because timing is pulled SLIGHTLY. Other than that there is NO DIFFERENCE between regular and premium gas. Everything in both is the exact same. The only difference is the activation energy required to start the chemical reaction of combustion is higher in premium than in regular.

But anyways... Run what you run, do what you do. It's your car. It'll last just as long running 87 or 105... If you run regular you will just run 3-5hp less than the guy running 93...

I run premium again not because I feel that if I do my car will last longer, but because $3 more a fillup isn't a big deal to me, but may be to others...

 

try doing 93 for a couple fill-ups and then you'll see what hesitation your getting. My wife once filled up with 87...and didn't tell me, until i questioned her b/c my car was driving like ****. She was amazed that i knew it right away and said oops i hoped you wouldn't notice.

 

Oh it's all good. I did read up plenty on here before deciding to use Premium "blindly" as you say, I can understand how it's dumb to just put Premium in cause the dealer told you so. While having 100% power in the Max isn't the most important thing to me, I like you am not as concerned about saving 3-5 bucks per fill up at the sacrifice of power and whatever else.

I may be wrong, but I just figure that using the cleanest burning fuel and highest quality synthetic oil I'm at least doing a small part in extending the life of my engine as long as possible. I'd be willing to bet that a Maxima with 200k on the motor that has had premium/synthetic its entire life will be in better working condition than a Max with 200k on the motor and been fed regular gas/ester oil.

If I'm wrong, oh well I ended up spending a few bucks extra per fill-up and had a slightly faster car because of it. If I'm right then I have a car that at the end of it's life that will be easier to sell and in better condition. I'd say that toss up is worth it in my opinion.

 

Exactly... Everyone has their own opinions. You do what you want it's your car. You can follow the manual or do what you think is right... Either way you probably won't notice much of a difference in the long run...

 

 

That's not what I meant... I wasnt comparing your apples to your orangutans. I was refering to if someone with a super/turbo/tuned were to put 87oct into the car, they wont throw it into boost or heavy on the rpms. I know this because I've owened a SVT lightning, and I have installed and tuned superchargers. As you may have come to know, CVT transmissions "prefer" premium fuel due to the fact that this transmission will hold high rpm, which will require responsive AFR. Comparing fuel combustion quality with our car's and super/turbo/tuned engines will hold true.. they just wont compare to combustion rate.

Thank you for the emphasis on the "anything" and "way" to help clarify your post.

 

Your welcome well I have actually owned an SVT lightning as well and removed the said supercharger and installed a custom turbo setup... So thank you for clarifying...

And as you may know a high revving motor is in no way comparable to a blown motor.

 

*hangs head...

Ok, remove superchargers, turbo's, "high revving motors" out of this debate... because this isn't what I'm talking about. I'll agree with you on your comment that you can not compare constant high rpm to boost engines, for power, PSI.. whatever you're thinking about. congrats on the Lightning, I loved mine and sold it to pick up my max.

On topic.. Octane content in fuel for 7th generation maxima's.

As many have said above, octane content for 7th generation maxima's will be a never ending debate.. so I will leave what I've said twice as is... and I will encourage if anyone reading would like to better educate themselves, refer to AKI MON and RON calculations to the respectable engine you're curious to learn about.

knock sensors, good operating narrow/wide band sensors, and 02 sensors FTW.

To the OP, I'm sure you havent had any issues, and you have already moved on with this post... lol

 

7th Gen forums are still better than the 6th and previous. Lot more random hate/disrespect on those forums than I see here. We may have the same arguments over and over but we keep it civil.

 

I originally used nothing but 93 when i first got the car. I switched to 87 suddenly, and found no difference what so ever. Like I said, I'm not a red light racer. I don't abuse my car. And all he wanted to know is if he will cause any damage to his car by putting lower octane gas in. I know there is some big debate about octane, I am not taking sides. I believe that 93 octane is better than 87, but why pay the extra money if I don't even feel a difference.
My friend owns a 6th gen with 200k on it. All it ever had was 87, and it has had no problems, and still runs great.

Also when you look at fuel door, it clearly says "Premium fuel recommended for maximum performance".
I am not racing the car, I am just driving the interstate.

 

I beg to differ. I just saw a ton of post whoring (which I deleted) in this thread so this forum is no different than the others. Spend more time in the other Gen sections and you'll see that people know their stuff.

 

Why would I spend time in the other Gen forums? I don't own an older Maxima.

 

Ok so mods do check these... Why can they not delete and or lock these type of posts? All it is is opinion based **** that has been discussed 1000000 times and it always starts and ends the same...

 

So don't make baseless accusations of which forum is the best when you really don't know.

maxxxxspeed, you can avoid these threads and keep it moving duke.