Do I need to be using just 93 octane every time i fill up ? Or can I use 87 octane
Also, if I use lower octane will it void my warranty?

 

Premium is recommended not required. It will not void your. I use regular every now and again and haven't noticed any difference.

 

Your gas mileage will go down. Higher grade gas resists knocking. If your car senses knock, it pulls timing, and you loose power.

Running premium I get 450 miles per tank, running regular I get 350-375. Not worth the decrease in price.

 

Couldn't have said it better!

 

I tend to top off excessively, lets not go into pros/cons for that, however I switched for the first time ever from 87 to 91 and after a few miles have seen an immediate difference in pick up, mileage, etc...you can really run whatever you want in this car, everyone's debated that already, so its really a preference as to what you like. If your ok with spending as little as possible on fuel and dont care much for the slight tick in performance, then go with what 87. Remember there are other factors like oil, tire pressure that all influence mileage and performance.

 

you should search 1st.

use what they tell you to which is probably 91. 93 is a waste as your engine isn't octane limited.

 

Sometimes I have to laugh at some of these post. You're driving a car that cost , upper $30k and some of you are concerned about whether to use regular vs premium? My 09 Max says, clearly inside the gas filler door, "premium fuel". Look at it this way. If the difference between regular and premium is $.30 for instance, if you put in about 15 gallons for each fill up, it's costing you an extra $4.50. If you fill up once a week, that's and extra $18/month. Is $18 a month THAT big a deal? If it is, maybe you should of bought a Prius. It just seems a little silly..... in my opinion.

 

If you go by what others have said you would lose that 18 dollar gain in mileage loss anyway, so there is NO reason to ever run less that 91-93.

 

MY ~'11 changed the language from "Premium Fuel Only" to "Premium Fuel Recommended".

91 is very difficult to find in my area. Typically there are three grades in the NY/NJ area: 87, 89, and 93. Sunoco usually has 91 also. I used 93 almost exclusively for two years in my 2009. Then I changed to 89 for reasons above, unless I could get 91. I noticed very little difference in performance from 89-93. However, I did see a very noticeable difference in performance and milage when using 87; I won't do it.

I tend to use 89 now because of the similar performance to 93, and also because the cost differential between 89 and 93 is often quite large. I fill up 2x a week so it can be significant. For the same results I'd rather save the cash and something for my boat, bike, kids, wife, etc. It's about priorities.

 

my '12 also has the "premium fuel recommended" lingo. but as stated, I don't think the small price difference between premium and unleaded makes a big difference and those few cents def should not be a deciding factor. I love running Shell 93 octane V-power and refuse to run anything less cuz I think the max deserves the premium

 

cause they paid $30k doesnt mean they got money... anybody can get a 0 down loan deal. Most people dont buy cars cash and those would be the ones more likely to skimp on things.

 

91 isnt available to everyone. Ive actually never seen 91. Here in NY, Long Island area its 87, 89, and 93.

 

Does anyone know why states like Minnesota sell 87 and 89 Octane for the same price at some stations ?

When I lived in Connecticut 89 was always a few cents more per gallon

Thanks

 

So use 93. If you mileage goes down even like 15 miles per tank you are still losing money by using 87 or 89.

 

This is my 4th Nissan and 3rd Maxima and I've never got the gas mileage numbers you guys post here no matter what octane gas I use. I average anywhere from 18-21 mpg's with the type of driving I do. I use 91 octane in this Max but in my 2003 I used everything from 87 octane to 20% ethanol and there were no ill effects from using any of those fuels.

Once again, based on how I drive my cars I still only got about 19 to 22 mpg's. I can afford to pay the higher price for premium gas but sometimes I don't want to spend $4.05 cents or more per gallon when my tank is sitting below 1/4 full. Put in what you feel comfortable spending the money on. That's what I say.

 

Starting with my two 1985 2nd gen Maximas, I have followed the same fuel procedure through all Maxima generations. I use premium (93/91) for the first 18 months, then change to midgrade (89 octane). I always keep track of my fuel efficiency and pay careful attention to my car's performance.

My fuel efficiency DOES NOT CHANGE between premium (93/91) and midgrade (89) octane. This is as it should be, because octane is not directly related to fuel efficiency AS LONG AS THE OCTANE IS NEAR WHAT THE CAR'S FUEL SYSTEM IS EXPECTING. This car expects 91 octane, but easily adjusts to 89 or 93 octanes, as those are close to 91. I also have not ben able to detect any difference in performance between premium and midgrade.

BUT 87 octane is a different story. I usually try 87 octane one time in each Maxima I own. My earlier Maxima gens did OK with regular, but I found 87 octane unsatisfactory in my '00 SE, '04 SL and '09 SV Premium.

Because 87 octane is as far as we can get from the octane the car is expecting, it is not used efficiently. With 87 octane, I found my MPG drops slightly, the car protects itself by cutting back on power on the very steep mountain roads I sometimes drive on, and I even heard the hint of pinging a few times under hard acceleration.

So I will stick to my usual system of 93 octane for 18 months, then 89 octane until the next generation Maxima arrives.

This drop to 89 is not trying to save money, but just reflects the opinion of experienced auto analysts and technicians who have always said that using a higher octane than needed for proper performance may assuage our mental requirements, but changes nothing in the car's performance.

 

Whether you have 91 or 93 as the highest option is a result of the elevation of the area you live in.

In areas at sea level or close to sea level you will see 93 as fuel burns faster there, As you go up in elevation 93 would burn too slowly at say my elevation of 5280ft.

 

Yup. 4500 feet here in Utah and the highest octane at our stations is 91.

 

Lightonthehill, I guess my question would be, why don't they just say "minimum midgrade" or something to that effect if they don't think premium (91 or 93) gives the best performance for this engine? I certainly respect your opinion and perspective. Maybe you are correct and it really doesn't matter between midgrade and premium. I just wish Nissan would say that. Bottom line is, I guess it's just like the type of oil (dino vs synthetic) one choses to use. Both appear to work just fine.

 

This is another case where either premium or midgrade fuel work fine, and that is why Nissan backed off its 'premium required' just a year into the 7th gen production. I feel this recommendation of premium fuel by Nissan is two-pronged:

1 - Nissan establishes fuel octane recommendations based on the octane they have the fuel system of the car set for. But whatever that setting may be, any octane close to that setting will be accepted by the car's fuel system, which does have the ability to adjust slightly, based on the fuel it finds. Midgade is within that 'window of adjustment', while regular fuel is usually not.

Nissan knows there will be those folks (such as magazines that test cars) who, by virtue of modern electronics, can precisely measure a car's performance. In any kind of normal driving, there will not be detectable differences between premium and midgrade gas in this Maxima.

But in extreme tests, such as elapsed time 0 to 60, although the difference would be too small to detect by the 'seat of the pants', electronic measurement might find a fraction of a tenth of a second better time with premium gas. This would be totally irrelevant for 99% of drivers, but would show up in test results published in car mags. Nissan wants the best readings possible.

2 - Nissan works hard to create an image or aura of something special with its flagship Maxima, and the recommendation of premium fuel feeds into the owner's psyche of the Maxima being s special vehicle, and not just another Altima/Camry/Accord mid-line sedan.


Every vehicle is slightly different. Some drivers here on the ORG have found their 7th gen Maxima runs decently on regular, although with slightly reduced fuel efficiency. Others here have found their car is almost undrivable with regular gas. But I personally would advise against using regular in the 7th gen Maxima, as 87 octane is simply too far from 91 octane for the car to totally adjust to.

 

Light, you always explain it so well. You really should have a few of these responses saved so you can copy/paste them.

I agree with point #2. Nissan likely prefers the maxima being a car that when filling up the tank you can tell your friends in the car "my car requires premium."

 

higher octane on our cars is to prevent knock or pre detonation.

Nissan has to make sure the car can run in all climates where it is sold.

It has to be able to run at full power in new mexico at 120F at 8k feet correctly and not knock at all.

There is no reason to run higher octane in the winter.

This is just how I understand it all. Feel free to correct me.

 

This.

 

When redesigned the Maxima gets the 3.7L engine from the G37, it will be Premium ONLY.

 

I switched from 93 for 4 years to 87 for one year. know what happened to my mileage(I reset it). NOTHING.

 

My buddy has been running his G37 for a few years on regular gas with no ill effects.

 

Unless you know something I don't (and it would be sweet) but I'm not seeing it....and if it did happen it would only be when the G37's and Z's go to 3.8L+.
Nissan could easily get 300HP using the 3.5L if they really needed to but I bet they keep it the same or under the magic 300HP number for obvious reasons. The truth is out and has been out for quite some time....it's still a family sedan and not a 4DSC.

 

i dont think everyone understands here that the ECU retards the timing if you put in 87, so no you wont damage the car, you're just handicapping it. who the f buys a 290 HP V6 for ~30k and wants to save $10/fillup is beyond me. if you wanna save $20-30/month try skipping eating out lunch twice.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/general-max...-maxima-5.html

Start at post 125 here in this thread...guy who supposedly works for NNA has seen the 8th gen.

 

Don't be dumb.

 

First of all, using regular as opposed to premium won't damage the engine. It will decrease fuel efficiency and power. This engine was designed to run on premium fuel. However, using regular will not void the warranty or cause damage.

That said, I'm always a little surprised when people make a big deal about a little bit of money. Right now at my favorite gas station, the difference in price between regular and premium is 20 cents a gallon. So let's do a little math...

Figure a 15 gallon fill up. Your savings by using regular unleaded works out to precisely $3.00. But are you really saving? You can expect to lose 3-5 mpg by using regular fuel in the Maxima. That means that over the same 15 gallons, (using my own fuel economy as a guide), you'd return (on the low side) 19 mpg instead of 22. More math - same 15 gallon fill up will net you 285 miles of range compared to 330 miles of range on premium. So to travel the same distance, you need an extra 2.36 gallons of fuel.

Let's compare costs now. To save 20 cents a gallon, you are burning an extra 2.36 gallons of fuel to travel the same distance as you would have with premium. To make this hard figures, my gas station is selling regular at $4.169, so to travel the same distance as if you purchased premium, you are spending $9.84 extra. All to save $3.00. Net additional cost of "saving" money by switching to regular gas? $6.84.

In plain english, you spend an additional $6.84 in fuel costs to travel the same distance, so you aren't saving money, you are spending more. HTH

 

"Gone way off topic here"

Thanks Amerikaner, and I would think that AWD would be on order to see any HP bump of 300+

 

I never go lower than 89 in my car. Runs just fine.

 

I use diesel. Car runs great!!

 

Boy I cringe at that, hearing more and more reports of incorrect filling at stations by tanker drivers.

 

Sorry guys but my mpg on my 2012 Maxima is 15 city and 24 hi-way using 89 or 91 gas. Can't find 93 in my area so why pay more for no more mpg.

 

it only does this if it detects knock which it will not 95% of the time. at least that is my understanding, the engine doesn't have an octane sensor.

 

89 or 91 is midgrade (and that's the highest grade available in some areas), and as I understand it, that should be fine - little to no difference in power, a small decrease in mpg. Just like using regular, it won't hurt the car. It probably won't save money though.

15/24 is low on both city and highway. What's more important is your actual average MPG. When I got the car, it had been driven from one dealer to my dealer and showed an average of 18.6. I took delivery and started my long highway drive back. I reset the fuel economy and averaged around 28.

Driving easy, I average around 22-23 per tank. Driving normally (which is a little heavy footed at times), I'm just a touch below 20 (19.8 as of today). So it is at least partially your driving style. How good your fuel economy ends up being is directly affected by a number of factors - the most important being how you actually drive the car.

The difference between 87 and 93 is significant in terms of power and MPG, 89 or 91 is going to be less of a difference. That's my take. Still, I believe plugging in adjusted numbers in the math I used above might make the argument that if one is choosing to use midgrade or regular instead of premium to save money, they end up spending more, not less.

Before I had the Max, I drove an Accord. I was very active on the Accord forums and wrote up a list of ways to improve fuel economy. Here's a quick recap of things to do to get the best possible MPG:
1) keep the junk out of your trunk
2) keep your tires properly inflated (I usually go a few psi over recommended)
3) Don't excessively idle (while waiting for people you are picking up)
4) Don't let the car "warm up" for more than 30 seconds unless you won't be driving more than 3 miles, and even then no longer than one minute (unless you live in Alaska)
5) Use recommended fuel grade
6) Make sure you are changing your oil and doing maintenance according to the recommendations of the manufacturer (mostly to avoid people getting one oil change a year)
7) Rotate your tires every 7500 miles
8) Accelerate lightly
9) Avoid unnecessary braking
10) Use predictive driving skills (if you see traffic ahead starting to slow or a light changing, get off the gas and coast for as long as possible)
11) Whenever possible, if you get stuck at a long train crossing, shut the vehicle down

There is plenty more, but I don't have time and doubt that anyone bought the Max expecting outstanding fuel economy (should have bought the Altima with a four cylinder).

As always, any advice is just that - feel free to ignore it and do whatever you want. It's not my car! :-)

 

Explain how the engine knows what octane gas it is getting?

 

Read up here about engine compression bro.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/compres...el-economy.htm

Basically if the engine detects knocking/pinging (this is a side effect of using lower octane fuel in a high compression engine) due to lower octane fuel being used it will retard the timing so you don't do anything other than lose that extra performance/efficiency the high compression engine was designed to provide you.