Ricky Green

When I first started researching the 2016 Maxima, I came across official Nissan information that indicated Regular Fuel requirement. Now, I learned that the car requires Premium Fuel.

Unfortunately, I cannot locate the original regular fuel information anywhere. I'm not losing my mind, I know I saw it.

Thoughts?

Richard66

As far as I know Nissan has never recommended regular fuel for the 7th and 8th generation Maxima's. I would run with what is recommended by your owner's manual.

doctorpullit

I don't know what you saw, but every piece of literature I've seen lists Premium Unleaded as the recommended fuel.

rayz336

I've always seen that premium was recommended and heard that anything else pulls back the timing on the engine

Max8

Premium is recommended, not required. The engine is tuned for premium, so it will perform better (probably not noticeable to the average driver) and probably get better gas mileage with premium, but regular gas will not hurt the engine.

Ricky Green

I will stick with Premium Fuel most of the time. I might fill up with 89 Octane occassionally, nonetheless, thanks for the feedback.

sharkulator

iTrader: (5)

I have owned a Maxima since 1999. They have always recommended Premium fuel.

robtroxel

Both my past 2010 and new 2016 never gets fed anything but Regular. I am averaging 27 MPG all in and 33+ at highway cruise. Plenty of power and no issues. You will not invalidate the warranty with regular. I am willing to give up a few tenths of a second 0 to 60 time since I never cowboy the car anyway.

Ricky Green

Oh good. I like to hear that. I will see what the cost of premium Fuel is at the next fill up. Premium is hovering between $2.57-$2.99/gallon at various stations in San Diego.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

I don't get it. You buy a brand spankin' new 40k car, and you don't want to spend an extra $3 at the pump? If I had a brand new Maxima, you better believe I'd be following what Nissan recommends...

Some argue they get better gas mileage with Premium, so the extra cost is a wash.

lightonthehill

Some Maximas run fairly well with regular, but some don't. We have had posters here (especially with recent Maxima generations) who said someone filled their Maxima with regular by mistake, and it coughed and pinged on hills and under aggressive acceleration. Others (usually more sedate drivers) are fine with regular.

Since I bought two 2nd gen Maximas in October 1984, I have always used premium the first 18 months, then midgrade (89 octane) the remainder of the time I had the car. I have owned all Maxima generations since October 1984, and I have not able to detect any difference in performance between these two grades, but I suspect an electronic timer would show the premium with a slight edge in all-out acceleration.

My MPG is the same with premium and midgrade because octane is not a factor in fuel efficiency calculations. If the octane is high enough that the engine can handle it with little adjustment, fuel efficiency should not change. The only thing affected would be performance.

mrgooch

The word is recommended and not required!
synonyms:
advocate, endorse, commend, suggest, put forward, propose, nominate, put up; speak favorably of, speak well of, put in a good word for, vouch for
.

robtroxel

Somehow you seem to infer that anything less than Premium is like pouring tar into your gas tank. The car's engine computer will handle all octanes and I'd be hard pressed to notice enough economy gain to offset the .60 a gallon difference here in the Midwest. If you are a "boy racer" and challenge other cars to speed contests, this may not be the right car to do it in. The Maxima is plenty fast but it is no BMW when it comes to fastest 0-60 times. My old 2010 and my new 2016 runs very well, with No pinging ever on regular. What I like about this car is just looks "good" whether sitting or moving. It also has a great sound without jamming the gas pedal to the floor. My open road economy averages 33 mpg @ 65-70.
Proof enough that Regular works for me.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Thank you Captain Obvious.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Guess it depends on where you live. The difference between Regular and Premium is 20 cents here in CA.

But, in the Midwest, you guys are paying like 1.60/gallon for Regular where CA is $2.60, so I don't wanna hear it!

The new Maxima is rated at 22 city/30mpg according to:
http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/u...things-to-know

If you're getting 33mpg, this is proof that you drive "like a grandma" so of course Regular octane will suit you.

robtroxel

Overall average is 26.9 mpg , all types of driving. I do keep pace with our traffic which is much less intense than California

Mike_TX

Having worked at a new car dealership recently, I can tell you that almost ALL of them have one pump for gassing up new cars, used cars and loaners, and that pump is REGULAR gas.

The dealer I worked for sold only cars that "Recommended" or "Required" Premium fuel, and Regular gas went into all of them.

I had occasion to go to other dealers, and saw the same thing.

I'm just sayin' ...

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The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

^and your point is what exactly?

lightonthehill

I'm not sure of the point he intended, but for me, the point I took from his post is that many dealers do not follow Nissan's guidelines, and don't care about treating their cars right.

robtroxel

The point is...Regular gas works!

mclasser

With gas prices at an all-time low, spending an extra couple of bucks on premium is a no-brainer.

kevin_ohio

Regular gas only has gone into mine with NO effect on mileage or detonation/pinging.

In my C7 Corvette Stingray I will use regular when I see the driving will be mostly highway with NO effect on performance or mileage.

Here's a good video to watch:

robtroxel

Go ahead and make your day by spending more for what I see as no benefit. If you are a full throttle sort of guy, then maybe you should use Premium to harness those 10 extra horses. Shell regular works great in my car. 0-60 challenges are not what this car is about.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

This debate never ends. I agree with Wizard, you just bought a new car, come on. 10.6:1 CR, yeah I'd use premium.

Both my VQ's, my VK and Tau V8 only drink premium, have since I bought each of them, end of story.

Richard66

I have a 7th gen and my owners manual and gas cap cover says "Premium Unleaded Gas Only." I will go without the price of a latte twice a month for peace of mind, and that helps make my day. Premium in my car's tank is far better than a latte in my tank.

Mike_TX

Sorry, I thought you'd get it.

The point is if new car dealers don't worry about putting Regular gas in the cars they sell you, it must not be a huge deal. Do you think they'd risk blowing up the thousands of brand-new cars they churn out each month?

In other words, it ain't gonna hurt your car to use Regular even if Premium is recommended.

That said, tote it up and you'll find Premium gas doesn't cost that much extra on an annual basis unless you drive a ton of miles.

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NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

In my opinion, car dealers/salesman in general have very little knowledge on much of anything aside to possibly prey on the weak (not as informed) potential buyer. One feller told me a 4th gfen Maxima had the same transmission as a 300ZX.

And as we split hairs, no one ever said a car was going to implode from less than premium fuel.

Mike_TX

The only flaw in this video is that it is all about using Premium gas in a car designed for Regular.

There's only a slight mention of the opposite situation - using Regular gas in a car designed for Premium. That said, I still don't think you're going to hurt your in any way.

I'd still like to see the same kind of testing on a car with an engine tuned for Premium gas, though.

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The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Exactly. Gotta love the exaggerations.

and

Dealers are in the business of making money, not spending it. I figured that was obvious Mike_TX. And of course regular gas "works" robtroxel, but just how well for the given application is the question.

As for oil, do you follow what Nissan recommends, or do you guys do your own thing? (opening up yet another can of worms)

240tomax

Maybe we need to here from previous generation Maxima owners who have only run regular gasoline for tens, or hundreds of thousands of miles and see their experiences (other then performance and mileage).

lightonthehill

I bought two 1985 Maximas in October 1984, one for my wife, and one for me. My wife was changing from a vehicle that ran on regular, so, from habit, continued to put regular in her new Maxima. It worked well except on steep hills (like the street we lived on) and situations where maximum acceleration was being used (such as passing in a short passing lane). So she continued to use regular as long as she owned the car. No problems from using regular.

Based on how her Maxima was doing on regular, I tried regular in my 1985 Maxima. The car ran on regular, but pinged worse than my wife's Maxima on hills, and even missed occasionally during brisk acceleration. I decided that was not what I wanted, so switched to premium (which gave perfect performance). After 18 months with premium, I dropped to midgrade, which gave the same performance, and which gave no trouble in any driving situation. I have followed that proceedure with each Maxima generation since.

Dano2016

I've been driving my 2016 100 miles per day on regular fuel. Mostly freeway with cruise set @70. A few times I've put in a couple tanks of premium but didn't notice improved performance or mileage. I've never heard a ping or felt any hesitation. With either grade of fuel I get a little over 34mpg. Either on the flatlands or in the Sierra Nevada mountains, it still has great performance.

gizzsdad

yes!

central25thst

regular all day everyday unless you really need that extra 1 mpg

lightonthehill

All octanes higher than regular give essentially the same MPG. The only reason regular fuel does not give quite the same MPG as higher octanes in some Maximas is because the fuel system on the Maxima is not intended to process fuel with octane as low as 87, so does not handle it with the same efficiency as it would fuels in the octane range the car is intended to be using.

But the only significant loss by using regular is performance, especially on steep hills and when accelerating aggressively. Those situations may not be faced by some drivers, in which case they can get by with regular.

robtroxel

Actually the Maxima will handle 85 Octane very well but it is rated for MPG and HP numbers using premium. I recently completed a trip through the Rockies on I-70 and had absolutely no pinging on long upward grades.
Here is a excerpt from Colorado AAA site:


"To begin with, octane rating of gasoline is a measurement of the fuel's ability to resist knocking or uncontrolled burn. Many years ago, research by the American Petroleum Institute showed that the lower air pressure at high altitudes allows vehicles to perform as well on 85 octane as they would on 87 at a lower altitude. The Colorado Legislative Council contradicted that research in a 2001 study, which showed that the altitude difference might apply only to older cars (pre-1984). Despite this new information, there has never been any change to Colorado 's 85 octane standard, which was set decades ago."

lightonthehill

The key phrase here is 'through the Rockies.' All vehicles can perform suitably at higher elevations on slightly lower octane, so regular (87 octane) performs in the Rockies the same as midgrade (89 octane) does at lower elevations. Midgrade (89 octane) works wonderfully well at all elevations on every generation Maxima.

But we have had posters here through several generations of Maximas who had trouble running regular fuel at lower elevations. Of course there were also folks who were able to run regular with no obvious trouble. The fuel systems of every Maxima of the same generation are supposedly exactly the same, but, in actuality, there are variables involved, and we often have Maximas that would seem to be exactly alike, but that do not handle regular fuel the same way.

Each 2016 Maxima driver must decide for themselves whether they are willing to accept less than maximum performance from their car and try regular fuel in order to determine if they are satisfied with the result.

JSROOKS

So how has everyone's gas mileage been on the topic between regular vs Premium? For myself I have so far only used regular unleaded. As my commute to work is stop and go traffic so I am not sure Premium would really help my situation.

robtroxel

I too have fed my 2016 Maxima nothing but regular. No issues in the flat lands of Illinois. Still averaging 27.0 mpg with a 50% mix of town and a 50% of interstate driving. Mostly interstate cruising yield an impressive 33 mpg all on regular! .

JSROOKS

Wow that is pretty impressive. I should just find a new job because I think I'm averaging about 23 MPG because of the stop and go LOL. But it is good to see you are getting pretty optimal performance on regular.