chevron premium (91 in AZ).
chevron (or any of the previous standard oil divisions including amoco, sohio, etc.) has long been considered to be the best gas due to the additives (techron...now in texaco too after the merger). i have read this for years both on forums and in a book titled "drive it forever". my last car ran exclusively on chevron for over 200k and never required any type of service on the injectors and the fuel filter never needed replacement. shell is also considered to be good. i originally got on the chevron/shell bandwagon when they were the only brands in IL that didnt add 10% ethanol back in the 80's.

 

V-power at shells gas station most of a time =)

 

93. my timing is advanced. otherwise i'd run 91.

 

I'm not sure how you're getting better mileage with sunoco 94; it is 10% ethanol which reduces mileage - it doens't help it. Good gas, irrespective.

 

hey thats no way to treat a maxima compared to a ford LOL jp

Cant go wrong with 93 Chevron, you either want to run better or stay sick compared to other gases

 

LOL Has anyone actually tried this?

 

Dont all stations here add 10% ethanol?

 

i use 93..for the past 3 weeks and that gets expensive..over her in long island..it goin between $3.40 to $3.51 where i live

 

yes, i have. you only put like a gallon mixed with the rest of the tank of 91 or 93, which ever.

 

regular(87) is 3.00 bucks here
premo(93) is 3.25 bucks here give or take
after 15 gallons thats only a few bucks more for better gas milage, and performance...the the bettter gas milage probably make up for the extra 4 bucks you spend at the tank.
hearing people ***** about putting in premium is retarted.

 

is your knock sensor going off? cause higher octane is a solution.

I use 87 theres no reason to spend more money on the stuff (granted there are exceptions) some times the gas station by my house sells 89 for the same price as 87 so i get it then but she runs good so I have no reason to spend more.

 

i agree! kinda crazy that we are happy when premium is less than 3 bucks

 

93 - from whoever is selling it.

 

91 from Chevron, Shell or 76. Every few months, I'll mix in 100 octane racing fuel (at 76 stations) and 91.

 

91 at QT.
sometimes 93 V-Power across the street at Shell.

 

I use either Shell, Chevron or QT (Quik Trip) 93 octane premium. QT might be the Wal-Mart of convenience stores but their gas is a Top Tier rated gas.

 

I used to mix av gas in my Chevelle when I was running brackets with it, but technically, it is illegal to use in cars driven on public roads. Nothing to do with pollution or anything like that but because there are no state and federal road taxes included in the price.

 

no, no one does really. Sunoco has an ethanol blend, UPI has an ethanol blend.. That's really it around here that I know of

 

my guess is that people use the same gas that they have used in the last 70 threads of this title

PS: in a lot of states, its the law that you HAVE to have 10% ethanol

 

i only use 93 octane...citgo texaco, bp ultimate or my favorite, chevron 93

 

Well, I see 3 or 4 posts here claiming better gas mileage for higher octane.

WRONG.

WRONG.

WRONG.

Individuals trying to measure their mpg sometimes THINK they get better mpg with higher octane, but they DON'T; rumors of such accomplishments are strictly an urban legend.

Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, Consumer Reports . . you name it; every official and CAREFULLY CONTROLLED UNDER LABRATORY CONDITIONS test has proven for over thirty years that higher octane does NOT give higher mpg. PERIOD.

Does higher octane give a cleaner engine? Sometimes slightly.

Does higher octane give better performance? Only in extreme driving situations, such as a timed quarter mile.

But each testing agency has come to the same conclusion: unless your engine has been specifically tuned for the higher octane (stock Maximas have not), or is somehow out of tune, octanes over 87 are money out the tailpipe.

OR psychological salve. which is why I use 89, when 87 works perfectly well in my car.

Those blaming a low octane gas for problems with their car which are 'solved' by higher octane are simply masking a problem which should be addressed and fixed.

The only saving grace is that the higher octane will certainly not HURT your Maxima, and may make some drivers feel better.

 

I'm in Texas... and we have 89, 91 and 93....I use 93 only! Check your fuel door...For Maximum Performance Use Premium Fuel Only!!!! My wife filled up the car with 91 octane and boy was there a lot of dieseling/detonation upon light throttle accelerating! I visited a dyno that same weekend and I had to get off the dyno and go fill up with 93 octane in order to stop the full throttle power lost(retarding ignition) due to detonation! There was a 40hp difference...all my Nissans drink 93 Octane!

 

i guess pinging in stock 3.5's is a problem that needs to be fixed. or maybe its a problem of people not using the 91 that nissan says they need to use...and what works.

 

i use 87 on my maxima and i will continue to do so on my Z how ever the manual of both cars to use an octane rating of ATLEAST 83 so i think i am good. some times on long trips i would put 92 in and despite what every one says i get better mileage.

example:summer time headed to portland average temp 85-90F
92 yeilded ~375 miles on one tank filled from E
87 yeilded ~320 miles on one tank filled from E
mabe its just the way a 2nd gen is or just my car because i try to eek and tweak as much as i can out of 87 that the 92 works so much better. i dont care what consumer reports says my car isnt in a lab, cars dont operate in controled enviorments they operate in real life.

 

my 2k2 suggests at least 91 so...

 

now im really itching to try a tank of something lower than 93 octane...


because... there is an almost 8$ difference between a tank of 87 and a tank of 93.. ... that means 40$ extra every month...

87 @ $3.12 .......93 @ $3.50

thats pretty significant to my pocket book....

 

I agree with this.

Higher mileage or better power would only occur if the lower octane was causing knock retard. hence not running 100%.

Since Octane is the ability not to self ignite, I equate that to not being able burn as easy. Not being able to burn as easy makes me think less power, less mileage.

Obviously, 100 octane in a race engine will produce more power than 87, as the 87 will cause pistons to melt/blow up and have no power!

That said we use 87 in the Max, and I use 87 in my preminum recommended turbo dodge, but only after some modifications that allow me to do so and with an active knock retard feed back system. I wrote a data logging app that I use to use but have since gone with calibration that will flash the CEL on knock retard.

 

93 Chevron or 93 Sunoco.........thats it!

 

I use 87 in combination with fuel conditioner.

 

Niku-Sama (and several others here who claim higher mpg with higher octane) - By 'not caring about what all the lab tests say', you are denying reality right from the top. That is the worst possible way to approach any true evaluation of mpg or any other scientific measurement. The fallacy of your approach is that truly accurate mpg cannot be determined by burning the fuel in the car; way too many variables.

Such as:

Lateral tilt of car at fillup
Lateral tilt of car at each refill
Frontal tilt of car at fillup
Frontal tilt of car at each refill
Sensitivity of fuel nozzle cutoff device indicating 'full' at fillup
Sensitivity of fuel nozzle cutoff device indication 'full' at each refill
Temperature at fillup
Temperature at each refill
Wind direction during each foot travelled during test
Wind velocity during each foot travelled during test
Road surface must be exactly the same when testing each fuel
Road gradient must be exactly the same when testing each fuel
Total weight of car (including fuel) must be exactly the same when testing each fuel
Application of accellerator must be exactly the same when testing each fuel
Application of brakes must be exactly the same when testing each fuel

We could continue this list, but you should be getting the idea by now.

A rough approximation of mpg may be obtained by running the test over exactly the same trip at the same speed under the same weather and traffic conditions with each fuel. But, because of the fillup variables listed above, a trip of less than three tankfuls in length will not be very accurate.

Those who want the higher octane to give higher mpg will interpret things the way they wish. But the reality is that, in a properly tuned car, 87 octane and 93 octane give exactly the same mpg. To deny that is to deny reality. Which some here will do.


ps - ScottS - Thanks for bringing facts instead of urban rumors to the board. We needed some reality here.

 

Interesting last couple of posts, however I will say I was using premium and every so often switching back to regular 87 for a couple fill ups when my maxima had around 70ish maybe 80-85k miles. Now that she's got 123000 I used 87 again and it pinged pretty bad when its cold. Switched back to 93 and it runs a bit smoother. MPG's didnt really notice a difference. To the one who said "blaming performance issues on octane is just masking a different problem" that's probly correct, I've got original knock sensor, 3 out of 4 original O2's and basically everything else emissions-related and fuel delivery original.

 

carsarecool - Thanks for your thoughtful insight. Your experience sounds normal. It is probably true that once a car passes the 100,000 mile mark, if we get pinging, it may be easier and less expensive to step up in octane rather than try to restore the engine, fuel and emmissions systems to 'like new' status.

 

At first 93, then 89 for a while, but in the state of Minnesota where I live, they have 10% Ethanol in the gasoline. With this mixed in 87 Octane, my car runs just fine with no problems. The only difference is the pickup is a little slower and you can feel a slight loss in horse power, but with speeding tickets and gas prices these days, I am just fine with 87 Octane, besides my manual for this AE recommended 87, but higher octane for maximum performance. Sorry for the detail explanation, but i'm with 87 here in MN.

 

In Finland,95 octane. 2.07$/litre.

 

93 from quicktrip..


they do triple additive...FTW!!

 

be careful with additive, Nissan don't recommend them in gas tank. They are like using brillo to clean a dirty pot.

 

all gas has additive added at the teminal..(i work at one)

whole sale gets one shot, branded 2 shots, and QT gets 3, the guarantee their gas

 

Question...............

What exactly (chemical compound) is it that you can dump into the fuel tank that may serve a purpose that is not already present in common fuel at the pump as it is? ...............and at what concentrations is it damaging and to which components in the fuel system?

 

Sunoco 100 wooooooo

 

Well... im gonna fill with something other than premium today...

dont know what though.... should i go one step down to 89?.... prlly gonna fill up only a few gallons just to see what happens...

if my car can run healthy according to some of the posts in this thread.... id love to save $50 a month by going lower octane.