I am really, really considering switching to regular unleaded. I have 15k miles and have always used premium but the money is getting tight and gas seems to be rising. I know it's not much per fill up, but per year it adds up. Any thoughts?

 

here's a pretty good article about it.. hope this helps:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/premiu...-vehicles.html

 

I stopped using premium during the last price spike when I was driving an S-80 T6, which "required" premium gas. Never felt a bit of difference. The Max "recommends" premium and I haven't put an ounce in yet after 4K miles. Perhaps I'm missing a little umph (and even then I doubt I'd notice) but I haven't heard a ping or knock once.

BTW that is a very good article SH1ft.

 

I'd just try to go with the recommendations...you never know what can happen!

 

Just a FYI,Every dealer I see in my area gasses up all the new cars with regular.So if it were a big deal there would be lots of reports about it.

 

If it doesnt knock then it doesnt knock.
FWIW, many years ago (like maybe 20) I read an article on gas stations in consumer reports magazine. Dont know if this is still true but here it is. According to them, most gas stations have more detergents and beneficial additives in the higher grade gasolines. BUT ... They said that HESS and TEXACO use the same additives in their 87 octane that other brands only use in 93. So supposedly they have "better" gas IF you are using 87. Not sure if this is still the case.

 

I have always used Premium and the car has run great since I bought it. I look at it this way.....the gap between regular and premium is usually about 15 to 20 cents a gallon....seeing that I put in about 15 gallons a week---that calculates to an additional $2.25 to 3.00 a week ($9-12/month). I save this money in other ways (changing my own oil...washing my own car...etc...)... in the end I still come out ahead and it is peace of mind...

Now if the gap between regular and premium were to somehow become much larger...ie >$1... then that would be a totally different beast to reckon with...

 

Running regular in this car ABSOLUTELY affects performance. Nissan states in the Owners Manual that if the only gas available is regular, to TAKE ONLY THE AMOUNT NECESSARY TO GET YOU YO WHERE YOU CAN OBTAIN THE PROPER FUEL, and TO DO NO AGGRESSIVE DRIVING ON THE WAY.

Unless I fail to understand English, that tells me all I need to know. Also, several folks here on the ORG had regular gas erroneously put regular in their car, and it would barely run, sputtering and hesitating. Thay isn't the case with every 7th gen Maxima, but it nevertheless tells us something.

This car has the technical flexibility to adjust somewhat if it detects the wrong octane, but the GREATER the adjustment, the LESS the efficiency, and the LESS the performance. If you aren't interested in performance, why didn't you get a Chevy Kobalt?

It absolutely mystifies me that folks consider only premium and regular. That reminds me of the current very sick political climate in this country, where most folks are at one extreme or the other.

WHY NOT MODERATION? WHY NOT MIDGRADE? Nissan sets our fuel system for 91 octane, which means it should probably perform best on octanes in the 89-94 range. Midgrade is 89 octane. I have switched to midgrade after the first 18 months in every Maxima I have owned (every gen from 2nd to 7th). I have noticed no change in performance or MPG by dropping to midgrade. Every region is different, but where I live, midgrade is 20 cents a gallon cheaper than premium.

Until the 7th gen, it was possible to run regular in most Maximas withour major repercussions. But the compression ratio was raised with the 7th gen, making the use of regular gas more problematic. I absolutely would never use regular with this high compression ratio.

I would consider anyone who puts regular in the 7th generation Maxima to be mistreating their car. For me, using regular gas in this car would be similar to be using the cheapest off-brand oil; just a sign you do not respect your vehicle.

But that is just me. Some folks probably do not feel the need to treat their vehicle as kindly as I do.

 

you can use regular gas in your maxima as stated above the only difference is a very slight loss of power for acceleration but its so little that if you not heavily modded you will never notice the diff. and with the way ecu's are set up now the are designed to retard the timing if and when you use other types of fuel other then recommended

 

don't be a cheap a$$.

/end thread

 

That's because the Left wants to give things away, calculating issues against their perception of right vs. wrong. Whereas the Right wants to take things away, judging issues against their certainty of good vs. evil.

When ideologically extreme, both are misguided. But only one is actually offensive.

 

The 7th gen will run fine on mid grade just like all other previous Maxima's (Maximas dont like 87 for the most part), compression raised or not. All 3.5 Maxima's are happier with premium but 89 could be used, 09-11 included. Also I still laugh at how Nissan said premium is required in the 09, but the 10 and 11 its back to the "recommended" that they have used since 95! Nothing changed in the fuel systems, etc in the 09 vs the 10 and 11 model yrs.

 

Well put. It's unfortunate that not only our political system is looked at as a "black/white" either/or system where everyone has to choose 1 of the 2 teams but that people treat issues in life as such too.

There is a world of grey out there.

 

If you want to cheap out on gas then so be it but they recommend it for a reason. To answer the question of the thread, I use premium because its better for my car & I want it to run at its best for as long as possible.

 

+1

I'm sure you can go without changing brakes/rotors/oil for a while too. Your car will still physically turn on and move....for a while. I think the premise is just because the car runs with regular without apparent negative consequence doesn't mean you aren't damaging something. It's not like Nissan has stock in Premium gas and wants to encourage us to buy it, they'd only recommend that if the engine really needed it to work correctly.

 

I'll tell you one thing, despite the fact the CVT has been giving great mpg for the power under the hood, these increase gas prices are really starting to hurt, even on the Maxima. That 20 gallon tank is starting to become a killer at fill-up, despite decent mpg.

 

If you're finances are that precariously balanced, don't blame the Market for tipping you over. Get a bus pass, or a car that's less expensive to own.

 

+1

You have a very good point Rochester......Usually people who buy sports cars (especially with V8's) and SUV's don't worry about fluctuations in gas prices....if you are really worried about a 20-30 cent difference/gallon.....then you probably would have been better off getting a Versa...

 

+2

 

I'm with you Smarty..........it does add up!

 

+1
everyone who owns a 7th gen bought it after July 2008, when gas prices were insane. In addition, most here have financed/;eased their car, and most of those people are still paying that loan/lease off.
if you are worried about the money that much, get out from under the loan/lease, pay cash for a used car. Won't be as prestigious as owning a new car, but it's apparently money that could be better spent elsewhere... such as proper maintenance...

 

Every major fuel company such as Chevron, Shell, Conoco, Texaco, etc. uses additives and cleaners in their gas. As I work in Petro industry....

As you go higher in octane of course you are buying better gas. Higher the octane, higher the horsepower putting out by the engine. That is why majority of the turbo users like to use e-85 as it is close to 100 octane if not higher, thus putting out more power and is cheaper than regular petro. Downside of the e-85 is that it is 30% less efficient than that of regular petro.

 

I don't think it's worth it by saving a few dollars from using 87. You could save more by carpooling or changing your driving habits.

 

Every other fill up, when I reach half a tank I rotate 93 and H20, runs a little rough but can't give up my daily 5 dollar coffee or eating out

 

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. I have always used Shell premium so I will stay with it for now.

 

it's not about people who care and can afford the fluctuations or not, it's about whether or not it even makes a difference. it's about whether or not if it's a gimmick or not. It's about whether or not your falling for the marketting hype.

nissan at first labelled the a35 "premium only". Then as economic times changed, the 2011's are now "premium reccomended"...then the warranty status also covers users of 87 octane.

if this is the same 3.5 engine as in the altima, what is the fuel requirement on the 3.5 altima ?

what we are trying to get at is if this is all mostly hype and not mostly a marketing gimmick.

 

I get what you're driving at. Yes, you can run lower octane in your Maxima, and it will probably run just fine. But "just fine" is a subjective opinion, depending on your priorities. If the car doesn't perform at optimum efficiency, and that negative change is noticeable, you might not care as long as it's not damaging the vehicle and you're saving money at the pump.

And if it runs just the same, all the better. You might just save money without sacrificing mileage or power. I don't think that's the case, though.

Here's a good article over at Edmunds:

http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/...icleid=106293&

 

I've had the car a week and a half and the fill up the dealer provided (who knows what that really was) ran out - so it was time to fill up this morning. I'm probably rationalizing my decision, but since the manual calls for 91, and I can't buy 91 around here (either 87, 89 (2 below), or 93 (2 above), I'm going to try mid-grade (89).

Frankly, I don't push the car hard so I don't expect to have a problem with 89.

 

How does one know if their car is performing at a highest level or not performing at an optimum efficiency?

 

By developing the automotive skills necessary to make that assessment, in some combination of hard and soft skills both. You could also have your car assessed by a skilled mechanic on a regular basis, get it's HP measured, test drive a variety of other cars for comparison, etc.

Basically, just pay attention.

 

To add to what you say in the simplest terms, people don't stop doing something until they actually see the damage they do, a crappy diet, followed with other bad habits if that, does not show itself over night or a year later, health related issues pop up years later, do you really want to wait until a heart attach to change your diet.

This exact process is identical with peoples cars, except for the few car enthusiast who take better care of their cars, most people don't see the damage that is being done by filling up with 87 instead of the recommended 93, or running the oil for twice as long, these are the reasons people suck it up and buy new, used cars are full of mystery.

A car is one of the most expensive reoccurring purchase and it is the most neglect

 

So basiscally spend more money?

Personally, I do pay attention to my car. The question was from people who are just a car owner that really drives their car for the purpose of getting point a to point b. I understand that car will perform better as using higher octane gas. Helps the car run more efficient, but driving on 87/89 octane don't think the power loss isn't all that noticeable!!!

 

Do your own research, move from 93/91 to 89 and then 87 and watch your mpg, I have noticed on certain cars, one being my 06 Maxima, that when the NJ gas attendant would accidentally fill my car with 87 I would burn through that tank in 2 days, were the 93 would get me through the week, my 09 drank a tank of 87 like it was gatorade and it just finished running a marathon.

Another thing to take into consideration is how the ECU works when it retards the timing, Im gonna try and find that info

 

Dang I forgot about NJ having full service stations! lol We barely have those out here in Colorado.... We only have 85/87/91 octane rating here.

I work in Petroleum industry and I have set blend ratios for gas pumps. It is where blend between the 85/91 to get 87 octane.

 

With cars, you can spend a little bit of money (and time) on a constant basis, or you can spend a whole lot all at once for repairs, or for a whole new car. But the people you're asking about aren't on the Org. We don't really care about them, because they're going to get repeatedly screwed by car ownership...

...unless they put the recommended gasoline in their tanks.

 

Everyone is going to make their own choices here.

If I intended to keep it for 4 yrs or less and plan on dumping it for something else, or it was a leased car that I wasn't going to keep for longer term, I'd probably put in the cheapest I could find and not worry about it.

BUT, I intend to keep mine longer term in perfect condition. Therefore I'll run mine on what the engineers designed it around.

Starr hit the nail squarely on the head.

"To add to what you say in the simplest terms, people don't stop doing something until they actually see the damage they do, a crappy diet, followed with other bad habits if that, does not show itself over night or a year later, health related issues pop up years later, do you really want to wait until a heart attach to change your diet."

Folks are going to do this and do it often. Be it their cars, being overweight, under-exercised, smoking, alcoholism, etc. Sometimes no matter how many times you tell them that what they are doing isn't quite so bright, they will continue on their own path of self destruction even IF they see issues pop up years later.

 

It's funny how things considered esoteric by some are common sense to others.

Then again, if I spent half as much energy on my personal health as I do caring for my car... nah, that's not going to happen.

 

Compusmurf very well put bro

 

Is there a study on recommeded gas vs using lower octane?

 

Guess Im getting conflicting answers, Im picking up mu new 2011 SV, and my dealer claims I only need regular gas. Seems that might not be accurate.