Hey everyone,

I recently bought a used 2016 Nissan Maxima SL with 185,000 km on it. I know that the recommended fuel for this car is premium gas to achieve maximum horsepower. However, I’m wondering if there would be any harm in using regular gas (87 octane) instead.

I usually fill up at Costco gas stations. Has anyone had experience with this? Will using 87 octane cause any issues or long-term damage to the engine? Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated!

I really appreciate any help you can provide.

 

I am curious what the Wizard thinks of this.

 

Damage? No.
Knock and ping? Yes.

 

The manual from my 2016 SV says:

I don't put a lot of miles on my car, so I typically use premium. I've occasionally used regular unleaded when I've been doing highway driving and didn't notice any pinging to go along with the decreased performance.

 

NISSAN recommends the use of unleaded premium gasoline with an octane rating of at least 91 AKI (Anti-Knock Index) number (Research octane number 96). If unleaded premium gasoline is not available, you may use unleaded regular gasoline with an octane rating of at least 87 AKI number (Research octane number 91), but you may notice a decrease in performance.

But yet, we have people asking for more power from their Maxima...

​​​​​​https://maxima.org/forums/8th-genera...on-maxima.html

https://maxima.org/forums/general-ma...rformance.html

​​​​​​https://maxima.org/forums/8th-genera...-upgrades.html

https://maxima.org/forums/8th-genera...17-maxima.html

 

I own a 2017 SL and have been using 87 octane in it for 75,000 miles. I have had zero problems. My highest mpg is 37mph interstate .avg and 27.5 combined. My brother has a 2015, uses the same and zero engine probs either. I noticed no performance increases the two times I have tried 91 octane.

 

No problems using 87 Regular with a bought new 2016 and a new 2019s racking up over 150000 miles! More than enough power in each car. Do recommend Techron fuel cleaner from time to time. Get at Walmart