anyone using premium gas ?

[Norcalrallyx]

I have used premium 91 since day 1 with the 2012, save for one tank. I didn't notice a difference with 87 but I will stick with 91 for the future.
If I'm not spending the extra money ($100-$200/year on premium versus regular) I will be spending it on something useless like iTunes, Starbucks, or cheeseburgers anyways, lol.

[Burns098356GX]

I ran a few tanks of 91 through the last few weeks and did not notice any better economy or power gains. I'm sure it does help but the results are probably marginal, its not worth the price difference.


I have heard running a tank of higher octane fuel through GDI engines every now and then helps keep them healthy.

Sent from my HTC-Z710a using FF Mobile

[thehun]

It will matter when your car pulls so much timing to run 87 at hotter weather that you will have major carbon build up over time...once your out of warranty....you will have troubles....just saying.

Yes it will run on 87 but people need to do your research

91 octane after the free fill up from the dealer...no less :) 91 keeps them healthy ALL the time not just every now and then

[NCFocus12]

3rded for prem.......averaging high-36s with prem, any brand, get around mid-33s on 87. Runs smoother overall with Shell Vpower prem.

[dan50]

Car stumbles and sags under acceleration with 87 octane. Also stumbles and sags with 93 octane. No measurable difference in fuel economy either, so 87 seems the logical choice for me.

[mishka]

Hey all,
On recommendation from a friend, I filled up with supreme/premium gas (93 octane) yesterday (my friend said it can't hurt the car and its "good to clean out the car" with high octane - once a month he said). On the way home I noticed what felt like more power! In addition, the car was quieter when idleing/coasting yet louder when accelerating! It even shifted smoother and less jerky and overall the thing drives all around better and smoother. I love it!

[Deftmetal]

Some people swear by the higher octane fuels , others hate them. Most agree ethanol blends aren't as good. If you like it keep it up. The only vehicle I have noticed a difference in is my bike. Premium that's been sitting awhile makes it sound different and its not as smooth

[frinesi2]

The 2.0L GDI Ti-VCT is tuned to adjust for whatever octane rating of fuel you've put in it. Since it is a high compression motor (12.0:1 compression ratio) it can take advantage of the increased energy density of high octane fuel and will produce more torque. If this were five years ago and the engine were fuel injected, it would require premium fuel to run properly. The advantage of direct injection, and more advanced control systems and sensors, is that you can run lower octane fuels without issue if you want to save some money.

I have noticed that I get a bit more low to mid-range grunt when driving on a tank of premium. This helps me get slightly better fuel economy around town, but when I'm doing days of highway driving, the octane rating seems to have less of an effect on fuel economy.

Be careful with randomly filling up any old car with premium, however. With some cars it will do more harm than good, or it will just do nothing. The Focus has a pretty snazzy engine, however, which is why you're seeing the improvements.

[cbdallas]

"my friend said it can't hurt the car and its "good to clean out the car" with high octane - once a month he said".

This is the point where you stop believing everything you're told. This is also the school of thought that has been making fuel companies rich for decades.

Octane has NO cleansing properties, and 93 has no more detergents in it than 87. Different BRANDS of gas differ in their use of detergents, which is why you'll want to stick with Top-Tier fuel suppliers if cleanliness is a concern.

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

Octane is a pre-ignition eliminator, and that's all it does. It's good to use in higher-compression engines and turbo applications where pre-ignition can occur during high load situations. Pre-ignition manifests itself as spark knock and is akin to striking the tops of the pistons with a hammer.....something you'll want to prevent by using the fuel that's required in your owner's manual.

The 2.0 is engineered to run fine on 87. If you use 89 - 93 octane, you MIGHT experience a slight spark timing bump if this engine is set up to detect octane, like the Nissan VQ and many other engines are. This may yield you a couple of hp, and it may not. There may be a time during a hot summer day, with the A/C on and a car load of people where you accelerate and hear a slight 'ping', and bumping up a grade can eliminate that. But the spark knock detector on your engine is also there to back off the timing a degree or two to put a stop to it, so either way, your engine's best interests are being looked after. If you have excessive spark knock that won't go away, it's time to head to the dealership.


The 2.0T will give you spark advance with higher octane levels, and it's the only way to truly achieve 252 hp with that engine. With the use of 87, I believe it detunes itself to 244. But don't believe what you hear about 'cleaning your engine with octane'. It's simply not true.

[Focusblackzx5]

Originally Posted by cbdallas

"my friend said it can't hurt the car and its "good to clean out the car" with high octane - once a month he said".

This is the point where you stop believing everything you're told. This is also the school of thought that has been making fuel companies rich for decades.

Octane has NO cleansing properties, and 93 has no more detergents in it than 87. Different BRANDS of gas differ in their use of detergents, which is why you'll want to stick with Top-Tier fuel suppliers if cleanliness is a concern.

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

Octane is a pre-ignition eliminator, and that's all it does. It's good to use in higher-compression engines and turbo applications where pre-ignition can occur during high load situations. Pre-ignition manifests itself as spark knock and is akin to striking the tops of the pistons with a hammer.....something you'll want to prevent by using the fuel that's required in your owner's manual.

The 2.0 is engineered to run fine on 87. If you use 89 - 93 octane, you MIGHT experience a slight spark timing bump if this engine is set up to detect octane, like the Nissan VQ and many other engines are. This may yield you a couple of hp, and it may not. There may be a time during a hot summer day, with the A/C on and a car load of people where you accelerate and hear a slight 'ping', and bumping up a grade can eliminate that. But the spark knock detector on your engine is also there to back off the timing a degree or two to put a stop to it, so either way, your engine's best interests are being looked after. If you have excessive spark knock that won't go away, it's time to head to the dealership.


The 2.0T will give you spark advance with higher octane levels, and it's the only way to truly achieve 252 hp with that engine. With the use of 87, I believe it detunes itself to 244. But don't believe what you hear about 'cleaning your engine with octane'. It's simply not true.

That's interesting. humm if a filed my tank with 89-91 octane in my 05 zx5, will it hurt the engine ? Or it just does nothing bad.

Thanks for the infos :)