anyone using premium gas ?

[cbdallas]

It won't hurt anything but your wallet.

[Focusblackzx5]

Originally Posted by cbdallas

It won't hurt anything but your wallet.

oki yep I agree with that !

Thanks for the infos, I'll sleep smarter tonight eheh ;)

[jet_mech_tech]

Not sure the way fuel works south of the border but up here in Ontario, I switched from regular 87 octane (containing at least 10% ethanol) to Shell supreme 91 octane (which contains 0% ethanol). Not sure about power but I definitely get better mpg. I think its the ethanol factor myself, but since ethanol is in everything up here except supreme, I'll stick with the 91 octane.

On a side note after crunching some numbers, I spend $6 more to fill up on high test but would spend about $8 more to get the same km's on regular gas .... so i'm still farther ahead.

[mac.mogul]

Ethanol blended fuels will always reduce your average MPG because ethanol has less energy than gasoline which requires more of it to be used.

Power gains/losses between octanes are marginal at best. On older engine management systems you won't see much of a gain unless you change the spark timing yourself with a tune.

[mishka]

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

But don't believe what you hear about 'cleaning your engine with octane'. It's simply not true.

My friend said that because 93 octane (premium gas) has "less contaminants" , that's why it can "clean out" the car.

[mishka]

Originally Posted by cbdallas

It won't hurt anything but your wallet.

I put about 11 gallons in the tank of premium. The premium costed 35c more than the regular at Exxon at the time. Thats $3.85 more for the fill. Considering it improves performance some (power and mileage), I think it's worth it - especially if not using premium all the time.
Would you still fill up with regulare if gas was $2 a gallon? Don't think so :)

[cbdallas]

"because 93 octane (premium gas) has "less contaminants"

That's an even worse fairy tale. But if it makes you feel better, it won't hurt anything.

[frinesi2]

Originally Posted by mishka

My friend said that because 93 octane (premium gas) has "less contaminants" , that's why it can "clean out" the car.

Yeah your friend doesn't know anything about gas, apparently.

The octane rating is based off the knock percentage in a test engine as a result of the ratio between heptane and octane in the fuel, along with other additives such as ethanol and detergents. "Regular", "Midgrade", and "Premium" and all of that garbage are just marketing terms, and marketing people are generally complete blithering idiots.

[mac.mogul]

When it comes to stuff like this only believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.

[Elizabeth]

Perennial thread.. Octane..
Yeah.
I like 93 personally. It used to always be 20 cents more per gallon. Of late it is 40 cents more..
Anyway, i still like premium in my 2012 Focus...