Comments on: High Octane Gas Myth

By: TonyMac

TonyMac — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:19:34 +0000

“…that helped create over $10B in 4th quarter profits for companies like Exxon-Mobil.” Quit your whining Wang. Where were your tears when oil was 20/barrel and oil companies were the worst investments in the world. I dig 100 oil, because I invest in oil. I got 200k in XL. The reason Exxon/Moblie is killing is because liberals have choked off the supply of oil and voila — supply and demand take over.

Actually, your newer, smaller engines are more likely to take high octane than older bigger engines. WHY??? Because of the higher compression of these small engines, as we ask small engines to produce a boat load of power. We now take overhead cams for granted, and four valves per cylinder is normal. No so a few years ago.

By: 1999sunfire2.2L

1999sunfire2.2L — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:53:53 +0000

o yea i forgot to mention i have tried a tank of the highest octane fuel i can get at a normal gas station and compared to my usual the lowest octane i didn’t see a difference worth paying more for not even in fuel economy the gas burned no different than cheap gas but that was in the summer time so the car had no chance of freezing

By: 1999sunfire2.2L

1999sunfire2.2L — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:26:33 +0000

ok i drive an old 1999sunfire2.2L and i live way up north in the cold what im trying to find out is,

will higher octane fuel in a normal car increase the chance of the car starting in -40degrees Celsius?

does higher octane fuel freeze at a different temperature than lower octane?, im pretty sure there is a difference in freezing temperature but is the difference enough to actually pay extra for just more start up reliability in the cold?

By: the trueth

the trueth — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 01:38:19 +0000

that is because the usa had an oil embargo on them

By: pt

pt — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 01:42:21 +0000

Cars who actually need premium are usually turboed cars

By: premium for ponies

premium for ponies — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:02:51 +0000

aua868s who cares what your friends do (the right thing btw), premium burns the most efficient, just try to run regular in anything with some compression!

p.s. I run premium in my 96 mazda millenia, 66 mustang, and 69 cadillac!

By: RaT

RaT — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 02:20:16 +0000

BTW I own a “family car” which I started using 93 in, mileage has increased significantly. With a 20 cent spread between 87 and 93 (very low percentage in cost diff.) I have decided the mileage is well worth the added 20 cents per gallon. I compute a savings of 4.2 cents per gallon when I tested three tanks in a row of each. Add a little performance and the switch is a no-brainer. The savings is not going to pad my retirement, but sure doesn’t hurt my feelings.

By: RaT

RaT — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 02:14:08 +0000

Octane RATING is calculated not on how much octane a fuel has, but on the percentage of how the fuel performs, as though it were composed of that percentage of octane…capiche? There are fuels which have a MUCH greater RATING than 110, but have very little actual octane content.

By: Dick Moran

Dick Moran — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:15:47 +0000

Using higher octane fuel than that recomended will only INCREASE the amount of cash you spend. Any horsepower increase would come because of a higher compression engine.

By: Guy

Guy — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 15:54:14 +0000

how can octane be based on percentage, and you can buy racing gas that’s a 103 octane rating, or higher?

By: TransAM

TransAM — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 06:16:32 +0000

once the car encounters some problems that a mechanic can determine as being related to the 10% junk we have to use in Missouri then I suggest sending the bill to the state capitol and keep hounding them.. who knows maybe enough complaints could make them repeal their terrible ideas.. just a thought oh and incase you still have that wicked ride congrats, vettes are my favorite

By: TransAM

TransAM — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 06:07:13 +0000

Some cars have a specific octane that they need to run through the car.. failing to do so will resault in a knock which isnt good obviously.. if someone is too cheap or doesn’t care about the future owner(s) of the car to buy their recommended octane then so be it. Otherwise buy a handheld tuner and change the settings on the car to make up for the cheaper gas… The brand also counts, in my area all we have is phillips 66 and its quality is shakey. The town I was at before had shell and the 91 v power made my car run so much better you could see it through mpg increase and feel it through the performance.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:19:24 +0000

Use AV fuel in small engines and you wont have the jets clogging up on you. Also the fuel won’t go bad on you.

By: i refuse to buy new

i refuse to buy new — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:34:59 +0000

oh my is right genius = weird ya cant help it or stop it oh my lol dork

By: Eeeeek

Eeeeek — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:09:34 +0000

Oh My thats all i have to say, the original author did a fairly good job of describing the issues and the differences. Although they may have missed some minor details they did good job for a novice of automotive care.

What came after words in the comments can only be described as Idiocy. Mr. Bitter nailed down most of the salient points and got kicked by someone that if he is an engine builder would never ever build an engine for me or anyone i know. just because u grow up in the field doesn’t mean u know anything.

again like others have said its in your owners manual for a reason read it and follow it. i drive a vehicle that gets 11-12 of 87 owners manual recommends 91. Now i use 91 all the time and get 17mpg and before they added ethanol to the gas (which should never be mixed with gasoline) i got 19 to 20 sometimes better.

theres lots of reasons why ethanol shouldn’t be mixed with gasoline but 2 reasons are it doesn’t stay in solution with gas and it attracts water.

water in fuel is a bad thing (water injection is a completely different ball of wax and the water isn’t in the fuel.

anyway read your owners manual see what it recommends then test if u see no difference and the math doesn’t work out then stay with regular for those of us where the math works keep using premium. i wont tell u what to use and not to use but i will say TEST. run full tanks all the way empty and keep track of mileage. thats the best test

A lot of the newer engines will run on any thing and not ping unless they have After-market parts but this is because of the engine adding more fuel (decreasing mileage) and retarding timing (decreasing mileage). and sometimes your computer cant adjust enough and u will still ping i have heard it in my truck. but just because u can run something does not mean u should or that it is best to do that. please please read your owners manual and do what it recommends or at least test and see what your results are.