Gas Premium or regular?

[Lonewolf]

Crimony, can somebody just put this to bed already. The car wants premium, give it to her!

If you don't want to use premium, don't buy the car.

[Fish]

I would stick to premium as stated in the manual. When I was working at the dealer before (BMW), we had a lot of customers that would be cheap and put regular instead of premium. More often than not there were a lot of fuel related problems. Despite us telling them the cause is the gas they continued to ignore it and use 87. Needless to say they weren't very happy when warranty would get denied due to improper fuel.

[bimmerboy]

Originally Posted by stalon320

Actually.. The car can run just fine on regular unleaded. I have noticed that many performance cars today have no issued running on reg unleaded as the computers adjust the spark, timing, etc... its really not that big a deal unless you are looking to race the car.. normal driving.. there's no difference..except to your wallet. The only time you will notice a difference.. is if you use racing fuel.. at like 104 octane.. I used that in my mustang of years ago.. and it definately made a difference.. also made the whole car smell like gas..lol.. it was actually pretty cool back then

Not necessarily. Just because it can be done doesn't mean regular will be "fine" on this motor. Also using higher octane won't do shit, unless the car is tuned for that octane...

[Memphis]

Originally Posted by Enigmus

The premium grade available in New Orleans is 93 octane but the majority of them have 10% Ethanol. Personally I use pure gasoline by looking for gas stations listed here http://pure-gas.org/ It's a matter of preference and I'd like to have the most energy-efficient burning gas available for my beloved car. =)

I think that website needs its own thread sticky. That is a great piece of information.

[yjbeach]

Originally Posted by Memphis

I think that website needs its own thread sticky. That is a great piece of information.

Wow, in the northern Virginia / DC area there is not a single gas station listed. Everyone gas station uses the blend

[Khyron686]

Originally Posted by stalon320

Actually.. The car can run just fine on regular unleaded. I have noticed that many performance cars today have no issued running on reg unleaded as the computers adjust the spark, timing, etc... its really not that big a deal unless you are looking to race the car.. normal driving.. there's no difference..except to your wallet. The only time you will notice a difference.. is if you use racing fuel.. at like 104 octane.. I used that in my mustang of years ago.. and it definately made a difference.. also made the whole car smell like gas..lol.. it was actually pretty cool back then

The knock sensors can only adjust so far. Technically it's rated for 94 at sea level so running 91/premium already is pulled back a touch. Run 87 or 89 and you might be pulled as far as possible leaving NO wiggle room if you get any bad gas, or any sort of other condition that would pull timing. So you'll knock and damage the motor.

If 2-3 bucks a fill scares you, do not buy this car. Get a Fit or Elantra or some other 40 mpg car tuned for regular.

[Enigmus]

Originally Posted by yjbeach

Wow, in the northern Virginia / DC area there is not a single gas station listed. Everyone gas station uses the blend

Again the website is one of many user submitted lists of pure gasoline gas stations. I did some random googling and found out that boaters are very picky about what gas they use on their motors. Fishing enthusiasts usually know where all the pure gasoline stations are at that aren't posted online. Check your state if it has a mandated requirement that stations have to have a "may contain ethanol" sticker on their pumps!

[NeedsmoreCowbell]

How many people got 87 in the tank on delivery? all my toyota dealership had in stock was 87. When I noticed them filling it up they said they had to let me leave with a full tank of gas. I asked them to stop but by then it was almost full and they said "these cars have oxygen sensors that compensate for the lower octane" I wasnt happy about it but one tank of 87 should not cause a huge problem. That being said. How many people probably got a car with 87? Prob alot.... because at the 2 dealers I went to only had 87 on their pumps on the lot. So buyer beware. You probably are getting the first full tank filled with 87. Really not a big deal but would have loved to be able to get the ball rolling on my terms. food for thought

[MVJ1975]

My salesman told me he took it off the lot to a nearby gas station and filled the tank with premium (93 octane). They were doing that with all the FR-S.

[Boosted2.0]

The engine is over 12:1 compression and you want to run regular?

It is a bad idea. Yes, it has 2 knock sensors and will do its best to adjust when you use regular, but it will have to pull timing and add fuel to lower cylinder temps. This will cause lower power and worse fuel economy. It will also void your powertrain warranty if you crack a piston ring or ring land from detonation and they bother to get the fuel analyzed

[NeedsmoreCowbell]

Originally Posted by Boosted2.0

The engine is over 12:1 compression and you want to run regular?

It is a bad idea. Yes, it has 2 knock sensors and will do its best to adjust when you use regular, but it will have to pull timing and add fuel to lower cylinder temps. This will cause lower power and worse fuel economy. It will also void your powertrain warranty if you crack a piston ring or ring land from detonation and they bother to get the fuel analyzed

^^^^^exactly! So make sure you watch what fuel goes in. Word of mouth is just that. You never know what can happen when someone is rushed, swamped swamped swamped, while trying to make sales. Be proactive not reactive.

[Turbowned]

My dealer mandated that we fill all our cars with 87 octane when they require premium ... Makes me cringe. I know they'll be fine for the first few hundred miles (states in the manual that it can be used at the expense of decreased performance), but it's just so petty. Fill the high-compression, often forced-induction engine with 87 swill just to save a few bucks tops? And how good is that gonna look on a test drive when the engine pulls timing and accelerates slower, making the driver think it performs at less of a level than it's really capable of? Stupid.

[moniz]

Originally Posted by NeedsmoreCowbell

How many people got 87 in the tank on delivery? all my toyota dealership had in stock was 87. When I noticed them filling it up they said they had to let me leave with a full tank of gas. I asked them to stop but by then it was almost full and they said "these cars have oxygen sensors that compensate for the lower octane" I wasnt happy about it but one tank of 87 should not cause a huge problem. That being said. How many people probably got a car with 87? Prob alot.... because at the 2 dealers I went to only had 87 on their pumps on the lot. So buyer beware. You probably are getting the first full tank filled with 87. Really not a big deal but would have loved to be able to get the ball rolling on my terms. food for thought

Of course they do, but that doesn't mean the car doesn't REQUIRE min 91 to run at optimum performance AND fuel economy. For a car that requires 91 min, running 87 isn't going to save you $ since your mileage will be worse.

Don't forget, 99% of dealers and employees are not "car" people; this is just a business to them and they couldn't give a crap about the engineering and care taken in developing these cars and the people who appreciate and enjoy them. To them "gas is gas".

[HunterGreene]

12:1 compression, as has been stated already, requires a higher octane to prevent chance of detonation/knocking. Knocking = damage to your engine, ranging from cracked piston rings to bent rods, and that is never a cheap fix. So, suck it up and get premium gas.

Also, from a lot of research I did after getting the S/C on my tC, "premium" = 91 or higher. As we say in the engineering world, K.I.S.S.--Keep it simple, stupid. Fuel your car with at least 91, maintain the recommended maintenance, and don't drive like a complete idiot.