No more premium gas cars for me

[MichaelB]

Our car was purchased new in '06. Back then the difference between regular and premium gasoline was $.20 per gallon. I did the numbers, expected the additional fuel cost would be around $75 per year, so we went for it - a car that requires premium fuel.

The additional cost for premium gas then rose to $.25. 2 years ago it rose to $.50. late spring this year is went to $0.60, and yesterday at Costco it was at $0.70. We put 15k miles per year, get around 23mpg, so the additional cost is now over $400. It won't break the bank, but over 5 or 6 years it is a sizable amount of money.

Premium gasoline - first and last time for us.

 

[pb4uski]

My Subaru takes premium and I have experienced the same thing you have... though the other day I got premium for only 20 cents more than regular... so low that when I entered the price in Gas Buddy it said that it was low and asked me if I was sure.

The car we just ordered last week takes regular.

 

[MooreBonds]

The additional cost for premium gas then rose to $.25. 2 years ago it rose to $.50. late spring this year is went to $0.60, and yesterday at Costco it was at $0.70. We put 15k miles per year, get around 23mpg, so the additional cost is now over $400. It won't break the bank, but over 5 or 6 years it is a sizable amount of money.

Premium gasoline - first and last time for us.

I know the differential for premium can very widely by country. And lately (in St. Louis), I noticed it now has a $.40 premium over regular unleaded, compared to the $.30 premium it had been at for several years (before that, it had a standard $.20 premium).

But don't forget that in some places, the top premium can be 91 octane, other places it's 93 octane. Don't forget to look at that when comparing prices, as that might also be a factor.

 

[utrecht]

I have a Maxima and an Audi A5. They both call for premium gas. Ive never used it and they dont need it.

 

[aaronc879]

My turbo Subaru also requires premium. I just filled up at a $.57/gal premium over regular gas. I figure that premium fuel has cost me over $2500 over the last 11.5 years compared to if I had used regular. I could almost pay for a new engine with that. I'll keep this car until it dies but after that I will never use premium fuel again.

 

[AllDone]

I have a 2001 BMW. It gets regular gas only. Few cars actually "need" premium.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I have a Subaru turbo that runs on E85, so I actually pay a bit less than regular.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I have a 2001 BMW. It gets regular gas only. Few cars actually "need" premium.

cars that run decently high boost do - get on it too hard and you can blow the engine, unless the ecu automatically detunes it for you, which makes it drive like a dog

 

[Big_Hitter]

high test shouldn't be much over 25 cents a gallon from regular - i'll look next time I fill up my wife's turbo subaru

 

[braumeister]

I have a Maxima and an Audi A5. They both call for premium gas. Ive never used it and they dont need it.

I have never owned a car that called for premium, but I've always heard that the car's computer can generally compensate, so you should only buy premium if you start experiencing an engine knock.

 

[Bamaman]

My Lexus has 12.5:1 compression ratio--and it gets 89 octane. Our Civic SI gets 91 octane. Thankfully the Explorer gets 87 octane and the diesel p/u gets diesel.

 

[aaronc879]

I have a Subaru turbo that runs on E85, so I actually pay a bit less than regular.

How much did it cost to modify it to run on E85?

 

[utrecht]

I have never owned a car that called for premium, but I've always heard that the car's computer can generally compensate, so you should only buy premium if you start experiencing an engine knock.

+1....and Ive never had any knocking.

 

[Big_Hitter]

+1....and Ive never had any knocking.

most of the time you won't hear a knock event until it's too late

 

[Big_Hitter]

How much did it cost to modify it to run on E85?

let's see - the injectors were about $500 and the fuel pump was about $200, then I had it tuned so I could switch maps back and forth from 91

so maybe a grand? it puts down 420 awd ft pounds of torque on e85

 

[Texas Proud]

There is a difference between a car that 'recommends' premium and one that 'requires' premium....


I had an Acura TL and it was recommended.... but in the book it said you could use regular... it just retuned the engine... and it was NOT a dog on regular...

I know that some sports cars require premium.... and you can pay dearly if you do not use it...

 

[Danmar]

All my cars burn premium. Never even thought of the extra cost or tried to calculate it. Just part of the cost of a premium ride in my opinion.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I know that some sports cars require premium.... and you can pay dearly if you do not use it...

exactly - when you are running 20+ pounds of boost you'd better not get cheap on the fuel

 

[Car-Guy]

I guess I'm desensitized to paying a higher prices for premium. I've been driving a number of higher performance (typically higher compression) cars for years and they all recommend premium, (although most seem to run okay on regular in a pinch.) Not sure I'd want to run a steady diet of regular in those cars.

I've actually seen (measured) the difference between regular and premium gas in competitive driving conditions in higher compression engines. 0 to 60 and 1/4 mile ET's. I've also read claims that you get more mileage out of premium but I've never actually measured it myself since there are to many variables and to be honest, I don't really care if I get a mile per gallon more or less.

BTW, the price difference in my area is between 30 and 40 cent per gallon depending on the station.

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

My car "requires" premium. It has an anti-knock sensor, and the forums say that using a lower octane gas will retard the ignition, and reduce the gas mileage. So you won't save money. I've tried regular and mid-grade, and I can't really tell much of a difference in performance. YMMV

 

[Animorph]

I noticed the high difference when visiting DS in Maryland. I really doubt the gas costs that much more. I assume the regular price is being subsidized by premium users. So far we have at least a few reasonable stations here.

 

[Texas Proud]

I guess I'm desensitized to paying a higher prices for premium. I've been driving a number of higher performance (typically higher compression) cars for years and they all recommend premium, (although most seem to run okay on regular in a pinch.) Not sure I'd want to run a steady diet of regular in those cars.

I've actually seen (measured) the difference between regular and premium gas in competitive driving conditions in higher compression engines. 0 to 60 and 1/4 mile ET's. I've also read claims that you get more mileage out of premium but I've never actually measured it myself since there are to many variables and to be honest, I don't really care if I get a mile per gallon more or less.

BTW, the price difference in my area is between 30 and 40 cent per gallon depending on the station.

When I first got my Acura TL, I used premium for awhile and would switch back and forth between it and regular.... since I had a good number of takes on each I think the variables would even out.... and guess what... no difference in mileage....

I have also read in a different forum that there is no difference in the amount of energy per gallon, so there cannot be any difference...

Now, I do believe that a modern high performance engine would produce different HP and torque numbers since they have to retard it so it would not blow up... my TL was a nice engine, but not a high performance one...

 

[Rick_Head]

let's see - the injectors were about $500 and the fuel pump was about $200, then I had it tuned so I could switch maps back and forth from 91

so maybe a grand? it puts down 420 awd ft pounds of torque on e85

You've measured it? Can you show us before and after dyno graphs? I 'd love to see them.

 

[ERD50]

My car "requires" premium. It has an anti-knock sensor, and the forums say that using a lower octane gas will retard the ignition, and reduce the gas mileage. So you won't save money. I've tried regular and mid-grade, and I can't really tell much of a difference in performance. YMMV

Agree on the many comments that many/most cars do not require premium, though they may recommend it for maximum performance.

But it also seems to me the only time the system is going to do something like retard the spark to prevent knocking, would be if you were really pushing it. So I would think that if you drive conservatively, you would only very rarely see these conditions that might lower the mpg.

If your daily commute involves flooring it to go up an on- ramp to merge into 75 mph traffic, then maybe premium would help.

To the OP - are you sure premium is required?

-ERD50

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

To the OP - are you sure premium is required?

-ERD50

Here's what the owners manual says. It's an Acura.

"Your vehicle is designed to operate on premium unleaded gasoline with a
pump octane of 91 or higher. If this octane grade is unavailable, regular
unleaded gasoline with a pump octane of 87 or higher may be used
temporarily. The use of regular unleaded gasoline can cause metallic knocking noises in the engine and will result in decreased engine performance. The long-term use of regular-grade gasoline can lead to engine damage."