Premium gets better mpg than regular?

[jsw2233]

I talked to my buddy the other day who owns a 2007 Pilot and he mentioned his switch to premium unleaded from regular and his car can be driven 2-3 days longer than normal between fillups. And he figured it's worth the price. Of course he didn't have any hard numbers to support his claim but I'm wondering if there is any truth in this theory? Any benefit to use 92 instead of 87 at all? Thanks!

[tsmithvt]

I talked to my buddy the other day who owns a 2007 Pilot and he mentioned his switch to premium unleaded from regular and his car can be driven 2-3 days longer than normal between fillups. And he figured it's worth the price. Of course he didn't have any hard numbers to support his claim but I'm wondering if there is any truth in this theory? Any benefit to use 92 instead of 87 at all? Thanks!

The octane rating of a fuel has NOTHING to do with general fuel efficiency unless a car is set up to take advantage of it. The octane rating of a fuel is simply a measure of its resistance to preignition (knock). The use of higher octane fuels allows for a greater ignition timing advance and more power. Therefore using 92 octane fuel in a car that is designed to use 87 octane fuel gains nothing.

Octane rating - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating)

This link is one of many sources of information on the subject.

[2RedV's]

I know zero about Pilot's, but your CR-V will not take advantage of higher octane fuel. It will only decrease timing, fuel curves, etc. if it detects knock. It will not increase timing, fuel curves, etc. to take advantage of that higher octane fuel.

Buy the cheap stuff, but try to avoid ethanol-based fuel as ethanol contains less BTU's (energy) per volume, than pure gasoline.

[jsw2233]

Thanks for your replies. That what I know too - it's purely psychological after he paid 30c extra/gallon.;)

[TX444]

Had already tried it on mine. No difference. I average my MPG on every fill-up.

[Honda 367]

Buy the cheap stuff, but try to avoid ethanol-based fuel as ethanol contains less BTU's (energy) per volume, than pure gasoline.

Is there anything else other than ethanol-based fuel nowdays? I remember in 80's we tried to avoid gasohol like a plague but now ethanol is everywhere. I don't think we can avoid it unfortunately. :(

[JSMexUsa]

I agree with everybody, if your car is made to use regular gas then us regular and do not wate your money; but if your car is require to use premium and you don then your engine will break eventually; with my 99 Maxima was required to use premium and when tried to save a couple bucks putting regular car started shaking right away; I am so happing getting a CRV that uses regular; will save $7 every fill out and at the end of the year that means $350 or more :)

[X-Brawn]

So...

Those two gallons of 100 octane racing fuel and the rest of 89 octane I put in were pretty much useless? Talk about being a waste of money... oh well.

At the rate gas prices are going I'll make of for the small increase in my payments versus those I had with my Ridgeline even sooner! I guess that is one positive way to look at it.

[Davecr-v]

I agree with everybody, if your car is made to use regular gas then us regular and do not wate your money; but if your car is require to use premium and you don then your engine will break eventually; with my 99 Maxima was required to use premium and when tried to save a couple bucks putting regular car started shaking right away; I am so happing getting a CRV that uses regular; will save $7 every fill out and at the end of the year that means $350 or more :)

I am surprised the maxima requires premium usually Nissan's say premium recommended but you can use regular without knocking. I know some German cars require it and if you use regular it can void the warranty on your engine 350 bucks a year dosen't sound like much when you are looking at a self financed engine rebuild.

[Cravenfan]

74mph = 27 highway mpg for me

64mph = 34 highway mpg for me

Time or money...you decide. :)

[Honda 367]

74mph = 27 highway mpg for me

64mph = 34 highway mpg for me

Time or money...you decide. :)


That is an excellent point. We lose fuel efficiency if we drive too fast. But it is so hard drive slow on the highway when everyone else is going by at 75MPH. But you are right about time or money. Sometimes, it is worth going a bit faster to get to where you need to go, I guess.

[Mitchie]

I have a work mate that lives a few blocks from me, and works for the same company. He drives so fast, he passes me twice on the way to work:D (we take different roads)

[gary696]

I have a work mate that lives a few blocks from me, and works for the same company. He drives so fast, he passes me twice on the way to work:D (we take different roads)
One word response here: CARPOOL!

[slappomatt]

as a matter of fact.. you will actually LOOSE horsepower by running higher than needed octane gas. although on most regular motors the decrease will be so small as to be not noticable

[Black Pearl]

Welcome to the club. I had heard that high octane gas in unleaded fuel actually reduced power. It was explained to me that the octane rating in unleaded is not true octane but an equivalent octane. Apparently the unleaded gas slows the rate of combustion in the cylinder so it won't knock or ping.

Welcome to the club, and we will look forward to hearing more from you.