My car requires premium gas only, if i use anything lower would it mess up the engine?

Question

its a mitsubishi 3000gt

Answer 1

You may lose peformance. For example, rotary engines lose a small amount of hp from lower grade gas and may be harder to start. But it normally wont mess up the engine at all.

Answer 2

Over time it will. I have a talon tsi and a GSXR and would never put anything lower than 90 octane in. If it tells you this on the gas gauge, by the gas cap, and/or in the manual you should do as it says. And if the engine has a supercharger, turbo, 4 valves per cylinder, anything that makes it high performance, never use anything under 91 octane. Get a beater for work or school and stick 85 in it, save some money and keep the miles on the good car low.

Answer 3

wow, i am amazed at how many people don't have a clue about how their car works. since obviously people on here don't have any idea about being a real mechanic you should probably call one that deals with your type of car. the answer is from my experience as a mechanic and my personal experience with cars. there is a good chance you could mess up your engine if you were to use the wrong gas. if it calls for 91 oct. you should use that. if you use a lesser oct. gasoline it will very likely "ping" or make some other sound. those sounds aren't normal and are absolutely not okay for your engine. it will also make your performance suffer. yes the higher oct. gas costs more, but it isn't nearly as bad as having to pay for a repair you could have prevented. if you are going to use the lesser gas you might as well not change your oil either.

Answer 4

You can run ANY car on regular gas. In fact, some cars are made to run on regular gas. If you put premium gasoline into, say, a Toyota Corolla, the gasoline will not affect the car in any way. It will not make it faster or make it get better gas mileage. It might help in the long run ( more mileage out of it ), but you wont notice a difference. But, for example, if you put regular gasoline into, say, a BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or any other car made to run on premium gasoline, it will affect the car. The car will not have as good performance, the gas mileage might go down, and you might ruin the engine. Putting premium gasoline in any car helps the engine IN THE LONG RUN. You most likely will get way more mileage out of your engine.

Answer 5

your engine will most likely ping like crazy, and would run very rough, and be down a huge amount of power (no, higher octane gas doesnt give you more power). It wouldnt be the best idea.

spend the extra 3 percent and get the gas your car needs.

edit: GAS IS NOT GAS. Tony R is completely wrong. Engines need certain minimum octane ratings to keep the engine from predetonating and running improperly. If you put too low of octane gas in a car, itll predetonate like mad/ sometimes not even work.

Answer 6

You should always use the gas recommended by DSM!!!! I have an Eclipse GSX (AWD turbo) and I mistakingly put regular instead of premium in the car. Even after I put in octane booster, I needed to fill it up again in less than 4 days. Your turbo requires a higher octane gas to run properly. Using lower octane gas, the demands the trubo will make on your engine will cause your engine to inefficiently burn the lower octane gas. It will use more gas in the attempt to maintain engine performance. As said above, your engine will ping, begin to run rough and seem to perform like it's tired. If the enging didn't ping when you bought it, it's not supposed to ping AFTER you buy it. You keep putting in regular gas, you're going to beat on your engine valves until the engine finally calls it quits. Then you're in for a bill bigger than any tank of gas you've ever bought. That, or you can sell the car at a very very discounted price. Unless of course you have a loan on it and then you can stare at it in your driveway until you've paid off enough of the loan to sell it and transfer title. Avoid regular gas and buy the premium. Make sure to use injector cleaners and the like to make sure it runs at peak.

Answer 7

Car makers usually say only use premium, but the vehicle can and does change for the octane percent. Buying techron fuel and carburetor, fuel injector cleaner is good. You put that in like every 3000 miles to keep the carbon cleaned out, and the tank close to empty so when you put the fuel in it, it will mix well.

Be careful putting the cheaper cleaners in, most will do more damage than good, and techron if you go to parts places it is cheaper in the long run. That is what i use and personally never had a problem with my car. Hope this kinda helps.

Answer 8

I saw a "car expert' answer this on "Good Morning America" last week. His answer was that if it says "premium fuel recommended" it's okay to use a lower grade gas. If it says "premium fuel only", in order not to burn up the engine, you need to use premium gas.
You can find the requirements printed inside most car gas caps, or the owners manual.

Answer 9

By using lower quality gasoline, your engine will most likely get a knock or ping. You would also probably notice a decrease in performance and gas mileage. The knock or ping might not be that bad for 1 or 2 tanks of gas, but eventually you would need some major work.

Answer 10

No...I don't think so...I had a 94 STS Cadi...and when I was filling it up..and if the gas started at 99.9...I would put in the second one...and I was told I had to sure supreme...the only time that car got supreme, was if my mom or dad was filling up the car...when I first got the car 2 yrs ago...I filled it up with the gas I was told to..but it way to expense..to do all the time..I don't this it messes up the engine..I asked my friends brother...who knows a lot about cars..they work on cars as a side thing..and her dad worked on cars for a living...and he said nothing would happen...However..my transmission is shot...So I don't know if the gas had anything to do with it breaking...i don't think it did..

Answer 11

it could potentially, yes.

if your engine is a high-performance engine, using lower grade gasoline could cause the engine to knock (premature detonation of the gas vapors - lower grade gasoline will spontaneously combust at a lower temperature/pressure than will higher grade gasoline, and if combustion occurs before the correct point in the piston's cycle, this causes knocking).

most newer cars have anti-knock sensors built in that will adjust the engine to keep this from occurring, but you will experience a drop in performance and/or fuel economy.

so, if the car really _requires_ premium gas, then you should probably use that. if premium gas is only recommended, then put whatever in there, it doesn't matter.