Does premium gas really make a difference in cars that suggest using it?

Answer 1

The higher octane in premium gas helps prevent "spark knock" or "pinging" which can damage your engine.

Answer 2

Octane ratings basically measure the impurity of gasoline. The lower the octane, the more pure the gas is. Additives in the gas raise the octane level and help some engines.

Find the octane that your car runs the best on- best economy and no pings, knocks, or dieseling. The rating in your manual is usually a good target.

Buring higher octane than you need is just burning money. it MIGHT clean your engine some, but not enough to justify the cost.

A final note- octane is measured in two ways- Motor (M) and Research (R). Your manual usually lists it as the Motor rating. The gas pumps usually use an average- it often says right on the pump something like (R+M/2).

Because of this, don't worry if the numbers match exactly.

Answer 3

It depends on the car. Some manufacturers are very conservative and tend to stay on the safe side, so they recommend using premium gas. If you can use 87 and the engine doesn't knock, it MAY be ok to use. Some engines REQUIRE premium gas because they are high performance engines (high compression ratio or turbochraged engines for instance); if anything less than premium is used on these engines, they can be damaged ( some manufacturers have a safety net for this, where an engine begins to knock, it changes its timing to compensate for the lower octane fuel, but you cannot use the engines full potential).

Answer 4

All premium gas does is resist pre-ignition better. Cars that recommend premium do so because they have a higher performance engine, usually due to higher compression ratios. Using regular gas in these cars would cause pre-ignition of the fuel (under high load driving). The computer adjusts by backing off the timing, decreasing performance. Continued use of regular could cause some engine damage.

Basically, all premium gas does is allow you get the full performance out of your car. It doesn't give you any "extra" performance.

Answer 5

Yes. In a higher performance engine the system is set to achieve certain levels. The lower grade gas burns less hot which means less power something the computer will sense and try and correct. The car will run better on higher octane gas.

Answer 6

In high performance cars premium gas will make a difference, because the engine ECU adjusts the ignition timing to the quality of fuel used. On more ordinary car it will make no real difference.

Answer 7

I do not know of a car that suggests using premium gasoline. The Jeep Grand Cherokee, suggest using regular unleaded. It there is any doubt, use the gasoline that is mid grade.
If the octane rating is not sufficient you will develop what is known as "Wild Ping" which is caused by irregular combustion and could harm your engine. If there is no objection from your engine, use the less expensive gasoline.

Answer 8

It makes a difference in my car, the car runs better, less noise. It evidently needs the higher octane.

Answer 9

Yes... You can even get better gas mileage... Just be careful, a lot of places in Ohio don't have to have standards for the grades. I don't know how it is in other states.

Answer 10

Yes, they perform better with a higher quality gasoline.