Is it safe for my car if i switch from 87 octane to 93 premium...?

Question

I believe there shouldnt be any problem switching from regular gas to premium, i have been using regular unleaded since years but now gas is cheaper so i am going to use premium for better performance. does anyone know if premium 93 does make any diffrence or its about the same as regular unleaded? currently i am experincing some knocking and pinging sound from my cars engine i guess its due to regular gas so any comment?

thanks for the great info....
by the way my 01 maxima does recommended using peremium gasoline only. but i was using regular just to save few bucks. :(

Answer 1

Change it as soon as you can to premium. Some vehicles are designed to operate on premium. I have one vehicle that I use premium gas, and it runs better, gets better mileage, and in the long run the premium is cheaper to use due to the increase. The pinging is not good, and could cost you a piston. You could try lowering the ignition timing a couple of degrees to stop the pinging. Premium is ALWAYS better than regular, as this is why it cost more. If you have an older high compression engine, it needs the good juice anyway. Another thing it could be is a bad knock sensor, if it has one. I would also look for a vacuum leak. Hope this helps. Good Luck!!!

Answer 2

don't believe what some of these fools say. the straight answer is this: if you're cars manufacture recommends a certain grade of fuel then stick with it because engines are tuned differently these days. i.e. a turbo sports car would require a higher grade of fuel because of how the timing is set and the compression ratio among other things, compared to say a v-6 work truck for instance that would suffice just fine on reg. unleaded. most people think that gas mileage will improve significantly but they would be surprised to know that it is a very insignificant compared to the extra twenty cents or so that you will pay over the cost of regular. all that being said, if you want to try it to see if it takes care of the problem then it would be worth it just to know if it helps or not but i wouldn't do it for more than two tankfulls if it was still pinging. at that point i would take it in for a tune-up and have the mechanic check the timing also. (which should be included in a tune-up anyway)

Answer 3

I suspect you will find the two are unconnected. Giving a car that doesn't need it, extra octane, is usually just a waste of money - but it should do no harm. Octane is NOTHING to do with power, it is the measure of a fuels ability to withstand "knock". I use toluene to increase the octane of my fuel because both cars are turbos and both modified to have a higher boost than usual - which can trigger knock. Raising the octane helps prevent that. Adding toluene (the main ingredient that petrol stations add to make ordinary fuel "super") to a car that doesn't need it, will do no harm - but will just be a waste of time and money. If your acceleration is better and the car is more powerful, then clearly it needed the higher octane in the first place - and is no longer needing to retard the ignition to prevent knock. To clarify, it isn't that the petrol is more powerful (in fact usually very slightly less as toluene has a lower BTU/LB than petrol), the extra power comes from the engine working with properly set ignition timing - instead of operating with a heavy retarding to prevent knock. To repeat - I strongly suspect the engine light is a coincidence. Mark

Answer 4

First off you should tell us what type of car and engine you have. Because your car might require you to run 92+ in your car. And if you haven't been running it all of these years than I can see why it is starting to ping now. If not, then running 93 premium is perfectly safe, however it will not improve performance or gas mileage if your car is designed to run 87 octane. This is because your cars ecu is already programmed to run perfectly fine off of 87. If anything it might hurt your fuel economy slightly. I personally notice a slight decrease in fuel economy when I ran 92 octane in my civic that required 87 originally.

Answer 5

Can't hurt.
If you have knock and ping now, then 93 should help. Depending on the year, the computer may have been pulling out ignition timing to compensate for the ping. If the 93 allows better timing, then you should get both better performance and better mileage (if you drive the same ;).
If there's no difference, then go back to 87 (or get your car serviced).

Answer 6

Can so hurt.

Depending on the type and year of your car the switch to a higher octane may actually be a bad thing. Older cars can't handle the hgher octanes well.

Since higher octane fuels burn hotter, the seals and other engine bits may not stand up well with long term use.

check you owners manual or go online to find your manual if you no longer have one.

Answer 7

If you are getting knocking then I would switch to a higher grade of gas. I wish my car didn't recommend the 93 octane, though, I'd gratefully switch to 87.

Answer 8

well the number like 87 octane thats the level it burns the higher the level biggers explosin with makes everything move faster i could or could not be the the gas it could verywell be a bad spark plug or rocker arm. if you keep experiencing those knocking and pinging sounds take your care to a local garage and have them run a cousrtesey check and if they dont ask tell them to hook up a obd (onboard Diagnostics) computer to your care and see if there are any trouble codes and from there you schould figure out you problem

Answer 9

actually regular unleaded anymore is still 'unleaded.' years ago they stopped making "regular" gasoline....by law. switching from 87 to 92/93 will change three things in your vehicle. 1: you'll notice your car has more get up and go and it will be safer for you to pass.... 2: it will help clean your fuel injector and make for not so much build up thusly allowing your cars 'parts' to last longer.... 3: you'll get better gas mileage as well. be well.

Answer 10

Cars are designed for a minimum standard of gas. It should not matter if you use a higher octane, but it should burn cleaner if that is important to you. If it has been knocking since you switched to the lower octane, then your car is not designed for that low of a grade and you should use the higher grade designated in your owner's manual.