Can you put regular gas in a car engineered to run on premium?
That little question has ignited a bit of a war in our newsroom. Some people swear up and down that their premium rides are just fine drinking the cheap stuff. Others insist that premium makes a difference in their vehicle’s performance and overall mechanical condition.
Everyone claims to have an “expert” to back up their case.
After researching this story (which aired last night) I think I can safely say this:
- All gasoline is not the same. Premium gas really is different from regular.
- All vehicles are not the same. There can be very significant differences in how they’re engineered.
- Your car will get you from Point A to Point B on any grade of gas. But if you feed a premium ride a steady diet of cheap stuff, you might… MIGHT… be headed for problems down the road.
Bottom line: Talk to someone you trust who knows what happens under the hood of your exact make and model. Then make the decision that makes sense for you and live with it.
Enough of this already. It’s not worth fighting over!
For a good time, read Jane’s blog today. Yowza! That’ll take your mind off gas prices.
1 Comment
May 14, 2008 at 5:31 pm
On the scientific level, there is one major factor. Ignition Timing and Compression Ratio. Engines must ignite (spark) the fuel/air mixture that enters the engine at an extremely precise moment to force the piston down and produce power. This plus the reaction time that it takes for the fuel to ignite are adjusted by the manufacturer for specific engine designs. The main reason you DO NOT want to run regular gas in your BMW or Porsche, is that the engines in these cars typically have sporty engines. Sporty engines have a Higher Compresion ratio (compress the air/fuel mix) and require higher octane fuels to handle the higher cylinder pressures. IF you break the rules and decide to run low octane, here’s a way to see how your car reacts to it. If you have a stick, try accelerating from 30 mph to 50 mph in 4th gear when the engine is running a little bogged down. If you hear a RATTLING noise (called pinging) coming from your engine that’s the sound of unhappy pistons in your engine. It is harder to hear the ping at higher rpms but if you open the windows and listen carefully while accelerating you should be able to tell.
If your car doesn’t ping on Regular gas, you’re good to go!
The reason for the pinging noise is that lower octane fuel, 87, burns faster and it has slightly less energy than the 93. This makes it combust a little early, before the piston can go down, which creates a vibration that we hear as the pinging noise. Bottom Line, pinging means your car isn’t getting the right octane.
The Car Guys are great, and most of what they say is valid, however you cannot overlook the requirement for high octane fuel in high compression engines. Some cars have 9:1 ratio which means the pistons compress the air they take in to 9 times barometric pressure. Some engines can be 10:1 or higher. You can google your car to find out how your engine is rated and go from there.
Ben, The Colony.