Premium or regular, which gas is best for your car and your pocket?

 

At the gas pump we usually see 3choices – regular 87 octane, better 90-92 octane, and premium 93-95 octane (this all depends on your state and locality).  Obviously the premium is much more expensive and the regular is the cheapest.  At todays prices of between $2.20 and $3.00 there is a considerable difference in choice and price per fill up.  On average, premium gas will cost you $2-$4.00 more per gallon.  The question is, is it worth it?  Will your car actually run better and get better fuel economy on premium gas or is it just money being thrown away (synonymous to expensive vitamins and minerals in excess of your bodies needs)?

According to the magazine Popular Mechanics, in a recent issue, they uncovered that with the recent advances of the computer brain of every car manufactured in the past 12 years the car can sense the type of gas (octane and quality) and simply retard or slow the timing to compensate for lower quality gas.  Prior to this low quality gas (low octane) would actually hurt your engine and cause it to run poorly.  Now it is important to note that you should go by the owners manual for your car and what it states or mandates as recommended for your exact car.  The reasoning for this is two fold – first, the owners manual is the ultimate authority on your car.  They had to go through years of extensive testing and exhaustive research before the car could be sold to consumers.  They must also continuously research safety, emission and economic aspects of their cars to avoid potentially damaging lawsuits and negative publicity in the press.

 

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The second reason to consult your owners manual is that it may reveal to you that you have a higher compression engine than most (like the Honda Prelude or S2000) thusly requiring high octane rating gas to prevent premature engine wear and damage.  It is also interesting to note that the owners manual will also reveal the exact maintenance required for optimal performance for your car or truck.  You will probably find that these requirements are vastly different from your local car dealers service department requirements.  Most car dealers will speed up the maintenance requirement intervals and advise you to do more services than necessary.  Read the owners manual, it will save you money, teach you more about your cars octane and gas requirements, and also items like safe driving, proper child safety seat installation, tire changing, how to fix simple things like a blown fuse or bulb, etc… 

 

So there you have it, the answer to the decade long question of whether to put in premium or regular.  For most vehicles all you need is regular, but do check your car or truck’s owners manual and see what is really recommended or required for the proper running of your vehicle.  A few cars do require premium gas, but for the rest it is just a waste of money.  This article is provided courtesy of MDWholesale.com headlight cleaner and headlight restoration.

 

 

 

 

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