If your car manual calls for a premium or mid-grade gas, but you pump regular gas instead, the lower octane level could reduce engine power, damage your car health, and lower fuel economy. Keeping up with regular maintenance like oil changes, having the proper tires , and being aware of any issues can help keep your car in good health. An easy way to keep your car running in tip-top shape for longer is to drive less.
Low-mileage drivers put less wear and tear on their cars. The table below shows the average annual car insurance savings enjoyed by new Metromile customers:. There are many types of gas out there. If you want to save money on gas and keep your car healthy, stick to what your car manufacturer suggests.
Share Tweet Pin LinkedIn. Ford's F is America's best-selling vehicle and is equipped here with its most potent engine, the hp EcoBoost twin-turbo 3. We performed acceleration runs, mile fuel-economy loops at 75 mph, and dynamometer pulls, running each vehicle on two different fuels and completely draining the tanks in between.
The differences likely would have been exaggerated by extreme summer heat, which exacerbates engine knock, but we sniffed out differences even with the engines huffing cool midwestern spring air. Even as it's sucking down as much as Honda asks for 87 octane and makes no claims that raising the fuel octane will lift performance. Based on our testing, premium fuel might as well not exist in the CR-V's world. We could see this coming. During a similar Car and Driver test 18 years ago, an Accord powered by a 3.
The modern CR-V, with half the displacement but rated at just 10 fewer ponies, makes the same argument: don't waste your money on premium. Switching from 87 octane to 93 yielded a 7-hp gain on the dynamometer, but that advantage was lost in the noise at the track.
There, the CR-V's zero-tomph and quarter-mile times both tracked a tenth of a second slower on the expensive stuff. While fuel economy at 75 mph ticked up from Honda built its reputation on a line of unassuming, egalitarian motorcycles in the '60s. Nearly 60 years later, the company's identity is still predicated on the same sensible and modest ethic, right down to the fuel that you put in the tank.
BMW explicitly warns about engine damage from doing so, and while that seemed unlikely in such mild temperatures, using the cheap stuff would have been wildly out of touch with what an owner would do at least until this M5 reaches its fourth owner sometime in BMW requires octane fuel at a minimum, with 93 recommended, so we did just that, switching between the common forms of premium gas depending on which state you're in. Are Californians, with their watered-down premium, leaving something on the table?
We wanted to know. The dyno results shocked us. Not because of the hp difference between 91 and 93 octane. No, that delta was in line with expectations. Our jaws were left hanging by just how much power and torque we measured. While BMW claims horsepower at the crank, the dyno reports it makes that much at the wheels after driveline losses on octane premium. And both fuels produced significantly more torque than BMW's advertised lb-ft. The higher-octane fuel trimmed a single tenth of a second across all of the M5's acceleration times.
That results in a time-bending 2. The BMW also claimed the largest fuel-economy margin in the test, but the 0. The M5 Competition stands as proof that the octane rating does make a difference, although in the case of these two premium fuels, if you're forced to use 91 octane, you're hardly missing out.
At Your engine will run at an optimum level in both power and efficiency, and you can be sure pre-ignition won't occur. If the manufacturer only recommends premium gasoline, it's up to you to try both premium gas and regular gas, then try and notice any difference in performance.
If there isn't any, regular gas is a safe choice. If your car doesn't require or recommend premium gasoline, there's simply no benefit to using it. You'll be spending money at the pump that could go toward an oil change or new tires. Today's regular gasoline contains EPA-mandated additives to keep your engine running clean and smooth mile after mile. If you experience pre-ignition, knocking, or pinging, no matter what grade of gasoline you use, it's time to schedule an appointment with your mechanic to see what the problem is.
Additionally, if the vehicle requires premium gas but you opt for regular gas instead, it could void your warranty. It's imperative to know this if you're leasing a car and don't want to incur additional expenses at the end of the lease term. The higher octane rating and fancy names given by fuel manufacturers make premium gasoline seem like something that can benefit your car.
Today, all grades of gasoline contain EPA-mandated additives to keep engines running clean. Detergents work to prevent the buildup of deposits and even remove old ones. Various manufacturers have their in-house detergents. Enter the Top Tier Gasoline standard. The octane rating of premium gasoline varies by state and is either 91 or Either one qualifies as premium fuel, so if it's required, you're okay to fill up wherever you may be.
Different fuel manufacturers have various formulas in their premium gas and use unique names to differentiate them from regular gas. Wherever you decide to fill up with premium gas, a Top Tier manufacturer is the best bet so you can be sure you're getting the highest quality and a premier additive package.
In the long term, using the grade of gasoline recommended by the manufacturer will allow your engine to run stronger and cleaner and get the best fuel economy.
If you're shopping for used cars, you'll want one that's received the correct grade of gasoline for years of trouble-free driving and good fuel economy, too. What if you want to buy a used vehicle that's been well taken care of, but you don't want the hassle that's typical of a traditional dealership? And at the same time, how can you be assured you're getting the best price? Enter Shift, which offers fair, no-haggle prices driven by powerful machine learning algorithms and tons of data.
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