Regular Unleaded vs Premium Unleaded?

[zarfnober]

I run regular and get 48 mpg at the worst and 53 mpg at best. the more ethanol in your gas , the worse your mileage will be. You can make the same amount of power with regular as you will with premium, higher octane is less prone to detonation and unless there is a knock sensor that will automatically increase or decrease ignition advance, performance should be the same. Now otoh, better brands and higher octanes these days generally have more detergents in them and the motor will burn and stay cleaner. I stick with Shell/BP.

Rocco

[blazing_nitro]

Most stations here in Canada add up to 10% Ethanol in the Gas.

During break in I was using Regular Unleaded (mostly Sunoco)

Sometime after break-in I've tried using Shell V-Power (i.e. Premium) as they are advertizing it has no Ethanol in it's premium fuel.

What a difference. I decided to go through a few tanks and go back to regular and from Shell. Bike seemed to run rough.

Been using Shell V-power ever since and it's my recommendation to anyone in Canada for our bikes.

In both my other cars I'm using regular. I will use Premium in my Odyssey if travelling as it makes slight difference on the highway cruising.

I'm also using V-power on my lawn mower and pressure washer.

[jdetz]

The dealer told me I need to run premium and I did so for about the first 3800 miles.
After reading this post and checking my owners manual I tried some regular.
I am now on my third tank and I can tell no difference. Starts the same, idles and runs the same. Same amount of power, fuel mileage is the same.

[engineerpilotdude]

Originally Posted by jdetz

The dealer told me I need to run premium and I did so for about the first 3800 miles.
After reading this post and checking my owners manual I tried some regular.
I am now on my third tank and I can tell no difference. Starts the same, idles and runs the same. Same amount of power, fuel mileage is the same.

+1 I always use regular 87 in all of my vehicles. Its an illusion that you get more power or mileage. But if you prefer to pay extra every fill up, thats up to you.

[fstrthan_uthink]

My uncle told me ethanol wasn't good for small engines. That said, I can't find any ethanol free gas close by, I put premium everytime and it runs great. Our engines are built for reliability, not racing, so they're not too finicky about what fuel they consume. I just put premium 'cause I figure for 4 gallons what the heck, why not put the best.

[cbzdel]

manual must of lied when it says 87...

all you guys running premium are wasting your cash..

i got a buddy that runs premium in EVERYTHING he owns, even his lawnmower.. He thinks because its more expensive and is called "premium" it MUST be better. People with that mentality annoy me (no offense to anyone like that on here though)

Here is a question to anyone running premium. Do you know the difference between premium and regular? I mean as in what happens inside your engine when the gas is ignited..

[PuRpl3_Dr4nK]

I'm not that strapped for cash where I can't afford the extra ~50 cents it takes to fill up my bike with premium. Just my...

[fstrthan_uthink]

What zarfnober said. Premium burns slower than regular. Higher octane means the fuel is less likely to ignite due to heat from compression before the spark plug has fired.

It all depends on where you live though really. There are numerous blends of gasoline across the U.S. Florida has far from the best quality gasoline.

For passenger cars and lawnmowers though, there's no difference lol

[RockZooky]

To me if any of the myths like getting better milage, extra detergents or whatever have a hint of truth to them. It worth the extra change per fill up to me.

[cbzdel]

The only way millage is affected is if you engine is designed for premium and you run unleaded..

Example, we have a 2003 VW Jetta, which states in many locations to use premium only.. Me being the rebel I am I put regular in it, and what do you know it runs great, no problems BUT the mpg dropped by about 1mpg.. The high compression VW engines are designed for premium but even with regular gas they run find due to the knock sensor adjusting the timing as required to prevent any problems... (not saying no problems will ever occur but just doing it once or twice doesn't effect anything)

You put premium in a engine designed for regular, you go little no increase in MPG.. reason begin if you get 1-2mpg better you got better mpg, yes, no doubt about it, but you wasted it in the cost of the premium gas.. There is NO WAY you can come out ahead buy paying more for gas. (or I have yet to see proof)