Five Facts of Using Premium vs. Regular Gas
1) If your car does not require premium gas, there are no added benefits to your car’s performance or longevity. Simply put, you’re paying good money for something you don’t need. Premium costs 15-30 cents more a gallon than regular. In a consumer notice, the Federal Trade Commission, notes: “In most cases, using a higher-octane gasoline than your owner’s manual recommends offers absolutely no benefit. It won’t make your car perform better, go faster, get better mileage or run cleaner.” Enough said.
2) If your car requires premium gas, in most cases it won’t hurt your car (or void the warranty) to use regular gas. The reason your car asks for premium gas is because your vehicle has a high compression engine. Unless you hear severe knocking in your engine when using regular, in most cases there is no harm to your car by not using premium. Most modern cars have knock sensors and computers that adjust settings and maximize performance for various fuel grades. Fuel economy could also be slightly reduced when using regular fuel on a vehicle that requires premium gas. If you’re leasing, you may want to be more cautious about using premium if required by the manufacturer, in the off chance that using regular does affect the engine.
Note: Keep in mind you may need that extra power if you are towing a lot of weight (especially over steep hills), performance driving (hard acceleration), driving in extreme heat, or any combination of the three.
3) Cars with turbochargers (high-performance engines) or older, heavier cars may require premium gasoline and should be used to prevent knocking. According to an article in Scientific American, these cars have higher compression ratios and will knock without the premium fuel.
4) If your car requires premium gas, using premium will allow you to optimize your car’s power. You will not achieve the advertised horsepower on a vehicle that requires premium unless you use premium, although most consumers will not even notice the change in power when switching from premium to regular.
5) The octane rating of premium and regular gasoline varies from state to state. One state may require a minimum rating of 92 to be considered premium, while another may require only 90. Most gas stations offer three octane grades: regular (usually 87 octane), mid-grade (usually 89 octane) and premium (usually 91 or 93). Consult the yellow stickers on each gasoline pump that are mandatory and indicate the octane rating,
And, something else to consider: Six automakers, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and Audi, believe using Top Tier Gasoline that contains a higher-percentage of detergent additive from that required by the EPA standard, provides optimal engine performance. They claim that lower concentrations of detergent additive lowers the quality of gasoline and can leave deposits on engine parts, such as fuel injectors and intake valves, which can lower engine performance, vehicle responsiveness and increase emissions. BMW, General Motors, Honda and Toyota developed the Top Tier standards under which gas retailers must meet in order to qualify as a Top Tier gasoline retailer.
Here is a list of retailers that qualify under the standards:
| 76 | Petro-Canada |
| Aloha Petroleum | Phillips 66 |
| Chevron | QuikTrip |
| Chevron Canada | Rebel Oil |
| Conoco | Road Ranger |
| CountryMark | Severson Oil |
| Entec Stations | Shell |
| Esso | Shell Canada |
| Exxon | Sunoco Canada |
| Kwik Trip / Kwik Star | Texaco |
| MFA Oil Co. | The Somerset Refinery, Inc. |
| Mileage Stations | Tri-Par Oil Co. |
| Mobil | Turkey Hill Minit Markets |
| U.S. Oil |
