Just curious

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Does anybody out there use 89 octane in vehicle that recommends premium? we have plenty of posts re; 87 in a premium recommended vehicle, but not much info on 89?
 
I admit to blending half 93 octane and half 87 octane to get about 90-ish. It seems like they over charge for 89 octane and I suspect they get their bump partly with more ethanol which lowers MPG. I have heard it said that the VQ engine gets better gas mileage on regular even though there is a performance penalty and that seems to be the case with mine. If you don't need the performance, why pay for it?
 
My father and sister both do it all the time,mileage dropped for both cars substantially.
Timing gets retarded to prevent detonation so performance and economy both take a hit.
He only sees the 2 bucks he saved at the pump,typical consumer,penny wise pound foolish.

Mom on the other hand pays heed to the "use premium fuel only"
above the gauge needle and both comment on how nice her car runs even though they both have the same engine.
Still its not enough to get them to part with the extra couple of bucks on gas.
 
Originally Posted By: Cause4Alarm
use 91, why would you use substandard fuel for that car?




Well mostly because mine is recommended, not required.
 
My late father-in-law always insisted on using mid-grade in spite of the labeling on the gas door for premium on his 2001 Diamante'.

After he took out the car-port, my wife relieved him of the keys. I drove the car once in awhile to keep it running. Mostly on errands for him but occasionally when I had to work out-of-town. You know, get the oil temp up and burn off all the acids and water. I just continued feeding it mid-grade. It never had any knock issues on mid-grade and when I did use premium, I didn't notice any increased performance.

I could get right at or just under 20 mpg mixed. I think that's about what it's supposed to get so there was not a significant fuel economy penalty.

I tried 89 in the PT Cruiser. It knocks and pings under boost with 89.
 
Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: Cause4Alarm
use 91, why would you use substandard fuel for that car?




Well mostly because mine is recommended, not required.


If it is merely recommended it is no problem. I run 87 in the Continental all the time. I have noticed a small difference in performance and no issues with driveability or mileage. Torque steer is bad enough at 3/4 throttle that a small hit in power is actually welcomed as poor man's launch control.

Changed the plugs last year and they looked just like they should (thank you watse spark ignition.)

My opinion would probably be go premium or go 87. Don't see much advantage to using 89 over 87 unless you have driveability issues on 87 that go away on 89.
 
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