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Thumb of Michigan | Rule of thumb is that you need to run the lowest octane you can get away with.
My dad has had a couple of higher perf. cars that either ran better or got enough better mpg using premium that he felt it paid. Not always the case, depends on the vehicle.
I pick up 1-3 better mpg, especially pulling a trailer, on my HD running premium vs mid grade. If its hot. Conversely, in cooler weather, mid grade works better. Apparantley, the premium has a harder time getting "lit" in cooler weather.
On our racing snowmobiles, we run 104 Sunoco w/ethanol. 2 sleds are over 160 compression and very tight squish areas. I've ran some various mixes of fuel, but really don't want to run them below 100 octane due to the compression ratio's. Actually, the 104 is a compromise. If the temps get very cold, firing up 104 is enough of a job. It'll take extra warm up time to get the pipes warmed up vs running a little lower octane. I've seen lots of guys trying to get 114 lit up at 10 above or colder, you need to have a VERY good arm, lots of stamina and lots of ether to get them to fire at those temps. And more times than not, their performance suffers in those conditions due to too much octane. | |
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Is "premium" gasoline a better purchase than regular?
