suppafreak

What type of gas you use for your TL?

dmarcus48

I'm 56 and have always used amoco (bp now) gold. I guess if I had a car that called for regular I'd use regular.

dmarcus48

just found this on the usatoday car chat for today. Every forum I've ever been on has had people asking about whether or not to use premium fuel if you car calls for it, an interesting read:

Atlanta, GA: Hello Mr. Healey, I recently leased a 06 VW Passat. Label inside the fuel door states 91 octane is the cocktail of choice. I know that there is technology in place to compensate should I cheap out and serve 87. My question is 1) Is it cheaper in the long run to just use the 91 octane and not experience the degraded performance and subsequent lower MPG? and 2) Is there any risk for long term damage due to using non-recommended octane fuel? I've read stroies of VWoA being pretty picky about warranty coverage involving potential quality of fuel and oil. Thanks much - love your work. David

James Healey: Most vehicles can use regular. Knock sensors will tell the engine computer to retard the ignition timing if the lower octane fuel starts to cause knocking or pinging. If you hear continuous knocking or pinging, not just a tiny rattle now and then, you need higher octane fuel. Knocking can literally tear the engine apart. It seem to me an automaker would have a tough time legally denying warranty claims based on a fuel that it said was OK, but simply wasn't preferred. If the consumer materials all say premium is 'required,' then there might very well be some warranty problems if you burn regular -- even though the engine probably would run fine on regular. Engineers tell me you'd have to be a pretty sensitive driver to fell the fall-off in performance from using regular in an engine designed to take advantage of premium. If that's true, then you probably wouldn't wind up pushing the throttle harder, so you wouldn't be using more fuel. But do the math. Unless you drive traveling salesman's miles, using premium won't cost you that much more a year. Say you use 1,000 gallons. Premium's about 20 cents more per gallon, so that's $200 more per year using the recommended fuel. A lot of folks spend way more than that on gimmicks trying to coax a little more power or mileage form their engines.

Stevie B

Shell, Exxon or Mobile, premium, love that SPEEDPASS

CVCC

Top Tier Detergent Gasoline, Like Shell V-Power.

http://www.toptiergas.com/

CUNextTuesday

I also use Shell's V-Power, which is 93 octane.

Anyone know any other regular gas stations that have fuel like that? I never really look because that's literally 2 minutes from my house..

subinf

Pretty much whatever station is around when I'm on empty. And for the poll, 91

037

New York area, I prefer Exxon/Mobil, BP/Amoco, and Sunoco 93 for every car I've owned ranging from 93 Bonneville SSE, 2000 Maxima SE to now 06 TL. You get what you pay for.

neuronbob

But I use 93 BP Gold.

g0tb00st

I voted for 89. Quick question, why is it that people are using 'Premium' gas? there's nothing in the manual that says anything about using 'Premium' only. I use to own an 'STi' and that specifically said to use 'Premium' only, which I did. Is the 3.2 engine really that sensitive to knock that would require the use of 91+ or higher octane?

CUNextTuesday

For some reason I did think the manual said to use premium gas...

Meek32v6

iTrader: (7)

I use 93..what seems to be around me..dont see 91 too much anymore

DMZ

I voted Other.

I'm working on a top secret process to turn my farts into gasoline.
And considering the smell level, it'll be at least 93 octane!

Repecat

I only use 93, as 91 isn't available around these parts. I will probably start mixing 93 and 89 to approximate 91 if the prices don't de-escalate (is that a word?).

FL3.2TL

Thats the same thing going on with me!, I used to run 93, but after 6 months of using it, I put injector cleaner and started to put 89!.. I cant afford $3.25 a gallon for 93!

05TLTony

Oooh! I want in. You could be on to something big here!

datmrman

$3.25 for 93?! I want that! I paid $3.55 for 91 at Costco!

Hawhyen51

From the manual:

ililillilillilil

Sunoco 93

lscld

Ya'll are getting screwed over in Cali. Gas here in Austin, Texas is $2.90-3.00 for premium, which would be 91 octane. Just depends on what part of the city you are in around here.

037

latest price check from NYC, major gas stations charge from $3.39 in brooklyn to $3.60 in manhattan for 93.

uwccpan

wow cant believe there are ppl feed 87 to their tls

clausda0

I use 93 or 93+89. I'm usually too lazy to mix, plus it only saves about 60 cents on a tank, so i just get 93.

nhousepro

91 or higher!! I tried 86...better get ready to drain it out! My car was knocking all day. I had to add some octane booster to hush the engine. You can definitely tell the difference in performance as well. Hey like I tell my peers, "whatever $20 will get me".

Ken1997TL

Premium, always. No exceptions

georgy_d28

I wouldnt even waste my time with the .20 per gallon which even from completly empty at 17.7 gallons would save you roughly $3.54, not a big deal at a tank a week it would save you 184.08 a year!!! thats it so just buy premium like it says on the fuel door..."premium unleaded fuel only"

narikin

I challenge you to try it and you'll find the MPG drops with regular or mid-range gas; it won't hurt the engine, but you won't really save any money, and you don't get the same VTEC performance... bottom line, use premium!

(same holds true for my current ride, an "arrest me red" Honda Civic Si Navi)

rrickh1

you dont really see 91 much around these parts... mostly 87 89 and 93 .. 93 it is ... close to 3.50 a gallon for premium in ny and other states is not uncommon these days.

XtraKrispy

I've never seen 91 in my area. I use 93--usually from BP, Mobil or Shell.

cM3go

Premium, which around my parts is 93 Octane.
And usually Shell V-Power

1995hoo

I checked "other" because I use 93, but I have used 91 when I saw it at a Sunoco. Didn't notice any difference. The savings by driving to Sunoco to get 91 are not significant enough to go out of my way, as it's usually only about 3¢ a gallon cheaper than their own 93 octane, and often Sunoco 91 is about the same as the 93 everywhere else. But if I am passing a Sunoco and need gas, I'll generally stop. Sunoco are the only stations to sell 91 octane around here.

As far as brand goes, whatever name brand I'm passing when I need to fill up (most often turns out to be Shell or Mobil due to convenience to my commute). There's a Liberty station nearby that is the cheapest around, used to be an Exxon, but I don't know anything about Liberty and I don't know anyone who's filled up there, so I choose not to try it.

Last winter I put in a tank of 94 octane from Petro-Canada once.