Can you use regular gas instead of premium?
Now that the gas price is so high for even regular gas, many people are asking if they can just use regular gas even though their owner’s manuals recommend premium. According to an article by Roland Jones, an associate editor, on MSNBC.com, you need to check your owner’s manuals. There are three differnt wordings that are used in owner’s manuals about gasoline usage; only regular gas is required, premium gas recommended, and premium gas required. According to John Nielsen, director of AAA’s Approved Auto Repair and Auto Buying Network at the AAA, unless your car says premium required, you can get away with regular gas without doing any damage to your car. If you use premium gas when only regular gas is required, there is no benefit to your car. If you use premium gas when it’s recommended, you will get better engine performance. The only cars that really usually require premium gas are luxury brands such as BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, VW, and some Acuras.
If the car requires premium gas, that means that those cars are designed to run on premium and regular gas over a prolonged time could cause damage to the car. If you use regular gas, in high altitudes and high temperatures the engine could “knock” and the engine could not perform as well. The knock sounds similar to marbles in an empty coffee can. If you occasionally use regular gas instead of premium gas and your car has some knocking that’s ok, but it’s not ok for a prolonged time and could really hurt your engine.
Premium gas is gas with a octane level of above 91. Regular gas has an octane level of 87. According to this article, the author suggests that you use regular gas until you hear the knocking and then use premium gas for awhile. Another idea that was suggested to me was to alternate the gas. One fill-up use regular gas, and the next fill-up use the premium. That would save you alittle for sure on your gas bill over the course of a year.