would it hurt to switch from premium to regular gas??
Thread Starter
TECH Fanatic
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,445
Likes: 0
From: Southeast Texas
would it hurt to switch from premium to regular gas?? just what the title says?
gas is getting so ridiculous... what would this hurt, or would it not matter??
trying to save a little money...
gas is getting so ridiculous... what would this hurt, or would it not matter??
trying to save a little money... Are you asking this question for your car or your boyfriend's car? It is best to clarify since your car is stock and his car is not. You are always asking questions about his car so I am not sure which car you are speaking of now. The reason for the higher premium gas is so the car does not detonate. It is better to run premium in both cars, but you could get away with regular in yours since it is stock. I would not put anything less than premium in your mans car.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 742
Likes: 0
From: Cincinnati, OH
Think about how little you would be saving vs. how much you would be risking. All it would take is a few good blasts and you will hear the demons dancing on the other side of the firewall. 
Not worth it IMHO.
Not worth it IMHO. 
Moderator
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 3,048
Likes: 12
From: Raleigh, NC
If you get on it too much (I assume you are N/A), and it gets excess KR, it will shift you down to the low-octane tables. You should be able to drive it with lower octane, but your power will be reduced. If you are N/A, I doubt you will detonate enough to damage the car... it'll just drop the timing.
However, consider this:
On a car where you are likely to only fill it up with around 10 gallons of gas, the difference in $1.85 and $1.95 is really only a dollar. If you went all the way to regular (not plus-unleaded), even if you saved $.20 cents per gallon, that's only two dollars per fill-up.
It's not worth the change to me; I'd keep running premium.
However, consider this:
On a car where you are likely to only fill it up with around 10 gallons of gas, the difference in $1.85 and $1.95 is really only a dollar. If you went all the way to regular (not plus-unleaded), even if you saved $.20 cents per gallon, that's only two dollars per fill-up.
It's not worth the change to me; I'd keep running premium.
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TECH Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 366
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From: west coast
Lost power and lost milage. You pay one way or the other. Low octane costs less but you use more of it because of low milage. High octane costs more but you use less of it. I suggest the high octane.
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TECH Resident
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 958
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From: Mentor, Ohio
For a stock LS1 you can use regular gas but I wouldn't use it on a regular basis. I usually use PLUS grade in my stock 00 WS6. My fiancee drives the WS6 most of the time and she uses PLUS all the time except for an occasional time here and there she'll use REGULAR if she is low on cash. She had an EAGLE TALON(non-turbo) when we met and she used nothing but REGULAR or even worse ECONOMY fuel from a little ma-n-pa gas station right down the street from her dad's house. She never had any problems either. We met and she had to have a sports car so at the time she liked Mustangs and I found a 1995 COBRA(this was back in 1997). At that time I explained to her the importance of quality fuel in performance cars. Seven years later and she follows my fuel rules to the "T":
>the stock WS6 and Z28 get a minimum of PLUS grade fuel. If for whatever reason REGULAR has to be used, then only use enough to get by, do not completely fill-up.
>the SS gets nothing but PREMIUM fuel, minimum 92 octane. Occasionally when I drive it I will get 94 octane.
>there are only three stations to get fuel at unless they are not available: MARATHON, SUNOCO, and SHELL. BP is not to be used unless they are the last resort.
>the stock WS6 and Z28 get a minimum of PLUS grade fuel. If for whatever reason REGULAR has to be used, then only use enough to get by, do not completely fill-up.
>the SS gets nothing but PREMIUM fuel, minimum 92 octane. Occasionally when I drive it I will get 94 octane.
>there are only three stations to get fuel at unless they are not available: MARATHON, SUNOCO, and SHELL. BP is not to be used unless they are the last resort.
Teching In
Joined: Apr 2004
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Originally Posted by SS GIRL
just what the title says?
gas is getting so ridiculous... what would this hurt, or would it not matter??
trying to save a little money...
gas is getting so ridiculous... what would this hurt, or would it not matter??
trying to save a little money...
TECH Resident
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 777
Likes: 0
From: Mentor, Ohio
Even more important then octane value is the overall quality of the fuel. Make sure the station you are going to doesn't have fuel with a lot of additives such as alcohol. BP gas has been know to be crap gas. Here in my local area it's well known to performance enthusiasts that BP's fuel additives cause damage to fuel systems. Several friends of mine have had fuel system problems caused by BP's fuel. My father used to use BP ONLY in his BUICK REGAL LIMITED. He had that car for almost 3 years since buying it brand new in 1989. He used nothing but BP, EVER! He only used PREMIUM or PLUS if he had to but never the cheap stuff. I bet I could count on my two hands how many times he used another brand of fuel in that car. After using BP's best fuel for nearly three years, his BUICK had 23k on the clock and had all the sections of rubber fuel hose replaced and ALL the fuel injector O-rings replaced under GM warranty. The rubber hoses and o-rings were deteriorated from the high alcohol levels BP uses to prevent fuel line freeze-up, along with whatever other additives they use. Now he takes my advice and uses the Marathons and Sunocos and Shells only.
aka 14u2nv
aka 14u2nv
. 
Originally Posted by SS GIRL
just what the title says?
gas is getting so ridiculous... what would this hurt, or would it not matter??
trying to save a little money...
gas is getting so ridiculous... what would this hurt, or would it not matter??
trying to save a little money...