Premium vs. Regular unleaded gas

[gillham68]

Wondering if anyone could give me the heads up in regards to gas to use in my 350Z. Previously had a maxima that I only used regualr unleaded in instead of the premium unleaded like was plastered all over the gas cap and manual and never had one problem (turned 200,000 miles last week)....does this hold true for the 350z? Don't want to push my luck but no need to pay the extra if there really is no need....thanks

[waitin407]

The car should run fine on the regular unleaded gas I've read in quite a few places that people run regular unleaded and have no problems, however it is better for the engine if you run the higher octane. IIRC the computer in the car will adjust itself to the different fuel, but you'll definitely get better performance from the premium.

[Ronin Z]

Don't be a cheapskate, put the premium in. If you run regular you will get knock under load or during high outside ambient temps. The ECU will pull timing, performance will be impacted.

Trust me, car makers don't want to have to specify premium because it negatively impacts sales. So rest assured, when they tell you to put in premium they generally aren't kidding.

Ronin Z

[dad]

Don't be a cheapskate, put the premium in. If you run regular you will get knock under load or during high outside ambient temps. The ECU will pull timing, performance will be impacted.

Trust me, car makers don't want to have to specify premium because it negatively impacts sales. So rest assured, when they tell you to put in premium they generally aren't kidding.

Ronin Z

+1

[Dave079]

There are reasons why the owners manual says to put premium. The Z's engine is high compression which requires higher octane. Pay the extra couple dollars per tank.

[PaulO]

Aloha,
In the short term, it seems economically good.........pennywise, pound foolish. The engine will start to build up deposits and you will start to see performance and mileage issues. BTW, cheap premium is also not a good idea. Chevron, Shell, 76, the "name" brands have additional additives (detergents) to help keep the fuel system clean, and fuel to burn better. If you're using Costco gas, be sure to use a fuel additive at least once every two or three fill ups.

A Hui Hou

PaulO

ps. when your lady needs a drink, don't you buy her "topshelf"?

[zguyd3]

Use the Premium.

[scathing]

Wondering if anyone could give me the heads up in regards to gas to use in my 350Z. Previously had a maxima that I only used regualr unleaded in instead of the premium unleaded like was plastered all over the gas cap and manual and never had one problem (turned 200,000 miles last week)....does this hold true for the 350z? Don't want to push my luck but no need to pay the extra if there really is no need....thanks

If you can't afford to run your car on the good stuff, you'd be better off selling the car and buying another econobox than running it on shithouse fluids.

Its a sports car, and it runs better on higher performance products. If the high performance thing doesn't interest you, why bother driving a car so unsuited to commuting?

[m1abrams]

If you can't afford to run your car on the good stuff, you'd be better off selling the car and buying another econobox than running it on shithouse fluids.

Its a sports car, and it runs better on higher performance products. If the high performance thing doesn't interest you, why bother driving a car so unsuited to commuting?

+1, seriously this post goes along the same lines as people upset when they only get 20K miles on tires. Why would someone buy a sports car and then see what they can get away with that will compromise performance?

[scathing]

You get 20K miles on tires!?!!?

The most I've ever gotten out of a set of tyres is around 15K miles, on DZ101s. My first two sets of RE040s lasted around 10K miles each (but I did do track days on them, the DZ101s only did 1 track day.....and that was in the wet so I spent all day drifting).

I'm quite happy that I've managed to get around 10K miles out of my current RT215s, which still have a reasonable amount of tread. I haven't been particularly nice to them either, but once again no track days.