Is Premium Gas Worth The Extra Money?


  By Bjornson Bernales

Is Premium Gas Worth The Extra Money?

Many people have been asking questions about the right gas for their cars such as: will the car engine perform better if the premium gas is used? Or would it be advisable to use regular gas instead of the premium one even if the car manual recommends the latter? Or is premium gas much better than the regular one?

In this time when the trend of oil price is going upwards, many people have been complaining of rising prices of gas and crude oil derived from fossil fuels. The world market has become insensitive to oil consumers that are now fed up by increasing price in per barrel of crude oil every year.

Other than complaining, some people would seek for alternatives so the cost of gas will not eat up much of their income and normal living expenses. The use of biodiesel in cars, the development of hybrid cars that use alternative forms of energy for power and other alternatives of fossil fuels have taken into shape. However, it would take time for these inventions and alternatives to be fully utilized by the mass market of oil and gas consumers despite the fact that some of these alternatives have already being used by some groups or are now in their last process for full utilization. In spite of this, some individuals have made measures to curb the ill effects of rising prices in oil. Rising oil prices mostly affect individuals who possess diesel-powered or gas-powered automobiles and trucks.

There is one issue that many people have come to question and that is the use of premium gas over the regular one. The premium gas has a higher octane compared to regular one, which is rated lower in octane than the former. The former has an octane rating of 91 while the latter is 87. The octane rating is a measure of anti-knock of petroleum-based fuels used in the internal combustion engine. Knock or
detonation is the effect caused by the spontaneous ignition occurred in the car's cylinders when compressed and in which the combustion is independent from the spark plug. To prevent this, high-octane gas for controlling the burning is used. It is less likely for the engine to detonate when high-octane gas is applied in the car's cylinders.

Although premium gas can be instilled into the cylinders of cars that require regular gas, it is not a guarantee that the car's engine will perform better. Instead, there is a waste in money when the premium gas is used over the regular one.

Another thing about premium gas is that the gas type has detergents for engine clean up. True, premium gas is formulated to have the property to clean the engine from deposits left by some other gasoline as being advertised. However, it has been reported that all grades of gasoline have detergents as being required by government regulations.

There is another concern for gasoline consumers who want to save from paying higher price in premium gas for their cars. Some consumers who have cars that require premium gas choose the regular one to make savings from gas. Other individuals have reported that there is no difference in using premium gas, regular and midgrade gases. Others have asserted that the knock has been unheard even if regular gas is used. It may be likely that detonation does not occur when preferring for regular gas over the higher-octane one for your car but you could not get better gas mileage. The engine performance may not be at its full level when regular gas is applied.

Premium gas is designed for high-performance cars with high-performance engine. Cars that require regular gas should be fed with the recommended gasoline. It is better to follow the recommendation on writ in the car manual. For those who want to save from paying the high price of premium gas, it may be better to drive cars that use less expensive regular one.

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Comments


#1 Posted by an unknown user - May 12, 2010, 10:03 am Rating: ratingfullratingemptyratingemptyratingemptyratingempty Unrated

talking head

#2 Posted by Susan (guest) - May 12, 2010, 10:54 am Rating: ratingfullratingemptyratingemptyratingemptyratingempty Unrated

This is very poorly written and obvious that English is not the native language of the author. Either that ot it's a hideous translation. You guys need to hire me. Geez, did you actually pay for this?

#3 Posted by an unknown user - May 12, 2010, 11:04 am Rating: ratingfullratingemptyratingemptyratingemptyratingempty Unrated

very poorly written

#4 Posted by peggy (guest) - May 12, 2010, 1:30 pm Rating: ratingfullratingemptyratingemptyratingemptyratingempty Unrated

Did not answer the question

#5 Posted by Guest 3 (guest) - May 12, 2010, 1:39 pm Rating: ratingfullratingfullratingfullratingfullratingempty Unrated

Does it matter if the article is well written or not?
The fact is that is informative. Some of us are too ignorant to ask ourselves at the gas pump "does it worth to pay for premium gas?"

#6 Posted by mike mechanic (guest) - May 12, 2010, 2:08 pm Rating: ratingfullratingemptyratingemptyratingemptyratingempty Unrated

If the price of these different grades (regular and premium) of gasoline have a spread of $.12 or less, premium would make a better choice. There is an economy improvement with the higher octane fuel. Try this...Starting with a nearly empty fuel tank, fill up with premium. calculate the miles per gallon (miles traveled divided by gallons consumed). Don't alter your driving habits. Do this twice to see what your mileage is. Then, duplicate the tests using regular. subtract the average usage results of regular vs jpremium. Then figure out how much you save using premium. The same is true whether driving highway or stop-and-go,just a higher benefit on the highway. You'll find the point where premium cost is no longer an advantage is somewhere around 12 cents differential.

#7 Posted by Ken Vo (guest) - May 12, 2010, 2:12 pm Rating: ratingfullratingemptyratingemptyratingemptyratingempty Unrated

I Don't Drive A PERFORMANCE Car. Just A Small V4 Corolla S. And I Always Use Premium Gas. For One, I Find That I Get Better Gas Mileage. My Corolla Is 5 Years Old With 65k Miles On It And I'm Getting About 33 City And 38 Hwy With Premium Gas.
When I Use Regular I Tend To Get About 28 City And About 33-34 Hwy.
And I Also Find That The Pick Up For My Car Is Alot Better. There Is No Lag When I Floor It, When I Use Regular Gas, It Sometimes Doesn't Pick Up At All, I Mean I Go Fast But It Takes A Bit To Get To The Speed I Wanna Get To.

#8 Posted by papawheely (guest) - May 12, 2010, 2:43 pm Rating: ratingfullratingfullratingfullratingemptyratingempty Unrated

this article is ok.i am a retired auto mechanic(38 years in trade)and a
avid drag racer.in my experance in
both fields,there is a very important diffrance.in all new autos they have knock sensors to control excessive detination.if a person uses low grade fuel,the knock sensor will retard the ignition timing to compensate.this will effect the cars preformance & fuel mileage.on average there is about 20 cents a gallon.on the average 20 gallon fill up,thats $4.00 savings.at 1 tank a week,this will cost you $208 dollars a year.you can't even do a minor engine service for the savings.i recommend to follow the (factory)recommendation on octane rating for your specific car.

#9 Posted by Troy (guest) - May 12, 2010, 3:02 pm Rating: ratingfullratingfullratingfullratingemptyratingempty Unrated

lol Informative but poorly organized. No back up data. And Susan! You can't even spell or so why would they hire you? LMAO


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