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Can anyone explain why premium(93) cost $0.65 more/ gallon ? It seems really high compared for regular (87)
0.65*13 gallons = $8.45 / fill up
I know my car is high compression, and I have to buy (93)
Eric has a good video : Octane Ratings Explained – Eric The Car Guy
Did anyone experiment with regular(87)+octane booster for $7-8
The bottle says it will treat 30 gallons of gas, so if I can fill up (87)+ 1/2 bottle = less than (93)
But I don`t want to try it and find out octane booster is a big scam and I will damage my engine .
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The cost difference has no real world bearing. There’s no reason why Shell’/Exxon charges .50, .60, or x-amount more for higher octane gasoline. It’s simply the consumer paying for excess additives; “Excess” meaning all gasoline has to have particular additives within the United States to be sold legally at the federal level. I’m sure various states add onto that list.
Octane boosters from my personal experience are simply a waste of money. They’re all usually alcohol based so no damage can be done to your engine in the real world. Also, what state do you live in? Are you in a state similar to Florida, which requires 10% ethanol to be used legally in all non-recreational vehicles (Boats, Classic cars, motorcycles etc… can only use pure gasoline legally).
If you do any amount of octane manipulation you try will simply be voided due to the corn alcohol being less energy efficient. I’d also assume Honda wouldn’t require 93 in your car (Anything above 91 is rare in most states) the ECU should be able to adjust timing to run efficiently with 87.
agreeing with him.
if your engine recommends or requires a higher octane 89-93, run that, don’t run lower… and fuel additives are kind of a joke IMO… they really don’t do much.
fuels of higher octane cost more largely due to customer demand, and additives they may have with the higher octane fuel.
Always use recommended fuel. Higher octane fuel is refined further than regular and has different components in it adding to the price. You will lose efficiency and power if your car wants it, and you don’t give it what it wants.
EDIT: To address octane boosters…you will pay more to get octane boosters to add up to the correct octane level(about 3 bottlesmake 1 point of octane rating) than just using the correct fuel in the first place.
You’re lucky that your premium is still good old 93. In California, the premium is only 91 nowadays. However, the premium is only 20 cents more than the 87 regular. (89 plus is 10 cents more than 87 regular) At least that’s how the gas prices are at local Costcos where I fill my car exclusively.
[quote=”plokiu” post=150918]You’re lucky that your premium is still good old 93. In California, the premium is only 91 nowadays. However, the premium is only 20 cents more than the 87 regular. (89 plus is 10 cents more than 87 regular) At least that’s how the gas prices are at local Costcos where I fill my car exclusively.[/quote]
Good god! I pay 15-20 cents more a LITER for premium. I try to go to Costco for gas, as I have no choice but to run premium in my car and the price is usually barely more than everyone else pays for regular. I’m regularly close to both Costco gas bars in town, but the surrounding areas are just too horrible to go through. There is a chain that gives you a decent rebate every year, but their gas has just proved to not be good enough for whatever reason. Their premium hates turbo charged cars. So there’s a gas station that sells 93 octane, that’s what I try to use.
Good god! I pay 15-20 cents more a LITER for premium. I try to go to Costco for gas, as I have no choice but to run premium in my car and the price is usually barely more than everyone else pays for regular. I’m regularly close to both Costco gas bars in town, but the surrounding areas are just too horrible to go through. There is a chain that gives you a decent rebate every year, but their gas has just proved to not be good enough for whatever reason. Their premium hates turbo charged cars. So there’s a gas station that sells 93 octane, that’s what I try to use.[/quote]
DaFirnz !
15-20 cents more / LITER ?????????????
15 Cents / Liter = 0.15*3.785= 0.56 cents / gallon more
20 Cents/ Liter =0.20*3.785= 0.75 cents / gallon
Same as my +0.65 c / gallon more at any gas stationThats amazing, gas here is $1.80 a gallon and we have up to 93 octane(sunoco). I couldn’t even imagine living in California with my fleet.
One set of claims for the price difference with the recent drop in price of crude oil is given here. In short,
- Most drivers (90%) use regular gas, and the suppliers attempt to maximize this market.
- Low octane gas is easier to refine from shale oil, and high octane fuel is easier to refine from foreign crude.
- The price of premium fuel is less elastic than regular.
It sounds as the price of each grade of fuel follows the rockets and feathers scheme (shoots up like a rocket and falls like a feather), and the price of premium is lagging behind regular.
I agree with the others to use the recommended fuel instead of adding octane booster.
Yeah, premium is just under $9 a gallon too in the UK, which is 50cents dearer compared to regular (a gallon).
I’ve always run my MR2’s on premium (She’ll V-power) – I can’t say there is much noticeable difference in performance (although the engine feels peppier) but without fail I get 30miles more out of a full fill up.
I’ve had my MR2’s coming up to 10years and use them very regular for commuting so know these cars behaviour very well now.Sometimes premium has other benefits than just performance gains, I suppose…
Chris.
Let’s keep in mind guys, here in the USA, we use a different octane raiting system.
In the UK, only the RON method is used. Here in the USA, we use both RON and MON and take the average of the 2 to determine octane rating.
So in other words, (RON+MON)/2=Octane rating.
So lets reverse the equation. If I take 87 octane(regular here in USA) and take away the motor method(which is always less than the RON number), our gasoline is the same. MON is typically 5-9 points difference so we are at roughly the same octane rating.
Gasoline is a commodity, a consumer product. Its price has little to do with how much it is refined and more to do with public perception of the product.
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