Vehicles that require premium gas

Paystar · Nov 9, 2016

Curious about your opinions. I'm a diesel guy, but recently bought a VW Tiguan SUV. It has the 2.0 liter turbo engine. It says it requires premium gas.

I rarely drive it as I am always using the trucks, and when I do, I'm not throttling on it. Nor does it get really hot here in the summers compared to the south.

So I'm wondering......is it really necessary? We also do not have ethanol here.

I have been putting premium in it, but a couple times filled it with regular when it was WAY cheaper. I noticed no difference in fuel mileage or power. Actually it seemed harder on gas with premium.

Thoughts?

WilliamBos · Nov 9, 2016

If you dont have detonation on regular, you are golden!

Raspy · Nov 9, 2016

You won't have detonation because the computer will adjust the timing and mixture to stop if it it detects pinging. The performance will be lower with regular, but it won't hurt anything and you may not notice the difference. All cars sold in the US, as I understand it, must be able to run on regular, but some will perform better on premium. Especially turbocharged engines.

The increase in performance has nothing to do with the fuel having more energy in it. It doesn't. It just has more antiknock additives.

ClaySlayer · Nov 9, 2016

My F150 with the 3.5 EcoBoost states it's fine to run regular but for optimum performance run premium. Typically the only time you're going to tell a difference is if you are constantly putting the engine under higher loads (uphill, towing, flogging it, etc) otherwise I save a few bucks and put regular in. In your case though if the manual states to run premium then you probably need to do it. You are sure it says "required" and not "recommended"...? Could you get by running regular? Probably...but if something happens to the motor and the dealer takes a sample from the tank you might be held responsible.

dragoneggs · Nov 9, 2016

I like using premium gas for best power and use that exclusively in my bimmer per manufacturer instructions. My F150 says regular and ethanol additive okay. Still like to step up a notch and not use the lowest octane gas. Been good luck for me.

dstig1 · Nov 9, 2016

Some cars say "premium recommended" Others say "Use premium gas" or the like which is more like "required". Of course most say nothing still, and you can put whatever you want in. High compression engines may truly require premium. What does your say on the fuel gage?

oosik · Nov 10, 2016

My BMW motorcycle say - "use premium- Use of regular is OK on a limited basis". I alway use premium.

ultrarunner · Nov 10, 2016

Premium in my State is lower than what my car is use to but OK...

It will run on regular but the difference in performance is most noticeable.

The HP generated is less with lower octane.

BMW told me the premium in Germany were I bought the car is superior to California premium and I found it to be true.

Copperhead · Nov 10, 2016

I keep it simple. I like a wide variety of fuel choices that I can select based on prevailing pump prices. I have grown fond of flex fuel gas vehicles for that reason. And I wouldn't consider a vehicle that requires or even recommends premium. Just not a good value. No vehicle being made today really impresses me anyway, I only get what will provide the best solution for what I need and offer the best value. And anything needing premium is not even considered.

LD1 · Nov 10, 2016

If you are using high octane fuel in an engine that is tuned for regular, you are wasting money. The term "premium" or "super" or whatever is misleading.

ITs NOT a purer gas, its not more highly refined, its NOT more potent or more powerful , or any other myths commonly spread around the internet.

Fact is....high octane simply means they put MORE stuff in there to make the gas not as "Explosive". Yep....plain ol low octane is easier to ignite/burn. Not sure what 35 letter word for the chemical/compound they are currently using, but back in the day it was lead. Yep, they added MORE lead to gas to get a higher octane rating.

Making gas harder to ignite, means the engine can be built with higher compression, or forced induction, and ignition timing advanced, and not cause any pre-ignition/detonation issues.

IF the engine isnt designed with high octane gas in mind.....you get no benefit at all. Just a lighter wallet.

It used to be if the engine required it, it was a must. But modern engine controls can make an engine run on just about anything my messing with the timing and other parameters. So if you drive a car that "prefers" premium, but still runs okay on regular, then there indeed may be a little preformance gain running premium, as the computer dont have to compensate.

Lots of myths about premium vs regular. All my engines are naturally aspirated, low compression engines. Best fuel for them is 87.

My outdoor equipment get 93. But thats ONLY because I can find that in ethanol free. And ONLY at one station within ~50 miles. And its about 80 cents higher than 93 octane elsewhere thats blended with ethanol. If I could find 87 in e-free......or even 89 in e-free......I'd be running that instead of the 93.

dodge man · Nov 10, 2016

I've got a Dodge Challenger that I have a tuner for. The car is suppose to run mid grade 89 octane. With the tuner, I run premium. With the tuner I can log data to a lap top. This lets you look at all the data the cars computer sees real time or you can record it and play it back. There is two items the engine sees called long term knock and short term knock. The short term knock is no big deal, that means the engine sees knock briefly and pulls timing. For example my car with the tune installed will get a little short term knock at full throttle when it hits fourth gear.

The long term knock is a big deal. This means the computer is seeing a lot of knock on a regular basis. This gets stored in the computer and it starts pulling timing all the time. This would hurt performance and fuel mileage. The computer can be reset to delete the long term knock data but who knows how to do that?

Does you VW work the same way as my Dodge? Probably but maybe not. I'll just say running 86 octane might be a bad idea but 89 might be fine. More info might be found on some VW forums.

Quebecguy · Nov 10, 2016

Paystar said:
We also do not have ethanol here.
Thoughts?

I don't know if you should use premium or regular but I'm pretty sure that almost all gas stations in Ontario are selling gasoline mixed with ethanol.

The Fred · Nov 10, 2016

What you NEED to do is use a quality injector cleaner every 10K miles or so. I replace a bunch of injectors in that engine and when they fail the engine will misfire when it just starts for a few seconds or so.

Techron, Liqui-moly LM2007 or BG44K all work quite well.

VW has had so much trouble with fuel injectors that there is extended warranty on them.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM463188/CSC-10056164-3276.pdf

Regards, Fred

Garandman · Nov 10, 2016

dstig1 said:
Some cars say "premium recommended" Others say "Use premium gas" or the like which is more like "required". //

We had a Nissan Quest van that had two power ratings, one for Regular and one for 93 Octane. Difference was 4-5hp.

My 6 cyl Outback had Premium as "Recommended." I called SOA and asked what that meant and they said, "There will be no damage to the engine running regular." But the max power rating of 253hp was with Premium.

Have a turbocharged WRX and virtually always use Premium but that is a high-output engine. We've only used Regular in our 3.5L Ecoboost Transit.

LD1 · Nov 10, 2016

Garandman said:
We had a Nissan Quest van that had two power ratings, one for Regular and one for 93 Octane. Difference was 4-5hp.

My 6 cyl Outback had Premium as "Recommended." I called SOA and asked what that meant and they said, "There will be no damage to the engine running regular." But the max power rating of 253hp was with Premium.

Have a turbocharged WRX and virtually always use Premium but that is a high-output engine. We've only used Regular in our 3.5L Ecoboost Transit.

Perfect example of computers and engine management technology.

Computer will pull timing (reduce power) to run perfectly fine on 87 octane gas. But it is ultimately tuned for higher octane, and you will see best power and economy running what the engine is ideally tuned for (premium) in this case.

If an engine is ideally tuned for 87 octane and dont have to pull timing running it.....there is absolutely no benefit to running anything of a higher octane rating.

clemsonfor · Nov 10, 2016

My Toyotas say that best results and tests are done on premium but you can use regular no problem.

I have an 01 Highlander and an 04 Sequoia

dfkrug · Nov 10, 2016

ultrarunner said:
BMW told me the premium in Germany were I bought the car is superior to California premium and I
found it to be true.

I don't know when it happened in Europe, Curt, but all the OBD2-compliant cars in the US and Canada
are supposed to have programmable ignition timing so the engine computer can ****** the timing
if it hears pre-ignition. OBD2 was on all US cars and gasoline-powered PU trucks by 1996.

These vehicles actually have one or more microphones on the engine block to pick up pinging.

My BIL now has a beemer 1150 motorcycle (not a "bimmer", or BMW car), and it has FI and
all that, but I don't think it is OBD2-compliant. So it many not have knock sensors. We don't
have smog tests for m/cs in California. He uses only 91-octane for his BMW.

That said, high octane gas is harder to ignite (a good thing for max spark advance and power),
and current octane boosters are alcohol-based. Europe gave up lead in gas later than the US,
so boosters with lead in them may have been sold for a longer time. None, now, of course.

Since 91-octane gas is harder to ignite vs. 87 regular, it may actually be beneficial to use
in chainsaws that don't have compression-release valves and tend to kick back on starting. I
am working with a friend to see if that can make his old 100cc saw easier to start.

dickfoster · Nov 10, 2016

Paystar said:
Curious about your opinions. I'm a diesel guy, but recently bought a VW Tiguan SUV. It has the 2.0 liter turbo engine. It says it requires premium gas.

I rarely drive it as I am always using the trucks, and when I do, I'm not throttling on it. Nor does it get really hot here in the summers compared to the south.

So I'm wondering......is it really necessary? We also do not have ethanol here.

I have been putting premium in it, but a couple times filled it with regular when it was WAY cheaper. I noticed no difference in fuel mileage or power. Actually it seemed harder on gas with premium.

Thoughts?

For almost any forced induction engine whether turbo or supercharged you need premium fuel to prevent knock and pre detonation. Both of my vehicles require it as one is supercharged and the other sports a turbo charger. Buy the premium fuel or risk destroying your engine with predetonation. Regular fuel actually burns quicker than premium, so much quicker in fact that it burns down your engine. Count yourself lucky if you don't have your fuel polluted with ethanol as that stuff is pure crap and does nothing good. Ethanol is just another great American boondoggle foisted upon us by our idiotic politicians.

ultrarunner · Nov 10, 2016

dfkrug said:
I don't know when it happened in Europe, Curt, but all the OBD2-compliant cars in the US and Canada
are supposed to have programmable ignition timing so the engine computer can ****** the timing
if it hears pre-ignition. OBD2 was on all US cars and gasoline-powered PU trucks by 1996.

These vehicles actually have one or more microphones on the engine block to pick up pinging.

My BIL now has a beemer 1150 motorcycle (not a "bimmer", or BMW car), and it has FI and
all that, but I don't think it is OBD2-compliant. So it many not have knock sensors. We don't
have smog tests for m/cs in California. He uses only 91-octane for his BMW.

That said, high octane gas is harder to ignite (a good thing for max spark advance and power),
and current octane boosters are alcohol-based. Europe gave up lead in gas later than the US,
so boosters with lead in them may have been sold for a longer time. None, now, of course.

Since 91-octane gas is harder to ignite vs. 87 regular, it may actually be beneficial to use
in chainsaws that don't have compression-release valves and tend to kick back on starting. I
am working with a friend to see if that can make his old 100cc saw easier to start.

My right hand has never been the same from a chain saw kick back and that was in 2009...

When I bought my 325iT in Munich back in 2002 I asked BMW why the HP is slightly higher in Germany as opposed to the North American export model...

BMW said the premium fuel in Germany is higher octane so they can get more out of the motor.

On a side note I do notice marked improvement in mpg when I was traveling outside California with non California blend... 2006

The Rover I picked up earlier this year is also Premium...