from real-life experience
from real-life experience
I guess I can understand it actually. If people are willing to take the (admittedly quite small) risk or if they just don't care then that's reason enough to go for the cheapest stuff they can find because five bucks is five bucks. Personally tho, I'd rather pay the extra five bucks for that little bit of peace of mind.
(plus, my car does actually run smoother on Shell so that's the main reason I use it)
. :lol:
I have to agree with you regarding the improved performance one can get from a higher octane gas. I read in so many places that using a higher octane is not required, and usually is just a waste of money. Based on those opinions I used 87 gas for about 2 years (for 2 new GM cars, mine and of my wife). On the web sites and owner manuals they say "regular unleaded" or "at least 87", and I didn't know if 89 or 91 gas was forbidden or not recommended. So I decided to try with 89 (on one car, a Saturn VUE 2008) and the acceleration and overall car performance improved enough to make me try the 91 gas. Now my wife is very happy with how the car behaves, it is a 2.4L engine and was kind of slow before.
Regarding the other car, an Impala 2006, 3,9L, I decided to use 91 after I saw the improvement I got on my wife's car. I used 89 gas and the difference was pretty high comparing with how the car behaved when I used 87. I'm just starting to use 91, I don't have a definitive answer yet (I still have 89-91 mix inside). In the user manual they say "87 or above", so I recommend everybody to try a higher octane for their car. It is more expensive but you won't need to use the gas pedal as much so there will be an improvement on mileage, that's for sure. Of course, those who are really short on money (as I was before), 87 will do just fine, but for others 89 or 91 can provide a significant performance improvement.
I hope my answer will help others, because it is from real life experience, which I didn't find when I was searching for an answer. I think the car manufactures don't insist on using higher octane gasonline for obvious reasons, but they are not against it either, at least on my owner manuals. Use a higher octane with cautious, put only half of tank and see how the car behaves. If you here unusual noise, than put over some 87 and that's it.
