Do I HAVE to put premium gas in my stock S14?.. the previous owner did and I have been for the last year since I’ve owned the car… I know the manual calls for 91 grade… But that’s only a “recommendation”…
What do you guys use??
Stock KA - Negative…My brother has all the bolt ons and runs 87. The only time you need to run premium is if you decide to try advancing your timing for some more jam.
There are other benefits to running premium gas though, like a cleaner combustion chamber.
Thanks man, I apreciate the response!
hey, by all means you can run 87 but as of last year gas companys added 10% more methalhyrate to there regular gas which increases the temp in your cylinders and actualy you will notice a drop in milage running regular and i was at a ngk seminar last year and if you are a regular gas user you should be replacing your plugs with one heat range cooler, i just picked up a stock s14 in the begining of feb there and ran one or two tanks of reg crap in it and couldnt even get past 350 km so i decided to run 91 and i gained almost 100km to a tank i personaly find that werth the extra couple of bucks it cost to fill it. i hope this was some better insight into running reg and premium fuell
^ so ur running bkr6 right now ? how does at idle ? did u gap them?
Its really up to you but it “recomendes” premium gas…i put 87 in when i first got the car…last owner ran it on 91 all thew time…one day after about 2 monthes of driving the car i decided to use 91…i felt a big difference in the performance and the get up and go of the car…but thats just me…always used it since…
I’ve often thought about this myself. Here is another way to consider your options.
Type Prem. Reg.
Cost/L - 1.08 -0.98
Km/Tank - 580 - 480
Tank size -60 -60
Cost per tank - 64.8 -58.8
1 L=(X)Km - 9.67 - 8
L/100km - 10.34 - 12.5
Difference in cost to fill a tank with premium over regular
$6.00
Estimated benefit of additional mileage per tank
100km
The price to buy an extra 100km’s of Regular gas
$12.25
buying Premium gas saves you per tank
$6.25
The above calculation assumes that on average, Premium fuel is 10 cents more expensive than regular. In reality, its probably only more like 6 or 7 cents more expensive… In the case where Premium fuel is only 6 cents more, the total savings per tank is just over 7 bucks.
The assumption is also based on( judging from what people have said above) that the average increase per tank when using Premium fuel is about 100km… this will also vary between vehicles and drivers.
IMO, Using premium fuel not only appears to be more cost effective but, in the long run it’s much better for your vehicles longevity, and better for the environment.
Sorry for the long post, I hope at least one person found this interesting.
That is very intersting and you have some good points…
Have you heard what the gas prices are expected to rise to this summer tho!!! Like $1.50 for reg… So in that case Premium will be what… $1.70 -1.80…!! I spose it’s all relative though… Your calculations do make sense… and your car probably appreciates the extra care (using premium)… lol.
Thanks again
I was running on 87 for the longest time till i decided to log some data on mileage and its correllation to cost. after i started running vpower (91) i found that i save aboout 3 bucks a tank (before doing a proper tune up).
I was under the assumption that higher octane, burned slightly hotter and also cleaner. Disregarding the difference of composition between 87 and 91, wouldnt burning hotter actually clean out your cylinders? (a nub question)
Yeah, theoretically its better for everything in the fuel path…Injectors, and less carbon build up in your chamber.
My KA24DE 240 hasn’t crossed 350km per tank as of yet, it always gets close…even after a tune-up. (plugs, wires, air filter, distributor cap & rotor)…you guys are getting 480-580km? Thats impressive…I’ve tried all the different grades of gasoline, with like no noticeable difference.
We used to have an Oldsmobile LSS with a 3.8L Supercharged V6…when you put 94 in that, you could feel more power, compared to lets say 89. It required premium of course, being forced induction.
AhmadG, Don’t worry, I never get much more than about 350 in the city either.
I drive to Ottawa all the time, so 600KM/tank drive goes something like this;
fill up as I’m leaving town and set my odometer
Drive for 6 hours total at 100km/hr
finish the trip on fumes and Aprox.600km on the odometer.
I could get better mileage in the city if I really tried but rear wheel drive is just too much fun in the snow. Shifting before three every time and keeping your foot off the floor helps in the city for sure.
I just filled up with Regular this morning… 55 litres for $60 on the dot… I will keep you guys posted… I’ll let you know how many km’s I get… I’m not going away this weekend so it will all be city driving… Stay tuned.
I once got 620 KM to a full tank 91 …hiway and some city driving…my city being kind of open and what not …not like toronto.
Maybe i’m on crack but KA24DE…lol I never even thought of putting anything higher than regular in that P.o.S. The Skyline however I run 91 because of boosting 
i dont wanna be a jerk but
91oct in a N/A with regular compression ratios will give you absolutly no performance gain in fact it does the opposite The octane rating is a measure of the autoignition resistance of gasoline and other fuels used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines. It is a measure of anti-detonation of a gasoline or fuel. so the higher the octaine raiting the less your N/A will perform. on the other hand it will get you better mileage and burn cleaner just thought you should have some facts
lol, which is it? “absolutely no performance gain” or “on the other hand it will get you better mileage and burn cleaner”
Those facts are confusing
.
how are they confusing ?? how is better mileage and a cleaner burn a performance gain ? DOES IT MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER!!?
Don’t you think your interpretation of “performance” is rather narrow minded?
if you compared the two fuels side by side in similar cars, and one drove farther than the other…its pretty obvious that performance is being measured by mileage…
if you compared the two fuels side by side in similar engines over the course of a life time (exaggerated example)… for the sake of comparing which fuel preserved the integrity of fuel related components… again, I think it’s clear that performance is being measured by conservation and not “go faster” factor.
performance can be measured by many things… and since most of the above discussion was centered around fuel mileage and saving a buck or two for the daily driver…I’m not sure why you assumed this was all about going faster.
you are right in that respect but the whole point of my original post was to gt champion who said “i felt a big difference in the performance and the get up and go of the car…but thats just me…always used it since”
and i wanted to explain that a higher octaine will not give you a better get up and go as he put it.