Everytime gas prices go up, I hear alot of my friends, with nice cars, talk about having to put regular unleaded gas in, instead of premium like they usually do to save money. this evokes a snicker from me and they ask me what's my problem? I explain that the difference in regular vs premium is still the same. thier first reaction is "No way, gas prices are through the roof". true, but the difference is still the same. consider this: Before Gas prices go up you are paying: 2.30 / regular 2.45 / Mid 2.60 / premium For easy math, let's assume you need 10 gallons. Regular @ 10gals is $23.00 Mid @ 10gals is $24.50 Premium @ 10gals is $26.00 difference is $3.00 between regular and premium So prices go up...typically the increment between grades is the same, .15 cents in my example. this mirrors what I see at the stations I frequent. 3.30/ regular 3.45 / Mid 3.60 / premium Regular @ 10gals is $33.00 Mid @ 10gals is $34.50 Premium @ 10gals is $36.00 difference is $3.00 between regular and premium. A friend of mine with an MCS started using grocery store gas...and regular unleaded to boot when prices went up last year. Lot's of carbon buildup and a trip to the service department later, she ended up paying more to fix her car then to use the right gas to start with. I know there's a lot of debate wheter or not you need premium...for me, I don't want to take the chance over $3. that's $150/yr if I fill every week....which I don't. And then there's the top tier gas debate. my feelings are this: If you are goign to buy an expensive car with a high performing engine...why put cheap gas in it? If you don't want to spend the money on gas, buy a cheap car that doesn't mind sucking cheap fuel. Again... these are all my perspectives...feel free to chime in and offer your thoughts.
Gas Prices Up(yeah,what else is new?) :cornut: HEAR HERE !!!!! I agree. Margi only drinks the best,93 octane. Why,because there's no 94 octane at my local station. Jason
Kind of starts and end with the manual saying the car needs to run on Premium at less than $4 a tank diff between Prem and Reg why screw around?
Count the blessings My cousin in Stockholm just emailed me that he paid 14 SEK per liter. That translates to....wait for it......$8/gallon!
yep... problem is the manual doesn't say that Wal-Mart premium is crappy and doesn't include the same quality of detergents that a Top Tier Gas will have. I think that burns alot of people. Most people probably don't realize there is a difference...nor do they understand the effect of ethynol. Ethynol is controlled pretty well here in Georgia...but some other places you need to watch out for anything over 10%. I read alot of posts on the sewing site where people lost fuel pumps due to high ethynol in the gas. IE, not covered under warranty. I suspect that most, if not all, of the people on this forum are knowlegdable car owners and don't really need to be reminded of all this...but I figured I would do my good deed of the day and share my thoughts.
This is great to see it in a math representation that anyone can understand!! I have tried to explain this for years to people. Nice write up.
This is kinda like assuming that the car approaching with a the right turn signal on is really gonna turn right....dangerous People need reminding that cheap is not always best, actually rarely is Cheap is mighty attractive to allot of people Thanks for your service!
What the original posted is missing is that his friends are not comparing the price of premium vs. regular in general, they're comparing the cost of premium before the price hike and the cost of regular after the hike. Their point is that they will maintain the same cost, rather than having to pay more. Of course, as everyone has already pointed out, their logic is flawed, and they will likely do more harm than the small amount of money that they save is worth.
Well said. Stating it in terms of dollars per year puts it all into perspective. I fill up once a month or sometimes every 3 weeks so wow it really makes no sense to buy cheap stuff. Also Chevron in our area is the only dealer that offers Ethanol free but its only in the 94 octane
So you get an extra 3 bucks every other day... In the end thats about $550 a year extra in costs.... I am pretty sure the anti carbon treatment from the dealer costs close to this. Even if the antibuildup treatment isnt $500 you are running cleaner better gas. My parents had a cow that I bought a car that I will only put super premium gas in. That was till I pointed out compared to my Mustang that with the MPG difference I was still paying less for gas per month.