Premium gas

[cscarlson]

Does everyone use premium gas in their vettes?

 

[Toms007]

Only premium here.....

 

[LT4man]

I have only used premium in three C4s. A new 92, a new 94 and a new 96. Never had any engine problems or issues.

I realize our PCMs will allow the use of a lower octane fuel. In fact, there are some folks on this site who now use only regular unleaded in their C5s. With close to forty (40) years of automotive mechanical experience, I must say I do not agree with using a lower octane fuel than what the engine was designed for. When one cannot buy premium, I fully understand why someone would put a lower octane gasoline into their vehicle. Of course, this would only be on a temporary basis.

I enjoyed the power, speed and fuel mileage of all my Vettes. Refer to my third sentence above. I am very happy with never having any type of engine problems or issues!

AFTER FILLING UP YOUR TANK WITH PREMIUM, PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO SAVE THE !

 

[Patrick]

I only use Premium in my C6. In my part of the country, that's 91 Octane, rather than the 93 Octane you can get in points east of here.

I've been told that you can use lower octane grades of unleaded, but you should be prepared for reduced engine performance, and likely some knocking.

-Patrick

 

[c5y2k]

Only premium here also. The extra $3.20 per fill up for premium is worth it to me.

 

[Fullback32]

Same here. I've been told I can use mid-grade, but I prefer not to. I have to agree with some of the other posters (though I don't have their experience to base it on like LT4man!). Logically, it seems to me that if GM designed it run on premium, then that's what you should run in it. In my thinking, it's sorta one of those "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" things. I run Shell V-Power exclusively.

 

[vett boy]

I've used a mixture of diesel ,liquefied bear fat impregnated with acetylene. When thats not available 89 works fine .Actually the owners manual specifies not less than 87 unless it's a Z06.

 

[Patrick]

I've used a mixture of diesel ,liquefied bear fat impregnated with acetylene.

So, your exhaust makes belching sounds, then? :L

At least your not using any of Junkie's moonshine.

 

[Fullback32]

Actually the owners manual specifies not less than 87 unless it's a Z06.

True. I forgot about that; however it did mention that you may find loss of power and potentially knocking and pinging.

 

[killain]

Corvette diet

I only use 93 octane because the owners manual says "It's much better for the engine" but should you get stuck somewhere where only 87 octane was available, then and only then would I use any less than than a least 91 octane fuel. Around here we have ExxonMobil super which is 93 octane, and we have Sunoco gasoline and they sell both 91 and 94 octane. But I don't use it as it has too much sulfer in it which is a little corrosive to things like fuel pumps and injectors, At least the GM tech who works on my 2003 50th edition LS-1 says so.

But on the other side of the coin, 87 octane gasoline has less carbon buildup than Premium and it costs less. But again, were talking about Corvettes not Cavaliers and Cobalts ? To me, I can't see saving $1.95 or whatever in savings over using premium ?

 

[vett boy]

I watched a program on one of the educational channels a couple weeks ago about oil pipelines .Each oil company rents the line or pays so much per gallon .Example Exxon ,Shell and say Gulf we're sending oil north on a given day .At the delivery site the oil company picks up 1,000,000 gallons of premium fuel its probably not theirs, or a mixture of all three.Testing is done on both ends of the pipe line .Additives are added at the end terminal.

 

[napacruzerC5]

YES!

 

[XLR8]

I've run premium in all my vehicles for years. A trusted mechanic once told me "pay at the pumps or pay at the garage".

A couple of points here:

I use Chevron 99% of the time, 93 octane. I was using it even before our in-house Corvette guru, c4c5specialist, recommended it at a CruiseFest seminar I attended.

My second choice is Texaco which is still Chevron with Techron. If I can't get those, Shell premium is my third choice.

I have seen posts here at the CAC where knowledgeable members swear that they get the same performance and better gas mileage with the 91 octane too.

Personally, I wouldn't run less than 91 octane in my Vette unless it was all that was available and 200 miles to the next gas station.

Jane Ann

 

[Patrick]

I use Chevron 99% of the time, 93 octane. I was using it even before our in-house Corvette guru, c4c5specialist, recommended it at a CruiseFest seminar I attended.

My second choice is Texaco which is still Chevron with Techron. If I can't get those, Shell premium is my third choice.

I wish I had your options, Jane Ann. Chevron divested itself of it's Colorado holdings a decade ago, and Texaco was taken over by British Petroleum (BP) in 2002. BP and Phillips 66 were then taken over by Conoco.

So we get a choice between Conoco and Shell as "top tier" brands of gasoline.

I have seen posts here at the CAC where knowledgeable members swear that they get the same performance and better gas mileage with the 91 octane too.

Personally, I wouldn't run less than 91 octane in my Vette unless it was all that was available and 200 miles to the next gas station.

It's not so much a choice as it is regional availability. I don't believe 93 Octane is made available as a choice for retail purchase of gas in the western half of the US. On trips to CruiseFest in the past, I've only been able to get 93 Octane when I get east of Kansas.

 

[vett boy]

Also another factor is water content .Ethanol mixture allows water to pass threw the system .I swear that stations in Florida are running a garden hose to their tanks at night.

 

[gmjunkie]

Ok,Beat Me!! I'm guilty of running regular 87 octane in my C5!!!:L:L:L
Ok,I change my oil when the oil monitor is down to less than 5% too,and sometimes thats 8,000-10,000 miles!!otflotflotfl

My 03 Spiral Grey runs great on 87 octane and averages 33-35 mpg on trips! I try not to run any ethanol gas though!!

Maybe,Mines just a freak,I really can't tell much difference in it power wise than my 01 Z06 other than the Z06 rides rough and the mufflers are loud!!

 

[Derek]

98 octane here...feels better,

 

[Jistari]

Premium all the way.

I watched a program on one of the educational channels a couple weeks ago about oil pipelines .Each oil company rents the line or pays so much per gallon .Example Exxon ,Shell and say Gulf we're sending oil north on a given day .At the delivery site the oil company picks up 1,000,000 gallons of premium fuel its probably not theirs, or a mixture of all three.Testing is done on both ends of the pipe line .Additives are added at the end terminal.

Good to know

Has nothing to do with the question, which is about octane, after the oil is refined, but good to know.

 

[vett boy]

Ok,Beat Me!! I'm guilty of running regular 87 octane in my C5!!!:L:L:L
Ok,I change my oil when the oil monitor is down to less than 5% too,and sometimes thats 8,000-10,000 miles!!otflotflotfl

My 03 Spiral Grey runs great on 87 octane and averages 33-35 mpg on trips! I try not to run any ethanol gas though!!

Maybe,Mines just a freak,I really can't tell much difference in it power wise than my 01 Z06 other than the Z06 rides rough and the mufflers are loud!!

Shame ,shame ,shame ,you read the owners manual.

 

[LT4man]

There are plenty of folks who continue playing golf even after the rain starts falling. These guys never get hit by lightening. Does not mean that lightening never strikes on a golf course. Just means that just because you can do something, does not mean you should.

The explosions which happen in an engine cylinder are pretty tricky. None of us can quite understand just how fast and how powerful these explosions occur. The octane rating of gasoline is matched to the compression ratio of the engine. GM engineers spend countless hours researching and developing these parameters. They want to give us high horsepower (read fast!) and very dependable engines.

Premium gasoline (depending on your location in the US) is one of the ingredients which enable us to fully enjoy our Vettes.

That is all I have right now. Boy, does this get me tired! :bash

AFTER FILLING UP WITH 80 OCTANE GAS, DON'T FORGET TO SAVE THE !