premium gas?

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Permalink Reply by mr bad example on July 1, 2008 at 9:36pm

i've run my smart a couple times on 87 octane, i drive with a light foot usually and noticed no abnormal performance, milage was about the same. where i live we have sams club gas and they have 87 and 93. "click and clack" (syndicated car advice writers) say you can mix the two and get a "mid-grade" mix.

when you get to know your smart's milage performance you can pretty much know how much gas you'll need before filling up, then you can fill it half and half and get a mix of 90 (87 & 93, some stations have 89 and 92) it's not really saving that much. today at sams 87 was $4.10 and 93 was $4.30. this is just under a 5% difference and if you're putting in 6-7 gallons the difference is only a buck and a half. mixing will cut this cost difference in half to six bits ($0.75)

regular won't kill your car, it might make the engine computer retard the ignition a bit, which would be more noticable at higher speeds or heavy accelleration.

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Permalink Reply by GetSmrt28277 on July 1, 2008 at 10:48pm

the manual states to use at minimum 91 octane, the inside gas door says to use 95 (min 91); the manual recommends approved additives after a period of time (not specified); any other additives may jeopardize the warranty. There are a few blends that appear acceptable, but check your manual. I've chosen to stay with the high octane to maintain the warranty. The extra mileage was worth the extra $1.25.

I have noticed a difference in mileage return between Shell super premium and Exxon super premium with Shell increasing the mileage by 8-10%; I'm not promoting one brand over another, but the difference was significant in my little one.

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Permalink Reply by Madness Mike on June 28, 2012 at 3:17pm

The manuel does recommends using 91 octane in your tank. Like others have said regular gas wont kill the car but it will run better on 91 octane since that is what is recommended by the owners manuel. 

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Permalink Reply by Madness Mike on July 2, 2012 at 3:33pm

While I understand what you are saying and what you are saying it true, smart themselves recommends using at least 91 octane. I cant find an owners manuel on hand but here is a link from smarts usa detailing to use 91 octane for best fuel economy. 

http://www.smartusa.com/Downloads/How-to-Maximize-Fuel-Economy.pdf

They say the car can run on regular fuel but you will get better gas milage on the higher octane.

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