Most cars on the road recommend a standard grade 87 or 89. Premium gas 90-93 is completely okay to put in a standard vehicle. Car experts say
there is no risk of damage to a standard car using premium fuel
.
While you can put regular, plus, or premium gas in cars that can take regular fuel, it's
important to only refill your tank with premium gas if your owner's manual says
to.
Your new vehicle is designed to use
only unleaded fuel having
a pump octane number ((R+M)/2) of 87 (Research Octane Number 91) or higher. Never add any fuel system cleaning agents to the fuel tank other than what has been specified. (Consult an authorized HYUNDAI dealer for details.)
According to Fueleconomy.gov, the official U.S. government source for fuel economy information, using regular gas in older vehicles made for premium gasoline can
result in the engine making an audible knocking or pinging sound
. In some cases, it can also void your warranty.
Cars that require premium gasoline have high-compression engines, turbochargers, and other high-performance aspects.
Not using premium won't necessarily hurt your engine
, but you could lose some of the performance of that premium engine you paid for if you use regular or midgrade gas.
Because premium gas has a higher octane rating than midgrade or regular gas, it produces a little more power when burnt. Designed for performance cars with large, powerful engines, premium also helps minimize the risk of preignition inside highly-stressed, hot engine cylinders.
What happens if you put 93 instead of 87?
If you usually fill your tank up with 87-octane gasoline and you accidentally put in a higher octane blend (say, 91, 92, or 93), don't worry. You're actually
filling your car or truck with a different blend of gas
, which means it will burn differently in your engine.
“Use premium unleaded gasoline with
a posted octane rating of 91 or higher
. If the octane rating is less than 91, you could damage the engine and may void your vehicle warranty. … Some manufacturers recommend premium gas but say that regular or mid-grade gas can be used instead.
Sadly,
there's nothing in premium gasoline that would make it last longer than other fuels from the pump
. Since the distinguishing feature is the higher-octane levels, the only real benefit you gain is lowering the chance of engine knocking, which isn't much of a threat on most modern fuel systems.
The main difference with premium is
its octane rating
— 91 or higher compared with 87 for regular octane. The higher octane gives premium gas greater resistance to early fuel ignition, which can result in potential damage, sometimes accompanied by audible engine knocking or pinging. … Premium gas is not “stronger” gas.
No matter what you've heard,
premium-grade gasoline won't do more to clean deposits from your fuel injectors
or other parts of the fuel system because today's regular gas contains the same detergent additives. … They perform best when fed premium fuel.
Which gas is better 87 89 or 93?
Regular gas is rated at 87 octane
in most states, while premium gas is often rated higher at 91 or 93. … Essentially, the higher the octane rating, the lower the likelihood that detonation happens at the wrong time. On occasion, this occurrence will likely not harm your vehicle.
Can the wrong gas mess up your car?
Typically, although there are some variations among engines, putting a higher-octane gas into your car than it requires will neither help nor hurt your car's performance. … This mistake
should not cause any major damage to
your car – just be sure to pick the correct octane gasoline next time you fill up.
- Buick Envision (with 2.0L turbo)
- Buick Regal (all models)
- Buick Regal TourX (all models)
- Chevrolet Equinox (with 2.0-L turbo)
- Chevrolet Malibu (with 2.0-L turbo)
- Fiat 500L (all models)
- GMC Terrain (with 2.0-L turbo)
- Honda Civic (with 1.5-L turbo)
- BP.
- Chevron.
- Conoco.
- Costco.
- Exxon.
- Holiday.
- Kwik Trip.
- Mobil.
Why is topping off bad?
Huddleston says topping off
can cause gas to spill onto the ground
, causing harmful effects to the environment and people's health. If you damage your car's vapor recovery system, it won't be able to effectively do its job of protecting people from harmful vapors.
