Fraud Tip of the Day - June 2

Is Premium gas worth the expense?

Many people believe putting premium, high grade gasoline in their car's gas tank will keep its engine clean, makes it faster and helps it get better gas mileage, but considering the high price of gas, is this belief justified? Is premium gas worth the money?

The difference in gas grades

First, we're going to talk about the difference in the gas grades you see at most gas station so that you know what you're pumping into your car. Most gas stations have three grades of gas, regular unleaded, premium and something between regular and premium often referred to as midgrade. We're going to ignore diesel, bio fuels and the like since they lie beyond the scope of this article. Usually, the higher the fuel grade, the higher the octane.

What does "Octane" mean?

Octane is a measure of how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. When gas ignites due to compression instead of a spark plug's spark, an engine "knock" occurs. By "knock" we mean a literal knocking sound that comes from the engine. Low-grade "regular" gas ignites with the least amount of compression. Higher octane allows gas to compress more than regular which results in more horsepower.

So why aren't we all using higher octane fuels?

Only engines with higher compression ratios take advantage of higher octane gas. These engines are designed this way to increase their horsepower. These are "high performance" engines and cars that have them are the only ones requiring higher octane fuel. These vehicles actually need premium gas and they will perform much better with it.

Octane is thought to give a vehicle additional horsepower by some but the engine's size and design are what makes the car go faster. This performance won't come cheap since premium gas fetches a premium price every time you fill up.

Can you save money using premium instead of regular gas?

You won't benefit from using premium gas in a car designed for regular. You won't get better gas mileage and you won't go any faster. You'll just end up spending more money.

Does Premium gas have more detergent than other grades?

Some claim that premium grade gas has more cleaning detergent than other grades. This belief is not backed by the facts. The truth is that every grade of gas has detergent. Too much detergent, some say, can actually damage your car. Either way, if you justify your use of premium gas because you think it keeps your engine clean you should rethink it.

The bottom line is: check your car's owner manual for the definitive answer to the question of what grade gas you should use.

If your owner's manual says to use premium gas, use it!

You might damage your engine if you try to save money by using the lowest grade fuel. So fuel your car with whatever grade is recommended for your car. On the other hand, using higher octane gas than your car requires accomplishes nothing.