Octane Levels
#1
08-12-2003 | 05:18 PM
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1st Gear
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From: Ottawa Canada
#3
08-13-2003 | 03:05 AM
5th Gear
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 964
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From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Hey Vik,
I posted a similar thread a couple of weeks ago (in the Hawaii regional section)...my car was pinging while using 89 octane. Someone told me to try it and my car really didn't seem to like it. The pinging went away when i went up to 91 octane.
Hopefully you're not paying $2.09+/gal like we are here in Hawaii...it really hurts my purse to be dishing out $25 or so to fill up...but as long as I'm not hurting my MC, it's all good!
I hope this helps!
I posted a similar thread a couple of weeks ago (in the Hawaii regional section)...my car was pinging while using 89 octane. Someone told me to try it and my car really didn't seem to like it. The pinging went away when i went up to 91 octane.
Hopefully you're not paying $2.09+/gal like we are here in Hawaii...it really hurts my purse to be dishing out $25 or so to fill up...but as long as I'm not hurting my MC, it's all good!
I hope this helps!
#4
08-13-2003 | 03:14 AM
OVERDRIVE - Racing Champion
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,260
Likes: 69
From: Mililani, Hawaii
Vik,
Aloha and welcome to MCO-
I use premium 91 octane in my MCS and if I had an MC I'd still use premium esp if I was going to keep the car.
Why not split every other tank premium and unleaded plus at 89 octane. Then it will be close to 90 octane and be not nearly as costly.
I tried all grades of gas in my MCS and I never heard any pinging with each tankfull.
Premium gives me better performance and better gas mileage which offsets the higher price.
Aloha and welcome to MCO-
I use premium 91 octane in my MCS and if I had an MC I'd still use premium esp if I was going to keep the car.
Why not split every other tank premium and unleaded plus at 89 octane. Then it will be close to 90 octane and be not nearly as costly.
I tried all grades of gas in my MCS and I never heard any pinging with each tankfull.
Premium gives me better performance and better gas mileage which offsets the higher price.
#5
08-13-2003 | 03:16 AM
There may be more threads about this on MCO than virtually any other non-Off-Topic subject. Or at least some of the longest threads... 
The book says 91 or better. It can be argued day and night whether your car will or will not respond negatively to continued use of lesser octane gas...but the facts remains that
1) the people who built the car say 91 or better
2) a number of owners have reported negative effects when using lower octane gas for extended periods
3) higher octane is buck or two more a tank at most. Do you want to mess with recommendations just to save a buck??
4) many modern, european-designed, engines require high octane gas (unlike their garden variety American counterparts)...see Audis, VWs, etc.
I think that aversion to 91 (or better) octane is something that happens if you've never bought it before. Go ahead, take the plunge, you'll get used to it quick.
The book says 91 or better. It can be argued day and night whether your car will or will not respond negatively to continued use of lesser octane gas...but the facts remains that
1) the people who built the car say 91 or better
2) a number of owners have reported negative effects when using lower octane gas for extended periods
3) higher octane is buck or two more a tank at most. Do you want to mess with recommendations just to save a buck??
4) many modern, european-designed, engines require high octane gas (unlike their garden variety American counterparts)...see Audis, VWs, etc.
I think that aversion to 91 (or better) octane is something that happens if you've never bought it before. Go ahead, take the plunge, you'll get used to it quick.
#6
08-13-2003 | 03:21 AM
>>Hopefully you're not paying $2.09+/gal like we are here in Hawaii...it really hurts my purse to be dishing out $25 or so to fill up...but as long as I'm not hurting my MC, it's all good!
>>
2.09 is steep (it's 1.75 avg here in MA)...but what's the next grade down? Maybe $1.85 (I'm guessing conservative. The real value is probably closer to 2.09). That means that it's costing just $2.64 PER TANK more to fill with the proper octane gas vs. the improper/not-recommended. If you buy a tank a week, that's around $120/year. Come on....
>>
2.09 is steep (it's 1.75 avg here in MA)...but what's the next grade down? Maybe $1.85 (I'm guessing conservative. The real value is probably closer to 2.09). That means that it's costing just $2.64 PER TANK more to fill with the proper octane gas vs. the improper/not-recommended. If you buy a tank a week, that's around $120/year. Come on....
#7
08-13-2003 | 02:30 PM
5th Gear
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 964
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From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Hey jsun,
By the way, thanks for the help with my ping questions before.
Premium gas (91 Octane, the "upper" one) is about $2.09 and for every grade lower it's about $0.10 cheaper. So 89 would be about $1.99, and so forth. So actually, it only costs me about $60 more per year to fill with the recommended gas.
Yeah, I guess it's not that bad....
By the way, thanks for the help with my ping questions before.
Premium gas (91 Octane, the "upper" one) is about $2.09 and for every grade lower it's about $0.10 cheaper. So 89 would be about $1.99, and so forth. So actually, it only costs me about $60 more per year to fill with the recommended gas.
Yeah, I guess it's not that bad....
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#8
08-13-2003 | 02:45 PM
3rd Gear
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
>>does it really need premium? I just have trouble beliving that because it's not a high compression engine and it does nto have the supercharger on it..
I'm not an automotive engineer and don't play one of TV but, interestingly enough, the compression ratio of the MINI Cooper exceeds that of the MINI Cooper S (10.6 versus 8.3) according to the owner's manual. Does that mean the S engine experience less stress if driven in the same manner or does the supercharger effectively raise that compression ratio when the engine is running?
I'll let some of the resident experts translate that to octane need in any case.
For me, the cost differences to burn premium are a small amount to pay in the overall cost of the car.
For example, let's say I'll keep the car for 4 years and drive it 100,000 miles. I'm getting 25 MPG in the city so worst case, I'll buy 4000 gallons of gas. If the price difference is $0.20 per gallon (and no, I have no idea what it really is since I haven't driven a car that burns regular in 8 years), that works out to only another $200 per year or $800 total. Not a huge amount of money for the most part.
I know... put the calculator down and step slowly away...
I'm not an automotive engineer and don't play one of TV but, interestingly enough, the compression ratio of the MINI Cooper exceeds that of the MINI Cooper S (10.6 versus 8.3) according to the owner's manual. Does that mean the S engine experience less stress if driven in the same manner or does the supercharger effectively raise that compression ratio when the engine is running?
I'll let some of the resident experts translate that to octane need in any case.
For me, the cost differences to burn premium are a small amount to pay in the overall cost of the car.
For example, let's say I'll keep the car for 4 years and drive it 100,000 miles. I'm getting 25 MPG in the city so worst case, I'll buy 4000 gallons of gas. If the price difference is $0.20 per gallon (and no, I have no idea what it really is since I haven't driven a car that burns regular in 8 years), that works out to only another $200 per year or $800 total. Not a huge amount of money for the most part.
I know... put the calculator down and step slowly away...
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