Yahoo Finance use regular vs premium

[03mara300b]

There is an article on Yahoo Finance this morning that states you can use regular in a vehicle that is recommended to use premium only. It states the the " the sensors will detect regular and adjust the spark timing and the result will be a reduction in horsepower you will never notice."... I wonder if this is true? I will never use regular in mine. Sounds like bad advice to me. Wait till some one reads this and pumps regular to save $ 4.00 on a tank and pings the hell out of their motor.

[sd8683]

I wouldn't trust using regular at all, there's a reason why its required to use premium and its not to gain a few horsepower

[magindat]

It would work in closed loop, but in open loop (WOT), buh-bye motor!!!

[Ozz]

Yea, I'm pretty sure we have knock sensors that retard timing when knock is detected. Not sure if it would work at WOT though. When you're already paying $4 a gallon, what's another $3 for premium???

[FordNut]

I'll bet the author of the Yahoo article won't pay for replacing a blown engine when the warranty refuses a claim due to the owner not following the manufacturer's recommendations...

[Vortex]

I wouldnt trust running regular in a high compression all aluminium block engine, especially to save what, $1.00 total at the pump. Your choice.

[ctrlraven]

I know a few people that have cars that require 91 octane or better but it even says in their manual that they can run a lower octane IF THEY UNDERSTAND it degrades the performance of the vehicle. lol

My Mustang is costing me $25 per 100 miles traveled.
My Marauder is costing me $23 per 100 miles traveled.

[whd507]

what about the other end of the spectrum? am OBDII car that is capable of advancing past regular fuel will get better mileage on premium, than regular. despite the high cost per gallon, the spread between grades is still ten cents per grade in most places. when gas was $1 a gallon, it was 20% more for premium, so it would need to get 20% better mileage to break even. but with $3.5 gallon gas, the 20 cent increase is only 7% higher, and most North American OBDII fords will detect premium, and advance the ignition further, gaining better than 7% additional mileage. my 1996 E-350 351 will get 10 MPG on regular, yet get 14 MPG on premium, that a 40% increase in mileage for 7% additional cost. a bargain if you ask me. my 96 Bronco does similar, my 94 OBDI bronco does less, but does react somewhat, moot point as it now has a chip, and requires 91. my 95 TC says it will use regular, but does much better on premium as well.

pretty much only the F-600 and the lawnmowers use regular. everything else is either OBDII, or 10.0-1 compression, and does need premium.

[justbob]

What i don't understand is that it was ruffly 98/1.08/1.18 cents a gallon when i started driving and now it is 3.99/4.09/4.19. Why has the upgrade noy gone up in percentage? Has the cost of the additive never gone up? I find that hard to believe. My other question why the hell would you run anything but premium if the total cost is about $4.00 extra? In a 18 gallon tank back then it would cost you about 18.00 or an astounding 22.00 but now your looking at 72.00 vs, 76.00 who cares about that kind of a difference? Now i know some people drive the wheels off there cars and would see a savings, but a big savings on the majority of cars out there wouldn't happen. Hell i'm even putting 91 in my lawn mower.