the search button is your friend.

 

yeah I'd like to see that dyno graph.

 

But you ain't...

 

Most of the reflash's claim better mileage, becuase the main thing they do is increase the timing advance and lean the fuel mixture. for me the mileage would go down because I wouldn't be able to keep my foot out of it.

 

If you get a beautiful car for the cheap like this (WHAT A FIND!) then why wouldn't you put in the good stuff... ???

I paid more than most for my SRT6 (only $9k off the sticker) and I ALWAYS put in the best I can find. I even was able to put in some good 102 octane during a cross country drive... felt really smooth.

Any knocking in an engine is BAD... no matter how well the computer compensates after the first knock, you have still put all the components under higher stress by allowing a knock to occur.

Friends don't let friends destroy their engines...

 

My other car is an '03 Altima SE with the 3.5
I installed custom exhaust, and cold air intake.

I recently replaced a sensor, which was screwing up my variable timing.
Needless to say, it has way more power.
I think I'm around the 240 hp mark
I have a readout that displays MPG (actually Litres/100 kilometers)
so I can see first hand the difference driving sedentary vs. stepping into it.
It can range from 35 MPG down to 20 MPG
I have put premium fuel in when the price wasnt at a premium however it doesn't make that big of a difference if any, to warrant the cost. I guess the compression ratio isnt high enough to warrant the octane boost.

'05 Roadster LE with GPS Nav.

 

OK... I have had a remap and used 89 and well it ran like ahh ahh ok crap!
I have seen many questions about this and don't understand,
A - use regular and your car runs like crap and the mpg goes to crap or
B - use the good stuff and your car runs great and you have good mpg
Less mpg = more fuel = more $ that totals NO SAVINGS !
I'm not sure, let me think bout it...


(By the way, the time I put 89 in I had a brain fa*t and did it by mistake).

 

Damn , you beat me to it . I was thinking the same thing.

One can certainly put cheaper fuel and even cheaper oil in the car than what the manual recommends but I'm feeding mine the best. She's definitely worth it ... Lower octane has many adverse effects on an engine , knock is just the one you can sense.

 

I thought the 3.5 Altima had 280 hp?

 

I'm confused by all of this concern about the cost of premium gas. Let's assume you fill your tank once a week with 10 gallons of gas. That means you have spent $2 more than if you had been able to fill it with regular. So, if you fill your tank every week for one year as mentioned, you have spent $104 more because of the premium gas. But let's go nuts and say you use twice that amount of gas. Oh my God! Now you've spent $208 more a year on gas. Whooptie-do. Man, this car is worth every damn penny. I pity the poor fools who can't use premium gas on their loser, regular-gas-using jalopies. Crossfires rock!

 

What about the traveler who pulls off the highway in areas with few gas stations and find for example: 87 octane $3.00, 89 octane $3.35 and 91 octane $3.95, or there is no Premium fuel available. Trust me that I have seen pricing like this right here in Virginia. Do we want to give our hard earned bucks to lousy businesses like this, I don't!

So the question is can we fill with the cheaper gas and not harm the vehicle regardless of the loss in performance. My opinion is YES, you can put lower octane fuel in the car without damage. You may experience lower performance but as long as you keep your accelerations to a fuel economic level there will be no harm to the engine or sensing system.

I have filled my SRT-6 with lesser fuel on several occasions when the fuel stop was ripping off higher octane buyers. I have put 10,000 miles in 6 months on my car and on the occasions that I have been forced to use lesser fuel I have noticed no reduction in economic driving capability, no loss in mileage and no engine noise of any kind; I am the type of person who checks my oil, cleans the windows and calculates fuel mileage at every fill.

I do not recommend that anyone use lesser octane fuels in their car as a daily practice, as it has been show that it is not cost effective and could cause damage if you are out trying to push the car to it's maximum peformance levels. However, to keep from being ripped off or stranded, you should not be afraid to use the fuel that is available when you need to. Just remember to easy your accelerations as if you were driving an econo box and you will be fine.

 

Some toppics are worthy of re-visiting.

 

Are those Shell gas stations you mention? They are ran by communists. On 9/11 they jacked their prices up far higher than anyone else in Indianapolis and said they had corporate approval to do it. I will not stop at a Shell gas station to this day.

 

SHELL is the one that I see with consistant higher octain over pricing!

 

If you drive it like a grandma you won't notice much of anything. I accidently filled mine with regualar and noticed a lack of performance as soon as I got into the gas a little harder. As soon as you put the engine under a heavier load it will detect knocking (before you hear it) and retard the ignition. Retarding the ignition will reduce mileage and performance. Are cars are farily light, so they will handle the lower octance better than the same engine ina heavy sedan. If you drive it real easy you will prbably not notice anything. I personally can't be trusted to drive any car that easy so I need to stay away from regualr gas. I wouldn't worry about using regualr ocassionally but using the knock sensors to adjust to lower octane is not very smart.

 

I knew it! Stay away from that evil corporation.

 

Things I have learned from this thread thus far:

1. Don't put crappy gas in precious Crossfire.
2. Don't buy Shell gasoline.

 

I would never use anything but at least 91 octane in the car but my old 98 Elantra had more horsepower per litre, the same or more torque per litre, did it with one less plug per cylinder on regular gas. Frankly, for all the technology that Mercedes is known for it's really not a great engine.

 

WTF? You're not seriously trying to compare the engine in a little turd car to the M-112 are you? They're not even in the same league, pal.


Sheesh...

 

I think what ALG is trying to say is that there are a lot of car engines out there that put out more HP per Liter with one spark plug and run on "regular fuel" and are not considered High Performance engines. The horsepower output of the NA MB engine is nothing to write home about. (although it's plenty enough for me)