Do you stop using premium fuel at $4 gallon? $5?
#41
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#43
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Perth Ontario Canada
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OK, my 2 cents....
The other thing I noticed, since I used cheap fuel, is that a catalytic converter died in my car at about 60 to 65k miles. Very strange.. I think the cheap fuel with ethanol in it was the culprit. So, I changed to a "better" brand that claimed they use very little ethanol.
let the flaming begin... LOL
The other thing I noticed, since I used cheap fuel, is that a catalytic converter died in my car at about 60 to 65k miles. Very strange.. I think the cheap fuel with ethanol in it was the culprit. So, I changed to a "better" brand that claimed they use very little ethanol.
let the flaming begin... LOL
The failure of your catalytic perverter would not have been due to presence of the ethanol in E10 or lower octane levels. For all it's other failings E10 is actually kinder and gentler fuel on cats than gasoline. I can only presume that your difficulties were just a coinkydink. All my cars and other toys have had a steady diet of E10 since day one with no problems.
On another favourite topic- there is no correlation between octane levels and 'quality' of fuels. Given that the vast majority of vehicles here run on regular (87ish) octane gas, and that there's no real relevant mechanical differences between a low perf motor and a high perf., why don't the low perf cars suffer from issues if the 'quality' of the fuel was inadequate?
As a classic example- remember that the fuel injectors are OUTSIDE of the combustion chambers and upstream of the intake valves. They have no idea what's going on downstream, and couldn't care less. Why do they not clog on low perf cars using 87 octane fuel, but supposedly would on a high perf. car when fueled with the same 87 octane 'low quality fuel'?
#44
OK, my 2 cents....
I trust users like Mikey because of their vast experience in this kind of stuff. Like he has said in general, you won't kill your motor running lower octane fuel.. BUT... Here is my experience. I only ran what was recommended for my 3.0 when I had it. I will admit that I tried lower octane once.. and though I thought it was down on performance..that was probably just a mind trick. What I did measure was a reduction in fuel economy. So, any savings gained with a lower per gallon cost was eliminated by an increase in consumption. So, back to premium I went. The other thing I noticed, since I used cheap fuel, is that a catalytic converter died in my car at about 60 to 65k miles. Very strange.. I think the cheap fuel with ethanol in it was the culprit. So, I changed to a "better" brand that claimed they use very little ethanol.
I trust users like Mikey because of their vast experience in this kind of stuff. Like he has said in general, you won't kill your motor running lower octane fuel.. BUT... Here is my experience. I only ran what was recommended for my 3.0 when I had it. I will admit that I tried lower octane once.. and though I thought it was down on performance..that was probably just a mind trick. What I did measure was a reduction in fuel economy. So, any savings gained with a lower per gallon cost was eliminated by an increase in consumption. So, back to premium I went. The other thing I noticed, since I used cheap fuel, is that a catalytic converter died in my car at about 60 to 65k miles. Very strange.. I think the cheap fuel with ethanol in it was the culprit. So, I changed to a "better" brand that claimed they use very little ethanol.
I tried running the Sunoco 93 octane ultra a couple of times just to see if I noticed any difference in performance or economy. I didn't notice any difference in performance. When I tried measuring economy, it seemed everytime I tried it, there was an accident or other snarl in my commute route. I couldn't get a good reading. Switching back to the mid-grade didn't seem to improve the accident rate though.
#45
Deep breath, final thoughts:
All gasolines are NOT equal, octane is what really sets them apart.
Octane measures the ability of a fuel to resist detonation (knock).
Excessive detonation may eventually create the conditions for pre-ignition.
Detonation can cause long-term damage, pre-ignition can kill an engine in seconds.
When the ECU detects knock and adjusts the timing to avoid damage, there is a loss of efficiency and mileage.
Not a good idea to use gas with a lower octane than Jaguar recommends.
Not necessarily fatal either - if you drive the car like Miss Daisy you might even be able to get away with kerosene.
..and be careful with methanol – it is corrosive and should not exceed 3% (Jaguar manual).
I'm off to tickle an otter…
All gasolines are NOT equal, octane is what really sets them apart.
Octane measures the ability of a fuel to resist detonation (knock).
Excessive detonation may eventually create the conditions for pre-ignition.
Detonation can cause long-term damage, pre-ignition can kill an engine in seconds.
When the ECU detects knock and adjusts the timing to avoid damage, there is a loss of efficiency and mileage.
Not a good idea to use gas with a lower octane than Jaguar recommends.
Not necessarily fatal either - if you drive the car like Miss Daisy you might even be able to get away with kerosene.
..and be careful with methanol – it is corrosive and should not exceed 3% (Jaguar manual).
I'm off to tickle an otter…
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Not to hijack the thread away from the octane wars (heard Costco was best for AZ), but $5.00 a gallon gas equals US recession. Without writing a novel, everything you own is transported to you, therefore your commute is not the only thing that goes up ~ everything you pay for will increase. So $5.00 a gallon gas for the US will make for a very interesting world.
#49
jeff,
i tried running the sunoco 93 octane ultra a couple of times just to see if i noticed any difference in performance or economy. I didn't notice any difference in performance. When i tried measuring economy, it seemed everytime i tried it, there was an accident or other snarl in my commute route. I couldn't get a good reading. switching back to the mid-grade didn't seem to improve the accident rate though.
i tried running the sunoco 93 octane ultra a couple of times just to see if i noticed any difference in performance or economy. I didn't notice any difference in performance. When i tried measuring economy, it seemed everytime i tried it, there was an accident or other snarl in my commute route. I couldn't get a good reading. switching back to the mid-grade didn't seem to improve the accident rate though.
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Don't hate me for taking a slightly different stance. I work for a company that services the oil & gas industry. The more fuel sold, the more created, the higher the prices go, it's all good for our sales. The more demand and higher prices just seem to increase our sales of support equipment. I pay whateve crazy price necessary for premium fuel and embrace it as job security. i suppose I'm part or the problem and not the solution.
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Here are prices around the world... this is an old graph, not today's numbers
And here is a graph showing taxes on gasoline around the world (notice the US is on the bottom). Again, this is from a while back...
OK, I know the graphs I put up from the internet are a little dated... I wasn't looking for current accuracy, but more something to illustrate the situation.
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Lanny (01-13-2013)
#59
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So you're saying that low octane gas caused a dsc and park brake fault? I see no connection, sorry.