Regular gas or Premium gas????

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My family's new 2009 Montana van is our 2nd vehicle. Its primary use is a backup (re: our other vehicle is our "run about" / daily commute vehicle), it does `long haul` fast hiway trips with entire family or used for the odd trailer towing need. Thus, our mini-van gets `at most` 20,000 kms per year. Yes - that little mileage per year. Being a 3.9L VVT engine, its rated for Regular Unlead gas. Due gas being within its tank for 30-60+ days, is it better to use Premium gas instead? re: I read somewhere that Premium gas has better additives. Thus, can hold its "shelf life" much longer then Normal Regular Unlead gas.

re: "Gasoline must be 89 octane or higher octane. Premium gasoline has greater amounts of detergents and anti-oxidizing additives to keep the engines clean. Poor gas will build-up varnish, gum and tar deposits on the piston surface and ring grooves shorten the life of the engine." from: http://www.jacksrepairsales.com/OilFuelStabilizers.htm


From your "real world" experience, is it better to use Regular Unlead or Premium Unlead gas in my new van's gas tank? Or, does it really matter at all? Just wondering from your "real world" opinion. thanks.


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he's wrong!

google octane ratings

if your vehicle requires regular, then use regular

instead of going to a premium gas octane, use something called a FUEL stabilizer

that will keep your fuel fresh in the tank for up to a year

http://toolmonger.com/2006/12/05/finds-sta-bil/

http://toolmonger.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/stabil.jpg

i use this for storing my motorcycle and small sports car that i use sparingly when i don't need to lug my kids w/ me

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Thanks Racebike.

As suggested, I did perform a web search, dropped its bottom 10% data, dropped its top 10% data and quickly looked at 80% of obtained data. This "average range" data seems to share the same "theme".

The recommedation of:
- If an engine is rated to use Regular gas, use Regular gas. (like in today's average auto engines).
- If an engine is rated to use Premium, then use Premium. (like in high compression performance engines).
Note: There's exceptions to these Rules (like towing heavy loads through high elevation moutains) but as general rules, most found search string hits share the same theme. re: Regular gas for regular engine. And performance gas for performance / `high compression` engine.

Two specific URLs that come to mind are:
- http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2565/whats-the-difference-between-premium-and-regular-gas
- http://www.jackphelps.com/frontier/dyno2.htm
These 2 drill downs are worth reading as well.

From a "shelf life out of a gas pump" perspective, some folks specify 14 days, some say 30 days and others say up to 6 months. Thus, why Stablizers (like your posted product) is recommended when one gas can has a AFTER 3+ months "out of pump" date stamp. For one article, it states that perhaps 50% of gas within gas stations are even sub-standard. Meaning, their gas is already past its "best before date" even before being pumped into a purchaser's gas can. For more details, surf: http://theepicenter.com/tow021799.html

Thanks for suggesting I perform a Web Search on "shelf life" or "Regular vs premium" search strings. There sure is lots of different posts within these subject areas. For more supporting details, looks like I'll be reading for long time on these 2 subjects.

Based on new "quick overview" knowledge, my new conclusion is: Putting Premium gas into a Regular gas rated "new technology" engine (like today's 3.9 VVT) is NOT financially worth it. Isn't worth it from a shelf life extension perspective, worth it from performance gain perspective and worth it from engine proactive knock elimination perspective. This "old dog" can be taught a new trick (or two). Giant smile.

Many thanks for suggesting I do more research via Web Search....

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nice reply!

yes, my motorcycle is a high-compression engine... so it needs 91 octane

while my car only requires 87 octane to run

nevertheless, use fuel stabil on both since they don't see daily use (well, except for the motorcycle in the summer months) & fuel will not degrade over time!

RV section will also confirm that