Does it take premium?

[akboss]

Question. Is there a place where I can search any make/model/year of car and find out if it takes premium or regular grade gasoline? This is a major factor in the overall cost of ownership of a car, and it seems especially in the entry-lux category there are a number of cars that require premium fuel.

This is an interesting phenomenon because typically North American carmakers offer luxury cars that run on regular-grade (87) octane, while it is typical for high performance imports to require mid or premium grade gas. So while your mileage on a 3.0L BMW engine might look great, it actually costs less to run your Cadillac CTS with a 3.6L V6.