premium gas

[jfpty5]

I have a '97 camaro ss and have been using regualr gas since I bought it a few months ago. I noticed the other day that the manual and a sticker on the gas door calls for premium gasoline. I have not had any problems running regular gasoline and prefer not to switch to premium due to the higher price. What do the other ss owners use? Can using regualr cause any problems down the road?

[goldz28]

I have a 98 z28, I run premium but that is just me.

[SG007]

Nope just make sure you change your fuel filter every so often and you should be fine. It's just a higher octane fuel...you wouldn't notice a big difference in using it unless your car was majorly modded.

[poormillionaire2]

I run premium too for my 94 Z.
With a 97 SS, you definately need to run premium, at least mid-grade. The higher octane gas is recommended because of the higher comp. ratio on the LT1 engine. If you use regular, there is a better chance of detonation and a better change of wearing something out quicker or breaking something quickly. You may not have problems now, but why wait till something breaks before you change?
If gas price patterns are anything like around here, premium is only .20 more than regular, so you are only paying $2 more per 10 gallons of gas. Small price to pay for a higher octane rating.

[ZL1power69]

yea run atleast midgrade to reduce the risk of possible issues in the long run. cheap insurance if u ask me.

[DeusEx]

there was just a really big report done around here by some news places saying how most gases around here at the pumps werent even premium when you thought you were getting it, you dont always know what your getting out of the pump basicly is what im saying anyway

[stieh2000]

I thought that the LT1s were ok to run on regular, or at least if you wer'ent abusing the engine.

[cuda_dude]

I'd run premium. It is calling for premium gas because that's what the cars computer is programed to run on. With a higher octane it can get more performance out of the car without having to worry about detonation.

[poormillionaire2]

With the reverse-flow cooling, GM decided to take advantage and up the comp. ratio on the LT1 to 10.5:1. Running regular gas is IMO a big risk just to save a couple bucks at the pump.

[Savage Messiah]

I run premium in my v6, but that's because I have the high and low octane tables tuned to completely optimize the higher octane, timing wise

[cuda_dude]

The manual "recomends" premium but it also says you can run mid or 87 grades so I doubt you will hurt anything other than your performance or gas mileage

[Morley]

You can run any grade of fuel but if you run regular the PCM will retard the timing (low octane routine programmed into the PCM). As soon as any pinging is detected the PCM switches over to the low octane settings to prevent damage to the engine. It will recheck every so often while you are driving to see if it will ping with the "normal" timing tables in use and switch back to them if no further signs of detonation are detected.....one of the true benefits of OBD II.

[Earlsfat]

Running 11:1 on 93+ ... However it's been down because I'm rewiring it and that just happened to be when the prices went really crazy so I guess I can't really complain.

[wrightz28]

Hey jim, did factor the wires in to make a he worlds first 1970 454 hybrd?

Couldn't hold back man,.

cheers im outta here after my last minute apointment that just called, "I'm on my way, when do you lcose your office?"

12 minutes hun, and my beer waites for no-one.

[Earlsfat]

Originally Posted by wrightz28

Hey jim, did factor the wires in to make a he worlds first 1970 454 hybrd?

Lmao... NAH... with all this fancy welding I'm learning I'm putting a trap door in the floor boards so I can do a Fred Flintstone for when the gas prices get outta whack again.