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Termyn8or -> RE: Regular Gas mistaken for premium (4/18/2010 2:46:43 AM)
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OK, octane ratings differ from brand to brand. somewhere there is a printed minimum octane rating. Older high perfomance cars were tuned for premium, and using regular would induce ping and/or after run. But this does not happen with newer cars.
Newer computer controlled cars adjust themselves to the octane of the fuel, and whatever the minimum is is because of the range to which the system can adjust. In older cars with too low octane you still had the power and even the mileage, but it could cause minor engine damage over time. This is not likely today.
However, most EC systems respond to lower octane fuel by lowering the timing advance, and that will affect performance as well as mileage. So if the system functions correctly, the car will not be quite as quick and will burn the fuel more quickly if all other things are equal. If it is turbo or super charged, you might actually need the higher octane fuel because the parameters are different. It doesn't use a MAP sensor in that case, it needs to have a MAF sensor instead. At that point it really can't tell just how efficient the fuel is, so errors may occur, and that could concievably cause some engine damage over time, which a qualified mechanic can tell by the wear pattern of the rod bearings, but that would not be discovered until and unless a full rebuild is done on the engine.
In any case, with a modern computer controlled engine the main thing usually is that all a too low octane fuel can do really is to burn up the exhaust valves prematurely, and that happens quite rarely. Usually it takes years for this damage to become a problem. One tank of shitty gas is not going to do it.
So don't sweat it.
T
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