How to Choose the Right Fuel for Your Car

A number of fuel grades, octanes and additives are now available at most gas stations. Which ones are right for you?

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Owner's Manuals

1. Check your owner's manual to find out what fuel is recommended. Regular unleaded's 87 octane rating is fine for most modern cars.

2. Save your money and stick with regular unleaded unless another grade is suggested.

3. Use high octane fuel in motorcycles, luxury and high performance vehicles, which usually require premium grades. Check your owners manual for specific recommendations.

4. High octane fuel is not only used for high performance cars, but also for cars with smaller engines that generate more horsepower through high compression. These engines require high octane fuel so that predetonation doesn't occur, which can permanently destroy the pistons.

Tips & Warnings

• Basically, the higher the octane content (regular is only 87, as mentioned above), the higher the performance. Indeed, there are three "grades" of fuel for passenger cars, unleaded, super unleaded and premium unleaded.
• Fill your tank completely at busy gas stations, where the fuel supply is frequntly replenished. This can prevent you from getting a bad tank of gas.
• The type of fuel that is recommended for a car is calculated into the way the engine is designed and should therefore not be substituted for a gasoline with a lower grade.
• Using a lower grade fuel than required will most likely void any warranty on the car.

[QuackJack]

on 9/11/2008 Good article. I recently added a water vaporizer to a 77 Chevy that hated 87 octane. Now it performs like it has 89 octane in it without having to dish out more money at the gas station.

[MetroWestBoston]

on 1/4/2008 I like the comment about NOT getting fuel while the station is refueling. It's true! I've seen the junk in some cars filler neck where it can take a second or two for the last bit to get past the restrictor for unleaded nozzles only. Here, Sunoco once universally used water separating fuel filters at the pumps that would about stop flowing when clogged and were routinely replaced. That should be mandatory at all fueling stations. It solved that problem.

on 12/9/2005 Get fuel as early in the morning as possible. Fuel expands, and the warmer it is, the thinner the liquid fuel is because the heat will create more vapors. By fueling when it is coolest during the day, you will get more liquid fuel than vapors.

on 11/22/2005 Never gas up at a station while a fuel
tanker is unloading. This stirs up sediment in the tanks and it goes in yours.

on 11/22/2005 If you have a car with a turbo enigine you will want to use 91 octane or higher.