Premium vs. Mid Grade

D

deadbugdug

Registered
Recent debate in my household:

I always have and will put premium gas in my '94 Mark VIII. The Mrs. is crying over the current gas prices and INSISTS I start using midgrade. I tell her that a dime more isn't going to kill us. She insists that my car is "old" and with over 200,000 miles, it don't need premium now, and besides, the gas gauge has printed on it "premium RECOMMENDED" (but not imperitave, she contends). Of course I think I know better, but alas, being married to her makes me the last person she'll believe.

So help me out here -- can I go to midgrade with no ill-effects, or shall I stand my ground with a "better safe than sorry" approach?

P.S.
I haven't done any HP upgrades on this motor (yet), so that won't be a factor. Still trying to save up the $14k to buy a "5.0 Cammer" motor (Ok, tomorrow is April Fool's.)

Thanks.............
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

There are some members that are using midgrade. If it is going to calm "her" down. Use it and see what happens, if the car idles rough or you feel a lack of power, you should use premium, but if there is no difference, hey why not?
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

Run a couple tanks of midgrade and see what happens to gas mileage. I found in my '94 (never checked with my '97) that if i ran midgrade or regular gas, fuel mileage suffered enough that i wasn't saving any money anyway.
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

I run midgrade - but I think I agree with Sleeper's estimate. When I run the good stuff - I notice an increase in MPG - but with that said - I never ran the numbers to see where the break even point was.

Paying $1.98 for midgrade today was bad enough - I couldn't take $2.04 for the hot blend.

I didn't even top off the tank at $30 bucks - Sheesh!!!
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

...
Paying $1.98 for midgrade today was bad enough - I couldn't take $2.04 for the hot blend.
...
Click to expand...

$2.04 -$1.98 = $0.06

$0.06 per gallon * 18 gallons/tank = $1.08 savings per tank

1 mpg * 18 gallons = 18 miles

18 miles = $1.98 at 18mpg

$1.08 savings - $1.98 loss of fuel mileage = $0.90

You lose.;)
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

I know... but $2.00+ a gallon??!!?!?! This is America!!!! We don't pay no 2 bucks a gallon for nothing but Canadian Club!
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

...
Paying $1.98 for midgrade today was bad enough - I couldn't take $2.04 for the hot blend.
...
Click to expand...

$2.04 -$1.98 = $0.06

$0.06 per gallon * 18 gallons/tank = $1.08 savings per tank

1 mpg * 18 gallons = 18 miles

18 miles = $1.98 at 18mpg

$1.08 savings - $1.98 loss of fuel mileage = $0.90

You lose.;)
Click to expand...

$1.08 savings per tank assuming 6 fillups a month will save you UNDER $100 a YEAR. Not worth it in my opinion. That $0.06 cents a gallon sure sounds like a big difference though. I just got done convincing my Dad that premium is not gonna "kill me".
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

If you drive 20,000 a year and get around 20mpg, a savings of 10¢ a gallon will save you $100 a year or about 27¢ a day. That's about what 1 cigarette costs now a days.

My wife will spend $1 in gas driving to the cheapest gas station in the county to save 50¢ on her gas purchase. :-(

http://members.tccoa.com/lastmrk/Images/lastmrk2.jpg
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

My wife will spend $1 in gas driving to the cheapest gas station in the county to save 50¢ on her gas purchase.
Click to expand...

MY wife will spend whatever it takes driving to the one gas station in the county that will pump her gas!
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

I say to hell with it, just start drilling in Alaska and start burning the stuff we have in Texas and Mexico. To hell with catalytic converters (high sulfur in mexican and texas oil doesn't work with current emissions controls). We have the capability of drastically reducing, if not completely eliminating our dependance on foriegn oil, the only thing stopping us is the damn tree huggers.
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

My wife will spend $1 in gas driving to the cheapest gas station in the county to save 50¢ on her gas purchase.
Click to expand...

MY wife will spend whatever it takes driving to the one gas station in the county that will pump her gas!
Click to expand...


Tell her to move to NJ, no self serve allowed here, all full serve.
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade



[/quote]


Tell her to move to NJ, no self serve allowed here, all full serve.

[/quote]

Say what??? I haven't seen a full service station for years?
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

My wife will spend $1 in gas driving to the cheapest gas station in the county to save 50¢ on her gas purchase.
Click to expand...

MY wife will spend whatever it takes driving to the one gas station in the county that will pump her gas!
Click to expand...


Tell her to move to NJ, no self serve allowed here, all full serve.
Click to expand...

Same story in Oregon, despite repeated efforts to get the law changed. If people started pumping their own gas, the unemployment rate here probably would jump to close to 10% !
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

My wife will spend $1 in gas driving to the cheapest gas station in the county to save 50¢ on her gas purchase.
Click to expand...

MY wife will spend whatever it takes driving to the one gas station in the county that will pump her gas!
Click to expand...


Tell her to move to NJ, no self serve allowed here, all full serve.
Click to expand...

Same story in Oregon, despite repeated efforts to get the law changed. If people started pumping their own gas, the unemployment rate here probably would jump to close to 10% !
Click to expand...

Yea, here the people who pump your gas call themselves petroleum transfer engineers. I believe NJ and OR are the only 2 states with the no pumping your own gas law. The good thing is here the price is the same as most self serve in other states.
 
RE: Premium vs. Mid Grade

gas is $.14 (14 cents) a gallon somewhere in venezuela. i may have the location wrong but they drill their own oil and their residence get awesome prices.
 
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