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Is High Octane Premium Gas Worth an Extra $200 per Year?

By: Scott Siegel Is it really worth $208.00 extra expense per year to use premium? Can you get better mileage with premium? Can you get better fuel economy with premium gas? Does your car run better with premium gas?

The cost difference between regular gas and premium is generally about twenty cents per gallon. That means filling up a 20 gallon tank will cost $4.00 more if you fill with premium instead of regular. If you fill your car once a week the premium will cost you $208.00 more than regular over the course of a year.

Let's look at the increase in fuel economy question first. The plain and simple answer is absolutely not, higher octane gas does not effect fuel economy at all. The octane number is a rating that has nothing to do with how efficient it is in moving your car.

Octane rating is a number that represents the amount of isooctane in the fuel opposed to the amount of heptane in the fuel. In simpler words it is a measurement that represents how much energy it takes to burn that gas. The octane number has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of energy the gas puts out, which would effect fuel economy. So the final answer is octane rating has absolutely nothing to do with increased fuel economy.

The next question, does premium gas make your car gain performance, does it run better? The answer is the same as the fuel economy answer, no!! It has been shown that there is no significant difference in the way your car runs if you use premium gasoline.

I must add this one caveat, having said there is no performance gain, it is possible your car could show an increase of a little more horsepower with premium than with regular gas but it would be very hard for you to notice the difference. This slight possibility only allows car makers a little extra marketing advantage by using this claim on higher horsepower as part of their advertising.

By designing and tuning engines to take advantage of premium's anti-knock properties, it allows automakers to market their cars with a few more horsepower. Auto engineers generally agree that if you use regular in a premium engine, the power loss is so slight, that it is very hard to detect.

Will you harm your car or void your warranty if your car manufacturer recommends that you use high octane gas? Most automakers say using regular gas even when your owner's guide says to use premium gas won't void the warranty. Most automakers also say that using regular will not damage the engine.

The next time you go to the gas station, use regular gas instead of premium gas. The immediate benefit:you will save $4.00 on the spot. Notice how your car runs with the regular. If it performs OK and if you do not hear any knocking then continue to use lower octane gas. You could find yourself saving over $200.00 per year!

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

Scott Siegel has written a 143 page book of automotive industry insider secrets on saving gas and money at the pump. Visit us to discover how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.
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