You’re standing at the gas pump and have three options of fuel to buy. They’re labeled with perhaps the numbers 87, 89, and 92 or the words, “Regular”, “Mid-grade”, or “Premium”. Premium has got to be better for your car, right – even though it’s a dollar more per gallon. Lucky for you, premium gasoline, the most expensive, is NOT typically helpful to your car, well unless you’re driving a high performance race car. The reason being has something to do with octane which is what is represented by the numbers on the pump for each grade of gasoline. Here is a scientific explanation about this whole situation from Joshua Frei, a bonafide chemical engineer who has been in the oil refinery business for 4 years and is a process control engineer at a major oil company. (I just had to get those qualifications in there so that you know that the info. you are about to receive is legit and reliable.)
” “Octane” at the gas pump is an indicator for how far an engine cylinder can compress without “knocking”. “Knocking” is when your car engine makes a pinging sound from auto-igniting (meaning the engine fuel combusts before the spark plug fires). Frequent knocking will damage your engine, but before you panic and think you should buy the highest octane gas, DON’T! Your car is designed to take a certain octane fuel. Higher octane fuels only benefit high performance engines that compress further. In other words, the lowest octane fuel your car is rated for is “good enough”, and buying higher octane is just a waste of money. Also, if you live in a higher altitude state, you can get away with gas that is slightly lower octane (for example 85 instead of 87) because atmospheric pressure is lower, meaning the fuel mixture has a lower tendency of knocking.”
So there you have it. Buy the lowest octane gas that is recommended for your car. Save that precious money for something else! In case you want to learn more about this, check out the following website: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/gasoline/octane-in-depth.php
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