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Are Premium Fuels Really Worth The Price? - April 15, 2006
Most cars designed to run on regular gas
It's best to use the type your manual advises
When you put gas in your car, do you buy regular or premium?
Some motorists are quite particular about the blend of gas they buy, while others don't care as long as their vehicles start and go.
I am frequently asked my opinion about gas ? especially as fuel prices rise.
In my experience, most car owners aren't too interested in knowing the difference between high-octane and low-octane gas.
Nor are they interested in knowing the structural properties of gas or the processes that are involved in converting crude oil into gas.
What motorists are most concerned about is price. I know customers who are obsessed with the price of gas and will drive across the city and line up, to save 10 cents per litre. Can you blame them?
Sometimes a major news story will prompt consumers to change their gas buying habits on a whim. For instance, after gas prices spiked last fall, many consumers who had been buying premium gas switched to regular or mid-grade.
Currently, there are four different grades of gas available in Ontario ? 87 octane, 89 octane, 91 octane and 94 octane. For marketing purposes, different companies have different names for each of these blends. However, based on these octane levels, the products are comparable.
Proponents of premium gas will advise motorists to use a premium or mid-grade blend because they contain higher octane. They will argue that premium and mid-grade blends deliver more cleaning additives than lower, regular blends.
The truth is that all regular gasoline sold in Canada contains elements of "cleaning additives" to guard against engine build-up in the injectors and valves.
You may wonder why two identical cars ? same manufacturer, same model year ? occasionally deliver different responses using the same type of gas.
There are several possible explanations. Engine A might perform better because it has fewer kilometres than engine B, or because it has received better maintenance over its lifetime. High kilometres and poor vehicle maintenance could result in deposits forming in the engine, causing gas to burn less efficiently.
In this case, using premium gas with higher octane may eliminate any pinging in the engine, but there is no guarantee.
If you hear a pinging noise in your engine and it persists after changing blends or brands, then speak to your service adviser at your dealership. The wrong type of gas could, theoretically, cause your car's engine to underperform and it could even cause long-term damage to your engine.
Don't forget that today's engines are quite sophisticated and attention should be given to what is recommended by the manufacturers.
There are other factors that will have an effect on gas consumption, such as accelerating too fast, low tire pressure, outside temperature and wind levels, to mention a few.
According to Petro-Canada, "There is generally only a small difference in gas mileage, about 2 per cent, between premium and regular gasoline. This difference tends to favour premium gasoline."
Most passenger cars in Canada are designed to run on regular gas. The engines in these cars compress the gas-air mixture at a lower rate than the high-performance engines. Therefore, it is not necessary to fill your tank with premium when it's not recommended.
Do all oil companies refine gas in the same way? No. Oil companies extract oil from different sources, and the process involved in refining that oil differs from refinery to refinery.
That's why gas from one company may perform differently in your engine than gas from a competitor across the street. If you find that your vehicle performs better using one brand of gas over another, stick to it.
Let's analyze the price difference between blends and see how much consumers could save.
According to the Ontario Ministry of Energy website, the average prices of a litre of gas in Toronto during the first quarter of 2006 were: regular, 91 cents; mid-grade, 96.7 cents; and premium, $102.6. (It's often been a little higher lately.) We'll use these average prices with the example of a 2006 Honda Accord mid-size sedan. The fuel tank capacity on this car is 64.7 litres. If you gassed up with regular once a week, you would pay $58.87 per fill-up; with premium gas, that same fill-up would cost you $65.99. The difference is $7.12.
A savings of $7.12 per fill-up, extended over an entire year, would save you $370. This is money that stays in your pocket and it could be used for any number of things. There would be no difference to your engine performance or to the wear and tear on your vehicle.
The best advice for drivers is to use the type of gas recommended in your owner's manual. Most people don't bother to read their manuals, but they should. If a certain blend of gas is recommended, then stick to that blend unless your service department advises you otherwise.
If you drive a sports car or luxury brand, that's a different story. Your owner's manual will probably advise you to use only premium gasoline. With luxury brand engines, switching from premium to regular could negatively affect your engine's performance and cause damage to your engine. It could also void part of your warranty.
The same conditions apply to drivers of leased luxury brands. If the leased vehicle requires premium gasoline, you are obligated to use premium only.
Here's a final piece of advice to keep in mind when buying fuel. If you drive a car with a diesel engine, then never put gasoline in the tank. Conversely, on regular engine cars, never put diesel oil in the tank. In fact, a diesel nozzle is usually too big to fit in a gasoline filler neck.
These points may seem obvious, but from time to time I hear about consumers putting the wrong kind of fuel in their vehicles and the outcome is never pleasant.
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