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By: Scott Siegel
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Is higher octane gas worth the $208.00 increase in gas costs per year? Does the higher octane premium gas result in better mileage? Is better fuel economy attained by using premium gas? Does higher octane gas enable your car run better?
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.
Looking at the higher octane question of increased fuel economy, does it help? The bottom line answer is emphatically no!! High octane premium gas does not increase fuel economy one bit. The octane rating is a number that has nothing to do with how efficient it is in creating energy to run your engine.
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.
Does premium gas make your car run better? Once again the simple answer is no, there is no increase in a cars performance with premium gas.
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.
Car manufacturers utilize this slight horsepower gain to market their cars claiming more horsepower by optimizing and designing their cars to take advantage of higher octane premium gasoline's anti-knock properties. Engineers and car experts agree that if you opt to use regular gasoline in your car designed for premium gasoline, the loss of horsepower is so small, you will not be able to detect any difference.
There is a misconception that you can void your warranty or harm your car if you use regular gas and your car maker suggests that you should use high octane premium gas. Most car makers admit that using regular gasoline even when the owner's guide suggests the use of premium gas won't void your warranty. They also stipulate that using regular will not damage the engine.
Next time you go to fill up try regular instead of premium. You will immediately save $4.00. See how your car performs with the regular. If it runs fine and you don't hear any knocking continue to use regular. You could save $200.00 per year!
Article Source: http://www.ezarticles.info
Scott Siegel is the author of a 143 page book of automotive industry insider secrets on saving gas and dollars 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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