what gas is better for insight?

[cheesie]

just saw a article last nite bout cars and what kind of gas they need to use.
this "expert" guy said all cars need a special gas of gasoline ( unleaded, premium, etc) they were talking bout the numbers: 87, 85, 91 i dont remmember which once they are

he was saying if you put other different kind of gas on a car ( even if its premium ) than the one in the manual says your car will last less.
even if the car needs the cheapest one (87 i think) but if you put other kind such as premium, the car will still act the same, meaning that the gas wont last longer, or no better performance, ect
the only thing that will happen is the engine will fail sooner than expected


i was wondering if you guys really think this is true and if it is what kind of gas does the insight need??

thanks in advance

[Willie Williford]

That "expert" must be smoking"weed".
Go with what you feel is required. Running a higher octane gas that what is recommended ain''t gonna hurt., just a waste of money.
I run regular in the LRR 95% of the time, only premimun if I know i'm going to be "boosting" a lot.
HTH
willie

[Jayemtee]

Just use regular because that's what's the engine is designed to use. If you had a special engine design that required more octane, then sure, a higher ocatane rating would be better. Your engine can not create more output or mileage from a higher rating.

[cheesie]

well ive been using the middle one i think its 89 form arco since i bought my I2 never used anything different
if my engine wont suffer from using this one then i dnt care if im just wasting my money i just feel more confortable by not using the 87 one

[aitikin]

Your engine won't suffer from using a higher octane, but you are not really getting any benefits. In fact, if anything using a better company's gasoline will give you more benefits than using a higher grade. Shell and BP as well as a few others have different additives making it a cleaner burning fuel. So if you really want to feel better about what you're putting in your Insight, use a better brand of gas.

The reason some cars require premium fuel (explaining it from what my ASE Master Mechanic fried has told me multiple times) is their engines have a higher compression ratio. A higher compression ratio means that the fuel has to be compressed more before it ignites, and the higher octane indicates a greater resistance to burn. This gives more power to the engine. Using a fuel that is less than what your car needs will cause damage (an Acura TL for example needs premium and if you put regular in, you'll damage your engine). It will lead to cylinder misfires among other things.

[attilla]

A little secret about higher octane gasolines: The higher octane fuels are made using blend stocks with a higher octane but, generally, a lower density, therefore less energy per gallon. If your car knocks, then use a higher octane gasoline, otherwise you are throwing money away. I have never heard my insight knock using 87.

Want the best mileage use 87 octane without ethanol.

Some of the differences people may see in mileage from particular gasolines may be due to the design of the local refinery which may produce particular blendstocks from particular processes. Up here in the upper midwest (Minnesota) most of the gasoline is marketed by one large refiner who wholesales gas which is then retailed by a dozen different brands, but it is the same gasoline. Additive packages may be slightly different, but they are all so good these days and the fuel is so clean, the difference is insignificant.

[hessebauer]

how about E85, did someone test it ?

[aitikin]

Originally Posted by hessebauer

how about E85, did someone test it ?

Please tell me that you are joking. E85 will destroy an engine that is not designed to handle it. In fact, adding ethanol to engines is bad for them already.

[MN Driver]

Originally Posted by hessebauer

how about E85, did someone test it ?

It would cut about 25% of your power and fuel mileage. That fuel is subsidized heavily in the United States(I notice you are listed in Germany) and is not sustainable and is more or less hanging on due to the strong corn farmers lobby here, a very powerful special interest. The subsidy basically pulls the price to -almost- the break even point but then your tank needs to be filled that much more. The only time I've ever had E85 put into a car was returning a rental car and putting it in to avoid the fueling charge. FWIW, the car was a GM Flex Fuel so it won't damage it but it will suck for the next guy who rents it if he/she does't do the same. The biggest detriment to ethanol is that you now need to pump more air by running the engine faster to get more power. Either that or discharge the batteries more, the car will do both as you push the throttle deeper to get the same thing.

[hessebauer]

thx; yep we have new fuel here in Germany since a few months which is with 10% ethanol.....and std fuel goes up in price lol whereas with the new your consumption goes up