How much does it cost everyone for a fill up? Is premium absolutely neccessary, or will the 2nd level work?

 

Premium is absolutely neccessary. You could be looking at fried spark plugs, bent valves, wholed pistons, among other bad things. 91 octain and higher ONLY

 

I needed to fill up this morning. A full tank cost me $38.40 today at the cheapest station in our area. Next week, it'll probably be more.


Spike

 

$38.41 for 23 gallons

Hmm same tank two months ago was $28.75...

 

...and about $60 to $70 in a few months (hope it isn't true).

 

I sure hope that isn't the case either, but if the state (read the governor of CA) doesn't ease up on the MTBE restriction deadline, the prices are going to skyrocket

 

Wow... and I just bought this thing for my daily driver... starting to think that wasn't such a good idea, as far as gas goes.

 

I hope someone can answer this. What, exactly, does a lower octane gas do to damage your engine?

 

that's what could happen :P

 

Yeah... but how. How does that happen.... how does a low octane cause that? Anyone?

 

lower octane will make your truck knock/ping/detonate.


the following is copied from www.howstuffworks.com:
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The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. When gas ignites by compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine. Knocking can damage an engine, so it is not something you want to have happening. Lower-octane gas (like "regular" 87-octane gasoline) can handle the least amount of compression before igniting.

The compression ratio of your engine determines the octane rating of the gas you must use in the car. One way to increase the horsepower of an engine of a given displacement is to increase its compression ratio. So a "high-performance engine" has a higher compression ratio and requires higher-octane fuel. The advantage of a high compression ratio is that it gives your engine a higher horsepower rating for a given engine weight -- that is what makes the engine "high performance." The disadvantage is that the gasoline for your engine costs more.
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in other words, when you use a lower octane rating than what is specified you could cause pre-ignition (ping/knock/ect)
the knock sound you hear is actually the gas/air combusting before it is supposed to. this can cause several things: burnt and/or broken valves and pistons and connecting rod breakage.

concerning the statement you made:
you did read the window sticker, didn't you? it clearly states on there what your average gas milage will be...


hope this helps,

 

Yeah... I read it. Realization just doesn't kick in until I see the #s moving on the gas pump. =)
This is more than worth it, though.
Thanks for the explination.

 

clonetek, wow! Thanks for explaining that, that's much better than what I had!

 

lower octane gas doesnt burn as evenly across the cylinder which causes it to misfire. thats where u get knocking in your engine.

i had the original 289 in my 66 mustang and didnt know ANYTHING about cars yet and was putting 87 octane in (cause im a cheap bastard) w/ no lead substitute or octane booster and i ended up shattering a piston and destroying the cylinder wall!

lets just say i wised up a little after that!!

 

I knew there was a good reason to live in Dallas... 93 octane too.