lower octane gasoline

It's easy enough to evaluate the fuel cost per mile, but most people don't do it.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty
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I agree that it's easy to do, but not so easy to do it accurately. Driving patterns differ from tank to tank.

Reply to
David Z

Accurately enough, if you generally do the same type of driving throughout the test, use up full tankfuls, and fill up at the same pump each time.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

DaveW asks.... "What is a LUXARY CAR?" Answer... check with McBrue. But if you are asking about a LUXURY CAR., then Wikipedia definds the term this way....

A luxury vehicle is a relatively expensive vehicle which includes additional features designed to increase the comfort of the driver and passengers. Luxury vehicles usually place more emphasis on comfort, appearance, and amenities such as technological upgrades and higher quality materials than on performance, economy, or utility. Luxury vehicles are often built in smaller numbers than more affordable mass-market vehicles. Luxury vehicles include cars (sedan, coupé, hatchback, station wagon, roadster, etc.) and trucks, such as light pickup trucks or sport utility vehicles.

But their definition may be considered hog wash because they go on to proclaim "The Flagship Of Luxury, The Lincoln Town Car!"

I think I'll stick to my rice-burner.

Larry In the back yard, under the oak.

Reply to
Larry

I seriously question the accuracy of that technique. The part I question is "do the same type of driving throughout the test." Too many variables here (e.g., ratio of highway vs. local driving, rate of acceleration, etc.).

Reply to
David Z

For a meaningful comparison without the benefit of tightly controlled conditions, the comparison should be with at least a month's worth of driving on premium and then a month's worth of driving on regular, using a fixed price for regular and premium.

My experience is that there was no significant cost difference per mile driven.

Reply to
Ray O

Reply to
W. Wells

Why pay more for gas if the lower octane (and lower cost) fuel DOESN'T cause it to run any differently?

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

But undoubtly you don't know the it will run the same and will not hurt your car. If not all these people wouldn't be sending in messages regarding the subject.

Reply to
W. Wells

Like I said, check your owner's manual. If the owner's manual says 87 octane is fine and won't cause damage, then go to the next step--run several tankfuls, see what you think, and see what your fuel cost per mile is compared to doing the same thing with 93 octane fuel.

If 87 does no damage and you like what 87 octane does for you, then who cares what you run?

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

To all contributors to this thread, this is actual mileage, as I keep a log of $ and gallons used with my credit card chits (gal. accuracy to three decimals). For 2005-06, when my 2006 GS300 AWD was brand new, I got 27.011 mpg average for 12000 + of driving mostly once a week, long trip and mostly highway.

For 2006-07, after I switched from Premium to Regular (87 octane), same type of driving, also about 12K miles, I got 28.266 mpg.

You cannot argue with numbers. The only difference I could feel was a slight loss of power and more downshiftings by the transmission.

Reply to
kitzler

If I couldn't afford it, I wouldn't have bought it, but I don't like overpaying on anything. Do you? Al

Reply to
Al

But really, the ONLY measure you SHOULD use is the cost per mile for fuel.

Yes, in your case, your MPG went up when you used CHEAPER gas, so there's no doubt that your fuel cost per mile is lower using 87 octane. But others may need to see the actual fuel cost per mile in order to see that in other cars, the fuel that's more expensive to buy--maybe it's name brand vs. grocery store gas, or maybe it's higher octane vs. lower octane--is actually cheaper to run.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

OK, since there is interest in the mpg subject, here are my actual numbers, although the mileage is almost identical, they are real numbers: from Aug '05 when my GS330 was new to Aug '06, I drove 12505 miles and spent $1364 for fuel to get 27 mpg. The next year, from Aug '06 to Aug '07, I drove 12509 miles, spent $1272 for fuel (price per gal went up too) and got 28.26 mpg. By my math, I used 463.15 gals the first year, and only 442.64 the following year. At $3 a gal, all things being equal, I did not save much, about $60.... Had I stuck with Premium however, I would have paid an extra 30 cents per gal times 463.15 = $139 for a total savings of $139 + $60, or about $200.... BTW, savings would be more significant if I drove less highway and more city where my mpg would have dropped to 21 or 23.... just wanted to share this with you..

Reply to
kitzler

A new car almost always gets poorer gas mileage than one that has had about 10K or more miles put on it. Also, until you get used to the feel of the gas pedal and brakes on a new car, you will also tend to drive less smoothly than when the car feels like "an old glove".

Try switching back to medium grade (89 or 91 octane) and see if you don't get better mileage than with regular, like most car owners. You may even find that your cost per mile goes down -- many do.

Reply to
Jay Somerset

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