Since the model has a automatic timing adjuster, can 2000 ELANTRA adjust to the higher octane (higher advance) gasoline and make full use of it, or it is only a waste of money. BMW, for example, will adjust fire timing according to the octane rating, hence with higher octane gasoline (more cost) you will get more mileage. I contacted Hyundai manufacturer and some local reps, yet nobody was able to answer it. I tried this to test myself, but is very hard to figure out without very precise measurements.
I was told that higher octane fuels have higher amount cleaning additives to prevent this. And lover sulfur contamination, the most destructive part. True, if the engine is not running at the correct temperature, it will increase deposits. Some mechanics wrote, if you would like to make 1/2 mil km on the same engine, you must use premium gasoline. (Mercedes mechanic).
So, ELANTRA has the automatic timing build in, but it is limited to regular gasoline only, so the engine will fail (cannot use higher quality fuels) just as any regular car, it that the notion here? (We do not want to compete with Mecry after all ;).
All EU high end cars use only higher octane gasolines.
That's utter nonsense if you try to apply it to all engines. Perhaps Mercedes engines require premium fuel and if they do, you should use it. Frankly, this sounds like VERY OLD information (50's or '60's perhaps?), probably from an old mechanic.
No, that's just nonsense based on faulty information.
The problem is that higher octane fuels burn more slowly than lower octane fuels. When you use high octane fuel in an engine designed for lower octane, it doesn't burn completely and it creates deposits. As for additive packages, there is little or no difference anymore between fuel grades, so there's no advantage there. All modern fuels will keep your engine clean, providing you're using the correct fuel to begin with. I don't believe there's any difference in sulfur content either, as it's a regulated pollutant (sulfur dioxide). Sulfur is more of an issue in diesel fuels.
The computer controlled ignition timing is there to prevent knocking, pinging and detonation in the event that poor quality fuel with a lower than recommended octane rating is used. It does so by retarding the timing. It will not advance the timing beyond its normal parameters if high octane fuel is used, so there is no benefit. If you really WANT to pay the extra money for premium fuel, you can have your ECU re-programmed to advance the timing more and gain some horsepower in the process, but you'll void your engine warranty. The BSEPowerchip does this:
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The chips for the 2.0L Tiburon work in the Elantra (same engine).
That's irrelevant. If the engines are designed for premium fuel, use it. If not, use what the manufacturer recommends. In Hyundai's case, that means 87 octane regular unleaded.
The additive part was true two decades ago, but not anymore. The statement the mechanic made is not true for all engines. It may be true for high compression engines that really need the higher octane to avoid detontation, but it certainly isn't true for engines designed for 87 octane.
"The additive part was true two decades ago, but not anymore." CHEVRON gas station claim that premium gas have "more" Techlorin than a regular gasoline. It this claim untrue?
Also, higher octane gasoline presents a less sulfur content due to higher fuels (More expensive as Pentane, Hectane, Octane, alcohol etc. All additives to increase octane ratings). This itself would increase the engine life span. (Mechanic comment) Regular benzene (87)is an inferior fuel by a comparison. Unfortunately, Hyundai does not utilize this option due to the low cost targeted market. Your power and the lifespan of the engine would be determent then by an octane rating, not by the manufacturer. I prefer options...............
I rarely buy Chevron gasoline, but I've never seen this claim at a Chevron station. They claim their gasolines with Techron (never heard of Techlorin) clean better than other brands of gasoline, but I've not seen a claim of their premium having more Techron than their regular. However, this wouldn't surprise me because, as someone else posted earlier, high octane gasolines are more prone to cause combustion chamber deposits so it only makes sense that Chevron would add more Techron to help mitigate this problem.
Personally, I prefer good information more than options. You are getting bad information. Don't take my word for it. Search around on your own. The information is plentiful. Here's just one sample I found in less than 5 seconds.
I have searched for years and found nothing, more articles just like the link above. All abstract talk, no formulas, no real manufacturers. It does not even address the sulfur contaminants, or describe who really make a good low octane gasoline. (No, there are not all the same). All talks we all already know. Rule of thumb, a good information do not come from the Internet, but from the mechanic who fix the car every day. And he got no time to write about it, because he is fixing it. Of course, the exception is the "HYUDNAI mechanic" helping us here.
For example, please help me to find which gasoline manufacturer has the lowest and which highest sulfur content? The real engine and environmental killer.
In my area, nearly all the assorted national and local gasoline chains pull their fuel from the exact same tank farm. The fuel comes in from ONE pipeline. If there was any difference at the refinery, it's become generic gasoline by the time it reaches the tanks.
Chevron, BP, Quik Trip, Phillips 66, Sams Club/Walmart, Costco, and countless others all pull gas from the same place. I see the trucks every day. The ONLY difference is the name on the side of the tanker truck, which sometimes have no names at all just to keep it interesting.
Some of these trucks carry their load to other terminals where it gets put into tanks again, remixed with other tanker loads, and sent out again sometimes in brand-name trucks, which have absolutely nothing to do with the brand of fuel inside. It's just generic gasoline.
Given that the fuel is more or less the same, I pay little attention to price (some people obsess about saving 10 cents a fill. A dime is not worth a bother imo) and pay MUCH more attention to whether the gas station maintains their pumps and tanks, whether they seem to actively worry about water seeping in, whether the apron is filthy or not, and so on.
The fuel can be 5-star perfect name brand ultra octane stuff but it's going to be worthless junk if it's full of water because some fleabag gas station couldn't be bothered to monitor their quality. Given how little stations make selling gas, quality is often the last thing they worry about.
Drivers also sabotage themselves by letting their cars run down to near empty before refilling. Super fuel is not going to help with that either.
The sulfur content has more to do with the crude than the brand. Since all the refineries take from different wells at different times, it is not possible to say a particular brand is exactly the same nation wide. Aside from that, the gas in the tank is not always from the refinery whose name is on the sign.
A very few people say they can tell the difference, but I never cold. Over the years, I may have had a tank or two that did not seem up to snuff, but going back to the same station a couple of weeks later, no problem. I buy where it is convenient and the price reasonable. Not worth driving 20 miles to save two cents a gallon.
You can believe whomever you choose. If you believe a mechanic knows more about gasoline chemistry and engine combustion than the chemists and engineers, that is your call.
It is becoming more apparent that your real mission here is to make a political statement about sulphur content of gasolines than to know what is best for your engine.
I think he's referring the the problem of water accumulation in the tank. With the new MTBE-free fuels containing 10% ethanol, it's no longer a problem as you effectively have "dry gas" added to every tankful.
What a load of crap! Heck, I know more about cars than a lot of the monkeys I've met who work on them. The automotive business is rife with folklore, myth and outright stupidity that passes for fact. Yes, there are certainly intelligent, well educated mechanics that I know and trust, but the fact that someone works on cars is no indication that they understand anything about fuel chemistry or what happens inside an engine. That doesn't mean they can't repair them, but it does make their advice suspect. I repair computers all the time and I'm certified to do so, but I couldn't tell you how a CPU works internally.
Have you ever heard of Google? Try searching on "sulfur content in gasoline" and you'll get more information than you know what to do with, much of it from government regulatory agencies. Quit being so lazy and don't give us any more crap about there not being good information available on the Internet. If you really believe that, why are you here?
Here are some sulfur-related excerpts from one of the sources I found:
"Effective on January 1, 2006, the per-gallon sulfur cap for gasoline produced at most refineries dropped to 80 ppm. This standard does not apply to all gasoline because there are different regulations for small refiners and for refineries in the Rocky Mountain area."
"On January 1, 2004, the first phase of the EPA low sulfur gasoline regulations were effective. The phase-in of these standards was completed in 2006 for most refineries and importers. In 2006, specifications for gasoline content changed from the previous 500 ppm sulfur ceiling for RFG outside of California to a required 30 ppm annual average and a per-gallon cap of 80 ppm for most gasoline (with some delays for gasoline produced in the Rocky Mountain area or produced by small refiners)."
Anyone I've ever spoken to at Hyundai with an opinion on this has said that at best higher octane is a waste money and that it will likely cause more engine deposits.
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