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Originally Posted by 68style
I dunno... I didn't spend extra money on my car cuz I didn't buy it new I just think there are a number of cars out there that say they need premium that don't... not necessarily performance cars. I can understand where it makes a difference on, say, a NA M3 for example.
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From my understanding it depends on how you drive it. For example a 5th gen Prelude calls for 91 octane, but it only really needs it if VTEC kicks in yo. I imagine any vehicle with any kind of variable timing (VTEC, VVTI, etc) or forced induction can get away with lower octane if you're always at low rpm and low throttle, but since it's capable of needing higher octane the manufacturer has to state that's what it needs. Maybe if you sit in horrible traffic every day that's fine, but I like being able to put my foot down to pass someone or get up a hill without damaging my engine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 68style
That said, if anyone can drive my '04 IS300 back to back on 91+ or 87 and tell me if there's a difference I'm open to changing my mind. I can't perceive one when I've tried. Again, not exactly a performance car tho.
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Again this is just based on my understanding but you can't just dump in better gas once and go, unless you drain the tank and reset the ECU the gas left in the tank will bring the mix down to a lower octane and the ECU will still be mapping based on what it has learned from when you ran on lower octane.