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YACT: Can this damage a car?

J

jmcoreymv

Diamond Member
I know someone who puts only regular unleaded into their car which says to use premium unleaded. What are the downsides and can it cause any permanent damage to the engine?
 
I'd assume he'll get rid of the car before five years go by, and there's not likely to be much damage during that short time anyway, so what would he care? If there's no pinging, I'd say there's probably no "damage" anyway.
 
Probably nothing. Chances are the car probably has a knock sensor and has compensated accordingly. I have a friend at work that runs 87 in his PT Cruiser GT because he drives so much. Says performance suffers noticeably but it doesn't ping. I have never tried 87 with my current motor. Sometimes I feel the knock sensor kick in even with premium. Damned CA piss gas:|
 
Originally posted by: Ornery
I'd assume he'll get rid of the car before five years go by, and there's not likely to be much damage during that short time anyway, so what would he care? If there's no pinging, I'd say there's probably no "damage" anyway.
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It's actually my dads car and Im considering buying it off him. Its a 5 year old TL and for the past 3 years hes been putting regular in and Im worried this may shorten the engine life considerably.
 
Many regular 87 gases don't contain the detergency level that the premium grades do, so you may get more deposits. Conoco, 76, and Chevron are top tier certified, meaning that all the grades of gas meet a certain detergency level, above the mandated minumum. Shell is going to become top tier, but currently their vpower contains more additives than the reast of their grades (but their lower grades do contain more than the min).
 
Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Many regular 87 gases don't contain the detergency level that the premium grades do, so you may get more deposits. Conoco, 76, and Chevron are top tier certified, meaning that all the grades of gas meet a certain detergency level, above the mandated minumum. Shell is going to become top tier, but currently their vpower contains more additives than the reast of their grades (but their lower grades do contain more than the min).
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Where exactly do the deposits form up? Fuel injectors? What are the repercussion for the car?
 
Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Many regular 87 gases don't contain the detergency level that the premium grades do, so you may get more deposits. Conoco, 76, and Chevron are top tier certified, meaning that all the grades of gas meet a certain detergency level, above the mandated minumum. Shell is going to become top tier, but currently their vpower contains more additives than the reast of their grades (but their lower grades do contain more than the min).
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Where exactly do the deposits form up? Fuel injectors? What are the repercussion for the car?
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valves, clogging injectors, anywhere in teh combustion chamber.
 
Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
Originally posted by: SampSon
C&D link.
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Preformance-wise, I could care less if I'm getting another 2 HP in my daily commutes.

However, the longevity of my car matters to me alot.
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Yea I know that was the intention of the thread.

With normal and regular maintenence schedules the car should last just as long.
 
Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Many regular 87 gases don't contain the detergency level that the premium grades do, so you may get more deposits. Conoco, 76, and Chevron are top tier certified, meaning that all the grades of gas meet a certain detergency level, above the mandated minumum. Shell is going to become top tier, but currently their vpower contains more additives than the reast of their grades (but their lower grades do contain more than the min).
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Do you have a source for this?

I buy about 20,000 gallons of fuel a month and have never heard of it.
 
Originally posted by: CFster
Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Many regular 87 gases don't contain the detergency level that the premium grades do, so you may get more deposits. Conoco, 76, and Chevron are top tier certified, meaning that all the grades of gas meet a certain detergency level, above the mandated minumum. Shell is going to become top tier, but currently their vpower contains more additives than the reast of their grades (but their lower grades do contain more than the min).
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Do you have a source for this?

I buy about 20,000 gallons of fuel a month and have never heard of it.
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Top Tier
another link
Text
If you buy 20,000 gallons of fuel a month, i sure hope it aint gasoline, you'd be better off with a diesel. Or do you buy for fleet accounts?
 
The car will retard the timing to make up for it.

No, it won't long term effect the car, but it will take a while for the car to get back to it's old self once you start running premium again.
 
toptiergas.com is registered to some guy with an aol.com account. i'd take it with a grain of salt.

i do use chevron exclusively in my turbo charged VW and i noticed it's "smoother" than some other no name gas. might just be all in my head but hey whatever works and it's not much more expensive.
 
Originally posted by: fyleow
toptiergas.com is registered to some guy with an aol.com account. i'd take it with a grain of salt.

i do use chevron exclusively in my turbo charged VW and i noticed it's "smoother" than some other no name gas. might just be all in my head but hey whatever works and it's not much more expensive.
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regardless of how the website is setup, top tier is a standard that is set bewteen the auto manufacturers and gasoline refineries to produce gasoline that is "top tier." Top tier gas has many times the required amount of detergents set by the government because auto manufacturers have researched and found the level of detergents to be inadequate in many gasolines. Text
 
Originally posted by: fyleow
toptiergas.com is registered to some guy with an aol.com account. i'd take it with a grain of salt.

i do use chevron exclusively in my turbo charged VW and i noticed it's "smoother" than some other no name gas. might just be all in my head but hey whatever works and it's not much more expensive.
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I've noticed that my behavior towards VW drivers has gotten more and more malicious. I regularly cut them off and just generally try to offend them on the road. They've risen the level of the minivan in my scale of road hatred.
 
Originally posted by: earthman
What nonsense. I've never seen a vehicle with "clogged injectors", even with 300,000 miles on them.
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Im sure if you benchmark flow tested 300k mile injectors compared to brand new ones with say even 30k, the new one would flow better. Deposits. Thats why you use a gasoline with good detergency or use injector cleaners regularly to keep the injectors running at their best. I would venture to say that injectors would likely wear out by 300k miles, facilitating replacement anyhow, even with proper maintence. They are electrical-mechanical components, not sure about some of the newer technoloy out there, like direct fuel injection found on some VW diesels and newer VW/Audi 2.0FSi and 3.2FSi.
 
Originally posted by: earthman
What nonsense. I've never seen a vehicle with "clogged injectors", even with 300,000 miles on them.
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actually, my mom's 91 volvo (which requires premium) flat-out will not run properly on anything but chevron (haven't tried those other two "top-tier" brands). put normal old valero in there and good luck getting it started again after you turn it off. however, you can get it back into the swing of things with a bottle of techron, so it may just be the techron they put in their gas and not that the gas itself is any cleaner. at any rate, clogged injectors are a problem for some cars and 4-cylinder volvos are one othem.

my honda accord will run fine on urine, as far as i can tell. i always buy the cheapest gas i can find for it.
 
Basically I'd prefer to punch people in the face who won't use the proper gas. Why buy a luxury, sport, or other type of car that you KNOW requires 91 or above if you aren't going to use the correct gas? Stupidity? Asshattery? Lunacy? Complete lack of a penis? You tell me.
 
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