MBNewbii

With a 35 cent difference between 87 and 91 in SoCal, filling up with premium is about $500/year more expensive.

Question: What happens if I fill up my 2002 C320 wagon with regular? Are there long term effects? Will it affect performance or mileage?

Thanks.

Newbii

Rick

PING...

and I'm not talking golf clubs, dude....

PING...
PING...
PING...

zpeed

$500 a year If you buy Hyundai or Kia you save even more. Come on you drive a MB you can afford that $500. Sorry have to give IMHO.

viper

Drive less.

Rick

.... PING...
.... PING...
.... PING...
.... PING...
.... PING...
.... PING...




On further thought...I decided to edit content of this post, with consideration to anyone I might have offended... Soonja Kamaswarani and her relatives included.

mleskovar

If you use a lower octane than recommended you could get premature detonation....'pinging' which
will hurt performance and your engine. Iv'e read where you can have your ECU set by the dealer for your car to accept lower octane gas. I don't know what the performance decrease is. Luckily you have the 3.2 liter engine that has good power to begin with.

TimmyC230boy

its not a good idea at all. Do you see that sticker on the inside of the fuel door, "Premium Fuel Only" thats should answer your question. Plus you would be amazed at how much gas you would save it you put it in winter mode and start in second gear.

amgme

one word:

predetonation!

chronopassion

I guess luckily, we typically only have a 10 cent spread between 87 and 91 octane fuel here in the midwest. So, for me, presuming 12500 miles per year at 25 mpg (based on my current computer average for the past 2500 miles), it is only a $50 difference annually.

Best regards,

CP

P.S. You must do quite bit of driving to have a $500 gap for the 35 cent SoCal difference (at my mpg, that would be almost 36,000 annual miles driven).

Mark08859

Your engine management system probably would compensate for the reduced octane. Of course, you would have a concurrent reduction in engine performance.

You bought a car with the MB tri-star, not the Chrysler penta-star. Do the right thing and use the 91 octane gas that the engine was designed to receive.

Boo2

I agree with Zspeed, if you buy a quality car you have to expect to only use quality components. People need to realize that buying the car is only half of ownership, the other half is maintenance. When you figure out how much you can afford for a car you have to factor in all the other aspects. Remember, parts are more expensive for European cars, so anything damaged because of a little skimpping now, can/will lead to more costly repairs in the future.

Jimmy101

ping pong!
If ur that cheap, then buy the 99 cent octane booster @ pepboys!!!
Its better then nothing. Having worked @ a gas station I can
tell you all that gas is gas, gas does not come in 89 or 91 octane, the trucker basically adds the chemicals to it!

I have often wondered if its the same buying this octane booster, some people say its not the samething! Try it out, and let us know how it runs on it.
For now, I just get my gas @ costco or sams club. I can't feel ne difference in cheveron, arco or gasahol, which is quite popluar here in the desert!

I don't own a mb yet, but I drive a 300z that takes high octane.
I'm trying to decide on a ml320 or C230k, But I'm afraid of all these complains in quality....

Boo2

I can tell a difference between Shell and Amoco here in Chicago, and Amoco is supposed to be on the same level as Shell. It seems to be a cleaner burning gasoline.

Mark08859

Amoco is supposed to have fewer contaminants. Perhaps that may explain the difference. Just a guess.


The way I understand it, all major gas producers just make two grades. Their lowest, usually 87 octane; and their highest, usually 91, 93, or 94 octane. The pumps actually mix the two types together to make any "in-between" grades.

Boo2

Sorry, meant to say that SHELL was much better than Amoco.

True, but there is a difference between producers.

SoCal240/6

I agree - those that are saying the car will ping or predetonate on 87 or 89 are just making that up. They have no evidence of that.

Fact is that just about every car currently sold in the US has the ability to run on 87. The computer compensates the timing so that the engine will not ping.

As Mark points out, the compensation will result in reduced performance, however.

If MB made cars that pinged and predetonated on 87, or damaged their engines on 87, you'd hear complaints throughout the US. Lots of people are cheap (or don't really care, if for example they are just leasing/renting the car) and use 87 octane.
If MB didn't account for those people, there would be lots of trouble.

That being said, one should always use the octane recommended in the Owner's Manual, no more (waste of money) and no less (the car will run optimally on the octane it was designed for).

preyx

The manual states that any-octane gas lower than 91 should ONLY be used in emergencies, and in that case very very very sparingly. They say to only fill up with a few gallons of lower-octane gas at most and then find a source for 91 octane ASAP.

What's the MPG difference between standard driving and winter mode? (24 MPG vs. ???)

TimmyC230boy

i'm not really sure, but it would almost have to be better. The car doesnt rev as high, it better for city drivingcause once you get up to speed its all the same.

Buellwinkle

That's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard. Having worked for an oil company I can tell you each grade comes from different storage tanks. If there's even a chance that the octanes got mixed up the mess is sold as transmix and not to gas stations. Some pumps will blend 87 to premium to come up with the 89 octane but typically the fuel is delivered on one truck that has 3 compartments for each grade. There are aggreements between oil companies to provide what's called unbranded fuel (fuel with 0 additives) in areas where the oil company doesn't have a rack to pick up from. In these cases the fuel is delivered unbranded to a gas station and then additives are added at the gas station to each grade to "brand" the fuel.

There definetly is a difference between brands as some like Chevron add additional additives beyond what the goverment mandates. Personally I would never put ARCO, Shell or no-name brand fuels in my car.

BlackC230Coupe

I have never put anything im my car but shell premium fuel i belive its 93 or 94 octance but i actually forgot. I am kinda picky when it comes to gas. Dont ask why but i never had anything but shell premium fuel in my cars.

Boo2

I agree with you, although i'm biased as a former Shell station owner!!!

staticwd

sometimes i wonder......

BOOYAH!!!

what?

noidea

Rick

Pinging is the short term effect....save a few cents at the pump today...and make your service rep a happy guy when he rebuilds your valve train/cam assembly at $94 per hour....oh, and warranty probably wont cover this.

Spyke

Valve train and cam? Classic "knock" damage is to the pistons, what's going on in the valvetrain?

Mark08859

There should be only a minor difference. In winter mode, your car starts in second gear rather than first. If I'm wrong about this, I'm sure someone will correct me. Generally in winter, however, you might see slightly reduced MPGs due to longer cold starts and winter tires, if you use them.