bwallace276

I'm thinking of dropping from premium gas to a lower grade maybe even regular. I would be doing this in a 2002 clk55 amg. I know the cars power will be reduced, but are there issues with doing this or doing it long term while gas prices are so ridiculous? Can this car run on regular without any issues or massive costs. I have read posts saying just a loss of power is all. I know some cars say they required premium, but is this true. Do the computers in today cars handle gas grade changes for the vehicles? I've heard u can cause a knocking lowering to cheaper gas also. How's the 2002 clk55 amg handle cheaper gas? Or can it even handle cheaper gas?

Any thoughts on this?

ecampbell

Stick with what the recommended grade is. You are driving a merc...is the extra cost of gas going to kill you? Not to mention knocking, worse gas economy, excess carbon build up.

Just my 2 cents...

lsboogy

I know the CLK55 motor has (a) knock sensor(s?) installed, but running lower octane gas is not a good idea. You get more unburned fuel down the pipe and into the cats. Plus, the difference is only a few bucks a tank. I would just stay off the "go" pedal and save the money with that technique. I am getting a bit over 20 around town, and that's almost what i get with my E320. You can run them on lower grade gas, but stay out of the accelerator.

If you want to run a car cheap, you have the wrong model, my friend. And if you burn a tank a week, you have spent 200 bucks a year more than on the cheap stuff. Just be glad you do not have to run the 110 octane purple gas I run in my Mustang street/drag car. That stuff is now over 11 bucks a gallon, and the car gets 8-10 mpg driving around town. You have a premium car, treat it as such, and it will still be a good car for your kid in 10 years.

A word of caution, many of the older benzes (my 95 E320 for instance) do not have knock sensors - and you can do a bit of harm to your motor if you are pulling up a hill or getting hard into the gas if you choose to run the low grade stuff.

C280 Sport

Do NOT run the cheaper grade of gas in your Mercedes. Benz motors are a high compression. If you are worried about premium vs. regular then your driving the wrong car. Running low grade in a higher grade engine will cause harm to your car and cost you big $$$ to fix. Also your performance will be bad a Smart car could outrun you, MPG will drop and the car will sound bad as well.

dohcfiend

i dont know about 89 but 87 will not work out well for u. when i first bought my car and drove it long distance the owner didn't tell me about running premium and after a few fillups on 87 the engine was pinging like a ****.

I was familiar with the sound bc before that i had a 2001 eldo with a N*. I pulled over to the next gas station, put some 93 and a little octane booster and actually noticed the sticker on the filler cap. dooh

I have used 91 without issues but haven't done multiple fillups to really notice anything. all i can tell u is it doesn't ping with 91.

you will have to experiment for yourself on 89.

final opinion; save a few pennies and use 91 instead of 93.

do not use 87, that pinging is called detonation which breaks engines. if you have that over time it will most likely damage your pistons as they are hypereutectic and have been rumored to crack under detonation.

MarcusF

If you're doing this to "save money", consider this - your 55 has knock sensors. When the ECU determines the engine is knocking, it retards the timing. Engines with retarded timing produce lower fuel economy numbers than engines with the factory recommended timing specs.

Lets do the math. Assuming regular gas is $4.30 a gallon, premium gas is $4.50 a gallon, and the car in question gets 25 miles per gallon. This means, premium fuel costs 18 cents per mile. If we lose 2 miles per gallon due to the timing adjustment for substandard gas, regular costs 18.69 cents per mile. It costs MORE to run regular than premium. Some have seen this same thing at Signal to Noise and informed me that AMGs don't get 25 MPG. At 20 MPG, the premium costs 22 and a half cents per mile. Dropping the same 2 MPG due to timing, the cost of regular fuel in the same car is almost 24 cents per mile (23.8888 per mile). Regular fuel does not save money if the engine was designed for premium. Read the rest of the webpage at Signal to Noise to hear about the "balloon payments" on that 20 cents per gallon loan.

Coupecrazy

Just stay off the pedal. I can nurse 18 mpg around town with some hooligan antics on my commute. This is not a car to cut corners on as doing so will cost you more money in the end.

betrezra

Change the pistons to drop c/r then run the cheap gas. But performance will suffer, and this work will cost big $$.

Keep running the rec octane fuel, and do the basics: tune-up, inflate tires properly, and stay off go-pedal.

OR perhaps you can use the clk for w/e's...... and get a budget dd.

DRBC43AMG

Drink a couple of beers less on Friday nights and that will pay for the price difference between regular and premium. Cherish your Merc and she will pay you back some day....

Jezter

i am wondering if a 90 rated Non-Ethanol gas is worth it.

i have one next to my house. just haven't run it yet.

any thoughts?

dohcfiend

oh that's def worth it. ethanol actually reduces gas mileage. not sure about everyone elses opinion but 90 non ethanol...i would def run that.

503C43 ////AMG

QUICK, sell your 55 before you destroy a piece of AMG history to try and save a few pennies!!! I use the term "try and save" because you will actually spend more, not only on the gas as Marcus has pointed out but on maintenance as well due to the carbon build up not to mention other issues that will arise due to the use of low octane fuel that AMG has INSTRUCTED you NOT to use in your HIGH performance vehicle.

It sounds as though your intended use/need for a car has changed as no one in their right mind would own/drive an AMG if they were concerned with gas consumption/prices.

If you are concerned about prices of fuel then I suggest instead of contaminating your AMG with less than optimal fuel you sell your AMG and buy a smart car, you will have AMAZING fuel economy AND it's still a MERC

lsboogy

10% ethanol gas usually gives me a 4-5% loss in mileage (I live in Minnesota, and they have been giving us ethanol in our gas for many years), and this is over many cars. I know some say it only accounts for a 2% loss in mileage, but I have not seen that yet. By the BTU/lb, it should account for a 3-4% (125K versus 121K), but by the gallon it is even worse, so I think that is the discrepancy. I also see a drop with octane rating - I can get 95 octane gas for 14 cents a gallon more than 93 octane ethanol blend, so I run it in all of my cars.

And s previously stated, if you are looking to save $3 a tank, you are driving the wrong car. Sell the thing before you hurt it, and buy an econobox and get gas mileage and save money on gas.

AMGY

Blasphemy

Moedy

I dont know how much you drive but you are only saving around $10 a month in gas if you do this. This is my theory, they dont have the cheap stuff in germany therefore I wont put the cheap stuff in my car because its not made for it. I feel bad even putting 91 in my car when I have to

bwallace276

Old post I wanted to follow up on. Thanks for the replies. The best one on the funny and true side was drink a few less beers on Friday nights! I picked up a CLK 55 about 2years ago now. It will make everyone happy to know that I'm putting premium gas in the car. Have a good one. Thanks again.

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