Do any of you guys use mid grade gas? (89 octane)

Hey Ignatius,
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." --Jonathan Swift
If you have read your John Kennedy Toole, you will know that that is meant sarcastically, but I wanted to make sure...
If you knew anything about fuel injection and ECUs, it would be pretty simple to answer them.
I had deleted the following, since I wanted to keep the conversation on a civil level and to the point. But since you are trolling and insulting everyone who is interested in having an intelligent conversation about octane, ECU control, etc., here goes:
Your post on this forum indicated that you didn't know what a spark plug is, how to count them, or where they are located on an engine:
https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...do-i-have.html
Your post also indicates that you don't know what your car's model name indicates, i.e.- SL500 by definition means a 5.0 liter V8, and 8 cylinders on that engine means 8 spark plugs. You didn't even have to know what a spark plug was or how to count! Do you know anything about Mercedes-Benz cars?
I am not sure why I am wasting my time on a troll who doesn't know what a spark plug is or what car he is driving...
Anyone have a can of troll-be-gone?
How's that?
Until then, maybe you can embarrass yourself further by explaining to us how knock sensors work? You clearly believe that monitoring 8 cylinders requires 8 knock sensors? (Note, I'm giving you a hint as to where you should start in educating yourself.)
Get back to me once you figure out what a spark plug is.
https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...do-i-have.html
Tragic that he couldn't figure that one out by himself.
https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...do-i-have.html
Tragic that he couldn't figure that one out by himself.
Most importantly of all, take a break from Internet trolling.
(Did your old-folks home just get the Interweb on one of them new-fangled TV-like doo-hickies (that gets the Internets in COLOR?!?!) 'cause you're coming across as a rank noob who just got on-line in his retirement.)

(Not that there's anything wrong with growing older; we all are.)
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
Turn down your hearing aid. Pop a couple of Geritols. Turn off the Lawrence Welk, get out your walker, put some fresh tennis ***** on it, and go out and get some fresh air!
Most importantly of all, take a break from Internet trolling.
(Did your old-folks home just get the Interweb on one of them new-fangled TV-like doo-hickies (that gets the Internets in COLOR?!?!) 'cause you're coming across as a rank noob who just got on-line in his retirement.)

(Not that there's anything wrong with growing older; we all are.)
Btw, this last post wasn't as good. You've done better.
From the Merriam-Webster definition of sap:
1. ...a watery solution...
2. a foolish gullible person
Last edited by MilesBFree; Sep 2, 2010 at 04:42 PM.
JMT...
I mean that in a friendly way, since I do want to get the discussion back onto technical topics.
Second, My C320 has the 3.2L V6 (the predecessor of the 3.5L in your GLKs). The car has 79,000 miles on it. The first 5 years, I ran it on Premium, exclusively. The last 4.5 years it has run on Midgrade, exclusively. Midgrade here is 89 octane. I buy no-name gasoline.
I noticed a slight decrease in peppiness, initially (a month or so as the computer ECU adjusted), none since. No stutters, no preignition, nothing. Acceleration is just as good as before. And I do have my share of speeding tickets to prove I'm no grandpa on the gas pedal.
The engine definitely does NOT like regular unleaded (87 octane).
In May, I put 2000 miles on the car on a round trip from Dallas to Sierra Vista AZ and back. 70-75mph at 2850rpm for 14 hours continuously each way. Upon returning, I have noticed my gas mileage has increased about 1.5mpg, and is holding at this level in the 3 months since. The point is that highway driving for hours on end using midgrade fuel in no way harmed the engine, and in fact appears to have improved it.
In fact, my gas mileage has gradually increased throughout the life of the car, regardless of gasoline octane. I get about 23-25mpg in mixed city/hwy driving... 30mpg on the interstate exclusively. My best Interstate mileage was 33mpg, when ambient temp conditions are perfect (70º or so, low humidity). IMO, ambient temperature has more affect on this engine's performance than choice between the two upper grades of fuel.
I attribute the gradual increase in fuel economy to the exclusive use of Mobil 1, 0-40w fully synthetic oil. I'm told this lubricant delays a full break-in with the engine. I change it once a year, regardless of mileage.
After spending almost 10 years with this car, I've concluded there is no benefit in running Premium fuel in this engine, nor any harm in running 89 octane. I occassionally visit 3rd world countries where I see a Mercedes pass and I wonder where that fellow finds Premium gas (knowing there is none).
Of course, my car is long since out of warranty, so it's my choice to run Midgrade in it. But the engine continues to be bullet proof. The choice is yours...
Why these octane conversations get out of hand, who knows. Assuming that we have indeed cooled off, I'll post a few items on knock sensor operation on the M119.97x engine equipped with the EZL/LH ICU.
I won't address every item that have come across this thread, because at some point we deviated from the basic discussion. And, actually, the knock sensor discussion, is also a side-bar subject to the main subject matter: Mercedes being the only manufacturer of knock-sensor equipped vehicles to tell its consumers that their cars needs to be at less than 2000 RPM, despite the fact that Lexus and BMW make 12+:1 ratio engines and can safely run on lower octane. And we're supposed to believe that this is because Mercedes are so very special, and that makes US so very special, and therefore our gas NEEDS to be so very specially 91 octane....
Every engine is different, but the basic operation of anti-knock is the same.
I'll use primary documentation for this so we can get past playing this game of who's the real idiot. Hopefully, we can get past the basics, and have higher level discussions.
Btw, I hope you believe me that I was serious when I said that this would be laborious....
I just got back from Nashville where regular was as low as $2.59 a gallon.
Good barbeque, too...
Last edited by SL2003driver; Sep 10, 2010 at 09:55 PM.
If your car tank is 15 gallons were are talking about less than $3 per fill up even if you use 1 tank of gas per week we are talking about $150 difference a year. If you can not afford a $150 a year why the hell are you buying a luxury car any ways over a economy car. Those are the same people who cry about how expensive services are on luxury cars, if you can not afford the service then why are you buying a luxury car in the first place.
I am not putting anyone down just pointing out the obvious. Yes I know plenty of people ni real life who suffer form the above syndrome.

I pity the fool who buys one of these cars from one of these "wanna be a baller but can't afford the right gas types"
What about routine maintenance? Where else are the corners cut?




