Regular or Premium Gas?

[jcmerida23]

Dear All:

I have just a question, for a Mazda 3 (US) is it worthy to use premium as compared to regular fuel?

If you do the math, premium is only about 6% higher in price as compared to regular gas. I do not know how the millage will change if I change to premium. Any suggestions?

In addition, does anybody knows how will this affect the engine if the case?

Thank you for your time,

J.C. (Atlanta- Georgia)

 

[TheMAN]

have you tried it? 93 vs 87.... on SOME cars it MAY make a difference in gas mileage and performance despite the fact that regular is recommended

but yes, all US 3s require only regular

 

[JOS3]

premium = waste of money if you dont NEED it.

 

[know_no_limits]

I get the est. Mpg. (28-31) on 87. Good enough for me.

 

[Rac3rX]

the Rating on the pump is a Mid point for how the gas is under regular light driving (octane number (RON) which is determined with a test engine running at a low speed of 600 rpm. ) and HARD driving (octane number (MON) which is determined with a test engine running at a higher speed of 900 rpm ) Most of the time people who Mod up there car tend to drive them a little hard and with MODS the car isnt exactly the same as when it left the showroom so taking the factory spec as good enough is not always the case. Lets take 87 for instance. Its actually more like 91 under easy driving & 83 under hard driving.

How do you drive??

If you like to drive HARD your going to want more like a 91 rating because that represents 89 under hard driving and 95 under regular driving.

89 would be okay for thhe mildly spirited. It should be like 94 under regular driving and arround 85 under hard driving.

Look at the way the dealers deal with busted rod bearings on N/A Proteges, they say that if your engine gets oil starvation its because you drove it too hard. So this tells me there oct rating doesnt take into account the people who Mod & Drive them HARD as much as it should.

At the same time 87 is Soooo crap that it doesnt take much of a issue to get detonation, especially under Hard driving, where its running more like 83 or worse.

 

[Karma_hunden]

use 100, i heard it comes with nitro in it. makez urs car mad fast yo.

 

[goldwing2000]

I use 87, I get 30mpg and I never get detonation, regardless of how I drive.

Premium is a waste of money in this car.

 

[thebeansoldier]

... then you've got to deal with clogged injectors running 89 or 91. Not really worth the trouble unless you have a "modded engine". I've been running 87 since i got it in july 04. I just switched to 89 around april or march 06 to take advantage of the slightly advanced timing.

 

[Micah]

... then you've got to deal with clogged injectors running 89 or 91. Not really worth the trouble unless you have a "modded engine". I've been running 87 since i got it in july 04. I just switched to 89 around april or march 06 to take advantage of the slightly advanced timing.

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part3/preamble.html

 

[know_no_limits]

Just took the “White Mazda Wagon of Justice” on a Short road trip over the weekend, about 1200 miles round trip. I was averaging around 37 or 38 miles to the gallon with the cruise set between 65 and 75 the whole way, which was on 87 octane. I was stoked about these numbers. The only thing I can think is the cone filter job boosted The Mazda’s MPG a bit. My girlfriend did accidentally put a tank of the Supreme 91 in once. No difference in gas mileage but it did feel a wee bit quicker with the higher octane.

 

[Pretzellogic]

We have a nifty search button here.

 

[goldwing2000]

The only thing I can think is the cone filter job boosted The Mazdas MPG a bit.

That's a definite possibility. My mileage increased when I installed my CAI. (thumb)