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I was just looking through my owner's manual and saw that for the 4.0 liter V6 Nissan recommends premium gas. Does anyone actually use premium? I never have.
Premium Gasoline?
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You should read your manual again. Then do a quick search and read the other threads on the same topic.
Basically Nissan recommends premium for max performance and when towing/hauling etc.... then 89 or 87 for daily driving.
Nissan then changed its requirements on the new models (09, 10s) to say 87 and nothing about premium for performance.
Personally I have always ran 89 with a tank of 91/93 from time to time if they were the same price (it actually happened a few times in my area). I just don't like the idea of running on 87 since it is hot in FL, I drive it hard and I don't want to worry about knocking ever, plus I have the 2deg timing bump.
Now if you are a "regular" driver that is very defensive and nice in a central state then 87 should do you fine. If you want, do a mpg vs cost comparison to see if 89 helps you. Some have said yes and some have said no. Do your own research and go from there.
Basically Nissan recommends premium for max performance and when towing/hauling etc.... then 89 or 87 for daily driving.
Nissan then changed its requirements on the new models (09, 10s) to say 87 and nothing about premium for performance.
Personally I have always ran 89 with a tank of 91/93 from time to time if they were the same price (it actually happened a few times in my area). I just don't like the idea of running on 87 since it is hot in FL, I drive it hard and I don't want to worry about knocking ever, plus I have the 2deg timing bump.
Now if you are a "regular" driver that is very defensive and nice in a central state then 87 should do you fine. If you want, do a mpg vs cost comparison to see if 89 helps you. Some have said yes and some have said no. Do your own research and go from there.
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you wont hurt anything by using 87, the knock sensor will pull timing if it needs to while running 87 to prevent detonation but you wont see the full power of the motor if its having to pull timing which is why 91 or 93 (which ever is in your area) was originally recommended since in many areas and climates that one will encounter in the USA this will happen when running 87. i choose to run 93 (before programmer) sometimes 89 or 91 but never 87 and since i got the programmer i never run below 93. but many are very touchy about this subject
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I have run 92 Octane - no ethanol and experienced a slight (very) increase in hwy mileage.
I normally run 87 - no ethanol everyday.
I have occasionally run 89 octane (10% ethanol) and it gets the worst mileage of all.
Never had a knock or performance issue with any of the blends. I asked the dealer about the premium paragraph in the owners manual when I bought it and they said just run 87 and you'll be fine. So far so good.
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Ok cool thanks guys. I have always ran 87 also.
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I have a 1st gen 3.3L V-6. Non-turbo. 5 speed man trans.
I tried an octane comparison a while back. 93 octane for 3 tanks then 87 for three. No real difference in mpg numbers computed manually. Needless to say, I run 87 with no issues. The temp was 101 degreezee today. Not a knock or ping to be heard and I may have been known to drive a little agressively from time to time.
Where I live, 10% ethanol is in every octane.
I tried an octane comparison a while back. 93 octane for 3 tanks then 87 for three. No real difference in mpg numbers computed manually. Needless to say, I run 87 with no issues. The temp was 101 degreezee today. Not a knock or ping to be heard and I may have been known to drive a little agressively from time to time.
Where I live, 10% ethanol is in every octane.
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I used premium for a few months, then wen't back to regular. Didn't notice a difference at all.
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No issues on either, but honestly the extra bit more you pay is worth it. Because that extra more will keep your engine cleaner, give you more horsepower, and also raise your MPG a little bit, so it doesn't cost you as much as you think
If you can tune for it, even better, you'll have deeper rewards
If you can tune for it, even better, you'll have deeper rewards
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The premium is recommeded for the v-6 engines. It's toward the very end of the manual.
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where do people keep coming up with that, the epa requires that fuel companies put atleast a certain amount of anti deposit chemicals in their fuel (all of their fuels). shell claims that their premiums contains 5 times the epa min of detergents but well we'll get into that in a min. many fuel companies advertise only that their fuel meets the standards and mention nothing about exceeding the standard even in their premium.
the epa min standard for detergents in fuels has actually gone down in the years by 50% but there is still a standard for gas that goes above that, the automakers association of top tier fuels
TOP TIER Gasoline Retailers:
76 Petro-Canada
Aloha Petroleum Phillips 66
Chevron QuikTrip
Chevron Canada Rebel Oil
Conoco Road Ranger
CountryMark Severson Oil
Entec Stations Shell
Esso Shell Canada
Exxon Sunoco Canada
Kwik Trip / Kwik Star Texaco
MFA Oil Co. The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Mileage Stations Tri-Par Oil Co.
Mobil Turkey Hill Minit Markets
U.S. Oil
these people exceed the epa standard to top tier standards in all of their grades of fuel. shell saying they have 5 times the epa standard really makes it sound like they have way more than anyone else but in reality they are just on par with the rest of the top tier fuel providers
Top Tier Gasoline
if you want to keep you system as clean as possible simply buying premium isn't going to make a difference. you need to buy from a top tier rated company. but its only going to do so much and thats why they make other products for cleaning your fuel system (i'm talking real products not the 99 cent cleaners)
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