chillin014

iTrader: (67)

So I just upgraded from 87 octane to 89. I saw a dyno somewhere stating there was some huge loss of horsepower when you drive 87 compared to 89 or it could have been 91.
Anyway, I'm testing this out, so far I've driven 3 miles so I have no opinion.
When I filled up I had the idiot empty light on so I'm assuming there is still a couple gallons of 87 in there, I donno what this does. Or when my system will be completely clear of the 87...there's no way to know.
Anyway, I hope I notice some gains. If not ill upgrade again and if nothing happens I'm gonna be completely disappointed.
Anyway I hope for some gains. Ill put more on here later if anything happens, or not.

Chief Brody

iTrader: (2)

VQ is a high compression engine, for best results use 91 or better like the owners manual recommends. The ECU retards timing if it detects any knock and you lose power. The higher the octane, the more resistant to knock.

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

I'll see about 91. the thing is, I don't trust ever companies own specific bs additive in the 91 octane grade.
Its like "v power" at shell and said something like "actively cleans as you drive. Just sounded hoaky to me. And chevrons "techron". Where's the proof they have something special?

kbmaxima

iTrader: (11)

there have been millions of threads about this topic. just put in the 91+ pay the extra $3-4 (difference in putting in 89 and 91) and consider it maintenance. why pick another fight now?

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

Okay, sounds like I'll go ahead and decide for myself, I thought I was doing something good by going up from 87.

Pimpmobile

iTrader: (1)

I was on a regular gas kick for a while when money was tight. When I switched back over to 91/94 my mpg slowly imporved. I didnt notice the power gain untill my roomate put a tank of crap in it, its noticable, very. (never let people drive your car)
If you want to boost your octane (not the crap from autozone) get a can of touroline from the hardware store and dump it in

vqmax

i think scc just researched those octane boosters, they actually made their own with that touroline stuff and tested the ones from autozone and what not. they found that the ones at autozone are better and you dont have to use nearly as much as you would with a homemade concoction with touroline. so buy the ones at autozone if youre gonna buy some, its cheaper overall. ill look around for that copy of scc so i can get actual quotes.

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

How do you use that stuff anyway. And how often

sonicrunch

global_threat

iTrader: (3)

i run 89 in mine now, ran nothing but 92 when i had the jwt ecu, sold that, bumped the gas down...i don't race anymore, i could really care less about the car, heh, so it gets 89

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

nobody said I was rebelling against 92. I'm just taking it one step at a time. I'm stilll figuring out how much 92 will mean to me as opposed to 89. Considering ill now be paying like near 50 bucks to fill up.

Pimpmobile

iTrader: (1)

Concotion?
No, just pure toruline no point in cutting it with anything.
The stuff from autozone will only increase your octane rating by 0.1 point.

Tourline is already the main anti-knock ingredent in gas, IIRC its very effective.

KNYFE

iTrader: (12)

I look at it this way... If there is $.10 diff from reg to premium you are looking at $1.80 for a full 18 gallon tank. Not a big deal to me.

sonicrunch

easy now..

89 will definitly be better than 87..

and 91 is all that is neccesary

browne

oh please... ive put 87, 89, 91 and there is no freakin difference in performance or mileage. the car has its good days and bad no matter what octane. seems like were all just being suckers in paying more for nothing.

sonicrunch

if that's the case in your situation, your knock sensor may need replacement.

Pull your codes.

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

i dont have any proof, but i hope your wrong. and i think your wrong.

MaximaSE96

iTrader: (8)

94 Octane for me Buffalo is good for something

Cant_Get_Ryte

iTrader: (52)

toulene staight will kill and dry the seals in the vehicle causing premature wear. it is recommended to use with mmo or marvel mystery oil to prevent any over drying, as well its recommended to read your plugs to ensure nothing funky is going on.

Booster Thread

Theres more in depth info there...

Chickan

iTrader: (12)

I run nothing but 93 octane, and 94 when I can get it. What kind of gas mileage do you guys get that use that **** gas? Yeah well I get 27mpg with half city and half highway, and I got 29.98 MPG on a 900 mile trip averaging 85-95MPH.

Pay the man if you have any common sense at all.

Didn't you guys see the test that was conducted? On a BMW with a 3liter engine and similar compression ratio (high compression means you NEED higher octane, otherwise the gas burns before being ignited, AKA PING PING PING PING, knocking), lost 8whp in switching from 93 octane to 87 octane.

Also, when your ECU retards timing in a vain attempt to save your engine, you get worse gas mileage as it is not nearly as efficient.

OK, so worse power, worse reliability, more damage to your engine, retarded timing and worse gas mileage?!??! You are downright ignorant to use regular gas in a maxima.

Mod's please lock this thread before more people spout off crap about how regular gas is fine.

EDIT: here is a link showing what is octane, read it and learn something: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

Alright, well I don't even know where to get octane higher than 91

sonicrunch

octane higher than 91 will give you no benifit.

Chickan

iTrader: (12)

Depends on what part of the country you are in. Some parts you can only get 91, some 92, here in Ohio (and most of the midwest), you can get 93, and even 94 at some Sunoco stations. Actually at one Sunoco by where I work they sell 100 and 110 octane race fuel. Put some 100 octane in my old 300zx for kicks one day. $4 a gallon back then, probably $6 now.

9maxse5

so really there is no need to go higer than 91 octane?!

tuko

the difference between 91-octane california gas and 93-octane texas gas is an easy
10hp gain

Armelius

Finally someone has got it right. Maybe you can show them pictures.

sonicrunch

Bingo!
10char

Wills98MaxSE

do your max a favor and give it 93 octane

Wetballoon

If more people understood octane and what it does, the world would be a better place. Read up about burn rates and if you want to run less than 91 octane, it's your car. As for how long before the 87 is out of the system, if you had 1/2 tank of 87 and topped off w/89, you would have a full tank of 88. Top off again at half way w/more 89 and now you are at 88.5 octane. ((gallons left in tank*octane in tank)+(gallons pumped*octane pumped))/total gallons=current octane.
On the subject of gas stations claiming to clean as you drive. With the exception of Amoco Ultimate, they all start with the same base product, but additives (such as Techron) are added at the fuel terminals when the tankers are loaded for delivery. Whether or not you get what you pay for in that respect depends on the honesty of the carrier and the store. The major companies do random checks to ensure that their stations are prividing the correct product.
Lastly, for those concerned with getting water in their tank, the pick-ups at the stations are usually 6 inches off the bottom and water is heavier than gas. Stations are checked for excess water and most do it themselves daily. Usually the water is removed if it reaches 1 inch so it never gets near the pick-up. But don't fuel up while the tanker is there, any sediment or water in the tanks gets stirred up and might get through the filters.

udienow

iTrader: (15)

You people need to understand your car wont magically feel faster instantly after putting in 93 if u have used 87. I used 93 always in my car, one weekend my sister had my car, put god knows what kind of 87 in there. Got the car back with a KS code, and now i think my KS is bad cause of that. The differnece between using 87 and 93 isnt so much noticable, its all long term. Sure you might say oh look at the suckers wasting money on using 93, but your the sucker for using 87. Keep using that 87, but have fun paying money to replace that knock sensor, and anything else. It's 2-3 dollars more on a full fill up in the differnce on 87 and 93. It's hardly that much, you can find 2-3 bucks in your change dish. Why would it say to use premium on your gas door and manual if it does nothing? But do as you wish, call me a sucker when u see me filling up with 93, but ill have the last laugh when your fixing your car cause ur too cheap to use the recommended grade of fuel

lefty

people will always have their own preference.

My theory is this. I know a co-worker with a 95 maxima (10 years old). Had 87 octane from day one and car still runs fine. Don't notice any performance loss. Most peole do not race. The engine has no problems etc... The car will rust out before there probably will be engine damage.

I suspect a high percentage of Maxima drivers in the world use regular gas as most are just everyday drivers. Most keep their car for no more than 10 years so if my car lasts 3 more years on 87 octane, than I am fine.

maxgtr2000

iTrader: (29)

My car is pretty picky about octane, I put 87 in it once, and once was all it took; I won't do that again. The car just does not acclerate well with anything less than 91 and I don't race, but sometimes you need to squeeze into as space on the highway and the car needs to move. Not to mention if you take long road trips, you will get higher gas mileage with 91+ try for yourself and you will see. Also like its been said switching won't show an instant gain, the ecu has to start advancing the timing, after you run 91 for awhile, take a road trip and note the gas mielage and you will see that it is considerably more than 87. Yes the car can drive on 87. The body can live on fish heads and rice too, but that doesn't mean that's all you should eat.

Cant_Get_Ryte

iTrader: (52)

still as they stated the inefficiency of the vehicle greatly increases with lower octane.

I can understand wanting to save at the pump but at the expense of vehicle reliability, ill settle for more hp and less knock sensors...maybe its just me. i had a high compression four (12:1) cylinder mopar w/nitrous prior to this vehicle and maybe i got used to having to run premium, but really theres no other option as i see it now.

Chickan

iTrader: (12)

Also one thing to think about, Nissan Specifically says 91+ octane for our cars, while on other cars they say 87 octane is fine. Does Nissan make any more money based off of what gas we put in our cars?

So yeah, go ahead, go against the manufactures recomendation, use a soup can and a sock for an oil filter, run your car on diesel fuel cause it's cheaper, never change your fuel filter, I mean what does Nissan know anyway?

bhmax16

Here in MA my Max never sees anything but 92-94 octane. One day my mom borrowed it and put 89 in it (still not regular 87 but it still wasn't 91+ either). I will never forget that day because my max drove and felt like absolute $h*t! It felt as if it had lost 15whp and it was also the quickest tank of gas I've ever gone through in my life. 1 1/2 to 2 days and the entire tank was gone and good old 93 went back in. My Max and I are now happy. Keep your Max happy too and give her 91+, I promise she'll be good to you unless she's PMSing

Bobo

Are there Husky stations in Ontario? It would appear that you are a cheapskate. Why don't you run your tank down and fill up with Husky 90, its the same price as 87 everywhere else and come back and tnen tell us how great your car runs on 87. Also Mohawk is selling 89 octane at 87 prices all summer.

PatDezNuts

iTrader: (1)

93 octane 4 life!!! But honestly I just filled up the other day and it was freakin 30 bucks. What does it cost everybody else to fill up a full tank of gas?

bhmax16

I pay about $32 for 3/4 of a tank! So for an actual full tank I'd be paying a little over $40... You're lucky down there in PA everything is cheaper down there than up here in Mass (I know because I go to college in Gettysburg, PA)

RobUsaf81

Maybe with all these newer users people dont remember the hundreds of old threads regarding octanes in the VQ.

VQ=premium. Thats it. read up on the engine and discover why.

Better gas mileage, efficiency, power, and better for your engine long and short term.
its like an extra 3-4 bucks a fill up. If you know your car you can feel and hear the difference.

your car, your money

vqmax

the way im reading this report done by scc, actually have the magazine this time, is that it takes 4.5 gallons worth of this toluene stuff to surpass the 5 dollar bottle of Nos racing stuff they sell at autozone. the nos raises the octane point count 2.5 points for the 12 oz bottle and the 4.5 gallons worth of toluene raises 3.3 points.