Hpnotiq

I know premium is required..but does the "brand" matter? Is ther a difference between (Texans) Valero & Exxon or Shell?

I've never had a car that required Premium gas b4 so I am curious b4 my 1st fill up.

I usually use HEB (grocery store) gas..

Thoughts, opinions feedback

gizzsdad

As long as you stick with a Top Tier provider you should be good:

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

Hpnotiq

Gizz...

Thanks so much! I have never heard of this website but it gives me great info about who to use!

Thanks!

Rydicule

All gas comes from the same pipelines. The only differences in brand are the additive packages that they use after the gas has been delivered. However, ALL gas retailers are required by law to provide to maintain certain standards with their gas (detergents, etc).

So the short answer is: Brand doesn't matter, no gas will protect your engine better than another. However, certain brands do claim to have superior gas in other areas, though I've never noticed a difference myself.

Hpnotiq

Thanks Ryd, makes sense! I was not sure but want to make sure I do all I can to get the MAX (pun intended) out of my new ride!

Rydicule

No problem. Just make sure to keep using 91+ Octane and you'll be fine. Great choice of car you picked there!

gizzsdad

Since you are so sure of this, how is it possible to have this happen:



The fact of the matter is you are partially correct, law requires minimum standards for additives. Top tier providers have committed to going beyond those minimums.

And, no I don't work for them. I'm a self employed financial advisor.

Maxx Factor

Quick question, I have never owened a car that requires a high octane gas until I purchased my Max. Question is, I was using good ole' 87 for about 17k miles before Nissan told me to use 91+ when I advised them of a knock at idle and cold start pull off. Have I damaged anything? My salesman didnt advise me to use the required octane.

Thanks

09Maxima_Sam

I would not worry about. Just give the car time to warm up here in these cold temps of winter. Don't lay into the peddle too much, until you get the lower octane gas out of the tank.

Compusmurf

Another thing.... Stick with NEWER gas stations or ones you know have newer tanks. Silt and stuff DOES build up in their tanks over the years.

Most of the stations around me all have newer tanks as some law here just made them switch out to double walled tanks for ecological reasons.

CT Maxima

Gasoline is a commodity. Some would have you believe that a particular brand is better. All wishful thinking. Buy from a large volume station and you should be OK.

Good luck with your Max. You will really enjoy it when the weather gets better.

lightonthehill

Several good responses so far, and I am probably repeating some of their advice.

There will always be controversy as to whether some brands may be better (have better additives?) than others, but I feel it is more important to buy from either a newer station, or one you know replaced its tanks in recent years.

The unending rains in the Atlanta metro area ('09 was the second greatest rainfall in the 130+ year history of the Atlanta weather station) have resulted in water intruding into more service station tanks than normal, and these Maximas run terribly on water.

Additionally, buy at a higher volume station when possible, as premium gas is not selling so well in these drastic economic times, so tends to sit in the service station tanks longer than regular, and gas definitely degenerates over time.



Note to poster Maxx Factor (nice takeoff on the cosmetic brand, which coincidently went bell-up in '09) - As you used regular (87 octane) gas for SEVENTEEN THOUSAND miles, the somewhat remote possibility of having done damage depends partly on your driving style.

If you are a gentle driver, although your car was not running at normal efficiency with regular, you should be fine. But if you are into hot takeoffs, there is a slim chance you have have done some damage over time, hopefully minor. The knocking was the engine's way of telling you it was hurting. Light knocking is one thing, but louder knocking under heavier acceleration can, over time, do some damage.

If you hear no unusual sounds when using premium gas, if you see no trace of smoke from your tailpipe when accelerating after the engine is warm, if your oil stays fairly clean between changes, and if the oil level does not require replenishing between oil changes, you should be fine.

Hpnotiq

Thanks everyone! & CT..I can't wait until it starts to get warm and I can cruise down the hwy with the roof open, my gucci shades on, listening to my XM radio! lol

Rydicule

I can sympathize with your point, however, I have to say that a simple picture can hardly prove it. There are an infinite number of possibilities that could cause that to happen, not just "bad gas".

I suppose the halfway point of the advice here would be to just not buy gas from sketchy places. Buy it from the same place most other people do. Mobil, Shell, Citgo, Valero, etc... I don't see there being a difference between them. Buying from Louey's Chop Shop side tank on the other hand...

maxprivate

iTrader: (12)

I was wondering about the quality of gas from different gas stations myself. I have always but 93 in my car since 97 when I bought the car and tried different stations and never noticed any difference. I used to get Aamoco until it switched to BP, then used Hess and today I got Valero since its close to me, runs just the same.

Nismo4life07

iTrader: (1)

i usually stick with Shell 93. my car seems to love it. lol.

ALSO, never ever ever fill up while the gas tanker is filling up the tanks. thats when all the dirt and silt gets thrown around in the gas and it gets pumped into your car.. so, dont fill up while the station is filling up.

MaxLoverAz

iTrader: (1)

Well your correct but it's the additive package they add that makes the difference so I would argue some might be better than others at reducing deposits, etc. Unfortunately I don't know of any 3rd party testing organizations that have actually tested the different brands so were all at a loss to really know what is better or worse.

lightonthehill

I seem to recall Consumer Reports (or could have been a car mag) tested gasoline several decades back, and found no measurable performance differences between name brands, but said there was no practical way for them to determine long-term effects of the various additives each brand promoted. More importantly, as Nismo4life07 said, if you see a tanker offloading, skip that station until later.

I rotate between Shell, BP and Chevron. I often traveled coast-to-coast back in the 1950s and 1960s, and at one time carried up to 14 different oil company cards. Many of those companies (remember Gulf? Sinclair? Amoco?) are now gone. My BP card started out as an Amoco in 1963. My Chevron and Shell cards are from '59 and '58. I began getting rid of gas cards in the 1970s, and about ten years ago, I cut up my Phillips 66, Conoco and Richmond Oil cards, leaving just Shell, BP and Chevron. I will probably be buried with those three cards.

gizzsdad

Do you want us to lay them on your chest, or staple them to the underside of the lid so you can look fondly at them??

maxprivate

iTrader: (12)

This is exactly why I never got a gas card, I hear its the worse thing to do. Before you know it, you're buried in more debt .... if your not in debt your not American.

lightonthehill

I guess I'm not American. I have never paid a penny interest on a gas card. I have survived a week on one pack of nabs (while in college), and arranged with the kitchen workers to slip me food that was destined for the garbage bin (while in another college), but absolutely would starve before spending a penny I didn't have on hand.

It goes further than that. I never buy a car I can't pay cash for up front. That is why I often ran cars over 200K miles most of my life. The thought of paying interest is absolutely sickening to me. My wife is exactly like me. We paid cash for our home, and if we move, will pay cash for our next home. If we don't have the cash, we don't buy the home.

My wife and I both have a great fear of being destitute at an old age, unable to afford the essentials of life, and so guard our assets extremely tightly. This could be considered an irrational phobia, but it is one we are quite content with.

innofish

Sorry to revive this thread about the gas but I think it's a great discussion and answers some folks who have questions.

Since 2010 Max "recommends" premium, unlike the 2009 Max, what are your thoughts about this 2yr old article? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25691323

Here's a snip-it:

lightonthehill

I tend to agree with that article.

This July, I reach the 18 month point with my '09 Maxima, and will change from premium to midgrade at that time. If I lived in an area where the difference in price was only a nickle or dime a gallon, I would probably not switch. But I live where the price differential between premium and midgrade varies from 15 cents a gallon to 30 cents a gallon. I consider that to be exorbitant price-gouging, and I am unwilling to continue paying it.

I would NEVER under ANY circumstances consider using regular fuel in the 7th gen Maxima.

dr_rabias

iTrader: (2)

I ALWAYS have chevron or shell on all my cars.
I read on the gas cap of my maxima that 91 was RECOMMENDED, when on my Z, it says REQUIRED.
I always use 91 on both.
I've noticed that chevron or shell gas lasts longer than arco.
My mom always used arco, and once when comming from san diego, she used half tank, when she left i put some gas on her car, and later that day she called me asking what kind of gas i filled up with, because she only used 1/4. since then she only uses chevron.

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Funny on the Max vs Z huh, same compression ratio and engine for the most part. Use nothing but premium if possible or you can mix like I do sometimes use 93 and other times 89 when you get to the 1/2 mark etc (never 87 like light said). Never had any issues in my VQ or prior VG powered cars.

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Isn't that crazy light in regards to the differences in price.....Its the same here in Dallas, ex. 2.75 r, 2.85 m, 3.07 p..... Nissan still has not explained what/if they did anything to go from required premium in 09 to recommended in 10. Me personally I don't think anything was changed.....

innofish

I am using Costco Premium gas instead of Chevron. If I add Chevron Techtron to my gas thank, shouldn't be that the similar to getting it from Chevron?

Looking at the manual, it says Nissan supports the "reformulated" gas companies like Chevron provides. But looking at the manual, it basically tells me it's ok to buy it but don't mix it yourself. Am I reading that incorrectly? Pardon my ignorance on this. Just trying to understand it.

From 2010 Maxima Owner's Manual

Reformulated gasoline
Some fuel suppliers are now producing reformulated
gasolines. These gasolines are specially
designed to reduce vehicle emissions. NISSAN
supports efforts towards cleaner air and suggests
that you use reformulated gasoline when
available.

Aftermarket fuel additives
NISSAN does not recommend the use of any
aftermarket fuel additives (for example, fuel injector
cleaner, octane booster, intake valve deposit
removers, etc.) which are sold commercially.
Many of these additives intended for gum, varnish
or deposit removal may contain active solvents or
similar ingredients that can be harmful to the fuel
system and engine.

lightonthehill

You say 'crazy', I say 'highway robbery.' The huge price differential does not reflect the modest actual difference in cost between producing the various grades.

Like you, I have felt all along that nothing changed with the fuel system/engine betwen the '09 and '10 Maximas. What changed is that, in these austere times of rampant unemployment and ridiculous differentials between the prices of the different grades of gas, public opinion (except among the youthful faction) has become very jaded against paying from thirty to sixty more cents per gallon in some regions for fuel that is now rising in price yet again.

I have owned nothing but Maximas since October of 1984, have always switched to midgrade after 18 months, and have never detected a dropoff in visible performance, nor measured any change in MPG.

But I would NEVER put REGULAR in this 7th gen Maxima. The engine/fuel setup on the 7th gen was designed for optimum performance at 91 octane, It can handle octanes such as 93 or 89 just fine, but 87 (regular) is just too far below 91 to operate properly. If I were a very aggressive driver, I would probably not even drop to midgrade.

mrodenberg0124

Interesting read. Thanks!

smarty666

Light is correct for the most part about this. I live in NJ which is one of only two states where we can't pump our own gas. A few weeks back, there was a brew ha ha at the Shell station with the person in front of me and the attendant got all flustered and f$%^ing filled my Max up with regular instead of Premium. Let me tell you, as soon as I turned the car on I could tell the difference. It idled like hell, knocking/pinging like crazy, felt like it was having trouble/problems acclerating. I had to baby the Max, not accelerate to fast, keep under the speed limit for that entire tank. As soon as I filled back up with Shell Premium all was well again.

The Maxima definitely can not take regular. Light seems to think 89 mid-grade is okay. I don't know about that. I think that its too close to regular but it couldn't hurt to try it a couple of fill-ups and see how the car does. Personally, here in NJ, there is only 10 cents difference per gallon between 89 and 93 so I don't care and just fill up with Premium. My Maxima is worth it. She loves that gas and now since the end of March with the warmer weather. The last three fill-ups at my local Shell have gotten me 25mpg avg's!!!!!

Shell V-Power Baby!!

mrodenberg0124

What kind of driving are you guys doing to get 25mpg? I use 93 octane as well and even babying it i'm only getting 20-21mpg. Maybe it's because i'm only at 1300 miles? I'm hoping once it breaks in i'll see an increase?

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Shell premium is good, but I don't even want to mention what it cost here. I filled the Z up with it last week (let car get to 1/8....I never do that), I ...lol. I have 3 cars that we use premium in, but recently started mixing 89 in the mix sometimes and no difference in performance (usually at about 1/2 tank).

smarty666

That could possibly be it. I live in rural Western NJ so I do not have a lot of stop and go traffic and have open highway areas so I can get some decent fuel economy. The low mileage is another thing against you. I have 6300 on it right now and I noticed that the fuel economy got better as the miles went up. I heard it takes a few thousand miles for the CVT to get to "know you" so to speak and how you drive to Maximize fuel economy.

Also, the warmer weather has helped. I was getting 21-22 mpg avgs all winter long up until the middle of March when the temps went up so the weather has some to do with it. I'm still just so happy at the 25mpg I'm getting. To get that on almost 300HP and 260 some pounds of torque is just phenomenal. I'd love for it to get even better then this but I think that is wishful thinking, but you never know.

P.S. - Also it takes practice and I drive mostly with a light foot. I always have the fuel economy status display up on my nav screen so I can see the flutuation in the fuel bar to know when to take my foot on and off the gas to keep the bar at 30+ mpg as much as possible! But again, it takes practice and once you get up to the speed you want to be traveling down the road, all you need is a very very very light foot pressure on the accelerate to keep it there.

LtLeary

I tried it a couple of times when 93 wasn't available and, given my driving style, didn't notice any difference. (Here in FL the Primary grades are 87, 89 and 93 vs 91.) Sorry about the fubar with the 87...that had to really irritate you. I can only imagine how I would have felt.

smarty666

I hear you monte, but here in NJ, that is the one thing that typically is the cheapest anywhere in the country is gas, because NJ gas tax is relatively low, though almost every other tax is the highest in the US after California !

For instance, right now my local Shell stations are as follows:

87 Octane: $2.65 a gallon
89 Octane: $2.85 a gallon
93 Octane: $2.95 a gallon

LtLeary

Mine is primarily highway (98%) and if my mileage went down to 25 I would take it to the shop! I get 27-31 depending on how much I use the AC and how hard the wind is blowing.

smarty666

Oh, don't worry I went livid on the gas station attendant later on. From now on though, I watch them like a hawk that they push the premium button on the pump and wait until I see/hear it start pumping till I look away.

Actually, just a week and half later after that tank of regular. I go to fill-up again, no brew ha ha this time, told the guy loud and clear to fill-up with premium. I watch him go up to the pump and push the regular button. I yelled out the window, " no no no, I said premium!" Luckily I caught the dumbass before it starts pumping. If you catch them before its starts pumping they can cancel it out and redo it but once it starts pumping your screwed!

I'm surprised though that 89 would not cause people problems with the Maxima after what I went through with the 87. Is there that much difference between 87 and 89 that the 89 is just fine? It just boggles the mind?

smarty666

Nice mpg!!!

That is just incredible to be getting those kinds of avgs when you have that much HP and torque under the hood!!!

With the warmer weather, if I travel on open highway/interstate with cruise control on from more than 10-15 minutes I've gotten consistent 31-34mpg readings. I don't doubt that if you did that much highway/interstate commuting your getting those avgs!!

innofish

With your mpg, are you getting those numbers from the display? I can get mine up around 24-25. But when I do the actual calculation (total miles between fill up / number of gallons I just put it), it is usually close to 2 miles lower than the display...so that brings it up to 22-23 mpg.

On other note, my wife used my Max last night, coz she loves it, and filled it up with regular as she does with the Accord. I'm a bit worried but didn't really find a significant diff on performance yet when I drove it this morning...but yes, there is a slight performance decrease. But then again, maybe it's just my head playing games.

smarty666

I use the status display screen for a rough avg while I'm driving to know how I'm doing with fuel economy and if I need to lighten up a bit, but I get my numbers by manually calculating it each time I fill-up off the pump and trip odometer. That really is the best way. Each time I calculate it by hand, its always been 1.5 mpg off from what the screen display says it is.

For instance, I just filled up today. The status fuel screen in the car said I was getting a 26.8 mpg. When I calculated it by hand, I actually got 25.3 mpg for that tank. So you can see the difference.