View Poll Results: What Grade Of Fuel Do You Use?
87
300
64.38%
90
55
11.80%
93
107
22.96%
Ethanol
4
0.86%
Voters: 466. You may not vote on this poll
Fuel Grades
07-12-2006, 12:31 AM
#42
Senior Member
Join Date: 03-21-2006
Location: wash. state
Posts: 182
Originally Posted by Navyflyer11
I've just used 87 since I got mine back in Aug. No problems.
07-12-2006, 06:30 AM
#43
Senior Member
Join Date: 10-19-2005
Location: Miami
Posts: 20,687
Originally Posted by Snoopy
And, I just remembered, we have 3 locations (that I know of) that sell "racing" fuel, which is dispensed from a defined BLUE pump....reportedly 94-96 octane.
07-12-2006, 07:41 AM
#46
Senior Member
Join Date: 03-08-2006
Location: NE OHIO
Posts: 107
Originally Posted by nss79
I used 87 to start but now I use 93 because there is a station that sells it for 16 cents over Regular compared to the 20-24 cents over at other stations. As far as performance it does seem to run a little better and I noticed a 2-2 1/2 MPG increase over Regular --- before the road construction came, now I sit in 3-6 miles of stop and go traffic nearly every afternoon and I am still getting about 1/2 MPG better.
lI noticed the same thing. I had been using 93 octane from day 1 and after break-in I was always getting around 27 mpg. My driving is some city (small town) and some country driving (2-lanes - no turnpike driving). In trying to save a few bucks, switched over to 89 octane about a month ago and since then my average is closer to the 25 mpg range. According to this, 93 octane might actually be lower in net cost. (Around here in Ohio, 93 octane costs 3.199 per gallon vs. 89 octane cost of 2.999). Rounding 93 octane to 3.20 and 89 octane to 3.00:
Using 93 octane: If I drive 270 miles at 27 mpg, I will use 10 gallons of fuel at $3.20 per gallon = $32.00 cost to drive the 270 miles.
Using 89 octane: If I drive 270 miles at 25 mpg, I will use 10.8 gallons of fuel at $3.00 per gallon = $32.40 cost to drive the same 270 miles.
Seems to be close to a toss up. However, now that I have analyzed this in this manner, I will be switching back to 93 octane fuel and watching to see if my mileage improves closer to the 27 mpg as when I first bought the car.
What is funny is just yesterday I mentioned to my wife that I couldn't understand that the HHR was no longer getting 27 mpg and I did not make the connection until reading this post this morning. As to power, I do not see any visible difference, but assume there is some slight improvement. Also, my HHR is getting close to 5,000 miles now, and the weather is warm, so I would expect that mileage should be improving slightly.
07-12-2006, 06:40 PM
#47
Member
Join Date: 07-07-2006
Location: ashland ohio
Posts: 59
I've recently used up the fuel that the chevy dealer put in and a few days ago I put in 87 octane. I certainly can notice a performance difference. As a matter of fact, I had a full tank of 87 octane and went to the auto store and poured in an octane booster. Drove around for about 5 miles and can tell the difference. So looks like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay for premium - maybe start out with 89 octane and see where that goes. People that has driven 4 cylinders for quite a while might not notice a difference, but my last 5 chevys prior to my HHR was all 6 cylinders and this might be the reason I noticed the slight drop.
07-15-2006, 08:47 AM
#48
Senior Member
Join Date: 03-17-2006
Location: Ravenswood, West Virginia
Posts: 220
Originally Posted by jx3
What about Av-gas (aviation fuel)? Anyone know what octane rating this stuff is. There is one station I know of that sells this. It's at about the edge of the Glades for the airboats.
07-15-2006, 02:54 PM
#49
Senior Member
Join Date: 10-19-2005
Location: Miami
Posts: 20,687
Originally Posted by cvrogershhr
Never use Av-gas in any new Car. The grade is 100LL(Low Lead), It has a ton of lead in it., and will not only plug up your catalitic converter, but your spark plugs as well. This is misleading to people, they put lead in gasoline in order to raise octane rating, works for airplane engines not cars, Aircraft engines run at a maximum 2700 rpm, and generally cruise at about 2300 rpm. also av-gas has a higher flash point than car gas. I've worked on many aircraft engines, and after 25 hrs flight time, some of these small engines had to have the plugs cleaned due to the lead. The low grade fuel 80 Octane isn't quit as bad , but it still is only 80 Octane. Besides Av-gas is higher in cost than car gas. Also as a side note, most private aircraft owners are running car gas in their airplanes, mainly because it's cheaper, but also, the engines run cooler and cleaner.
Thanks for the info. A friend of mine who cruises by that station has told me that you have to have a special license to purchase the Av-gas, so no need to worry about it getting in my HHR.
08-03-2006, 12:26 PM
#50
Senior Member
Join Date: 07-18-2006
Location: Upper East Tennessee
Posts: 443
SInce I have the 1LT, there's no sense using anything other than the cheap stuff (octane wise). I did an experiment in my Monte Carlo between 87 and 91 octanes and found no noticable increase in performance and exactly the same mileage. Why bother paying more?