The bottom line is that if the cap says Premium Recomended it is drivers choice as it will work with or with out.

IF the cap says required then you have no option.

The Recomended label lets you choose what you want to use. Premium generally will provide you with a little extra power while the regular will perform less since the engine dials out the extra timing and other settings to run on the lesser gas. There is no right or wong choice just choice with Recomended.

 

I'm not even going to read the other replies. Premium is not required, but it gives you all 175 horsepower that we certainly need in our HHR's. With all the money spent out there on accessories trying to make more power, running premium is a no brainer.

 

Do you think running premium in a 2.4L engine will prolong the life of the engine and make it last longer?

 

It definitly runs and sounds better on 91 or 93... when i bought mine the dealer put 87 in it. i ran it for a week and have used premium ever since. faster accel also if thats something that you like. i guess it doesnt matter if your in it for the fuel economy!

 

Hmmm. I do know running 93 does make the grin on my mug last longer.

 

I've been running 87 octane in my '06 LT1 with 2.4L since new. After 57,000+ miles, I've had no issues. I tried a 2000 mile experiment using 93 octane and saw no mpg improvement. Why spend $0.20+/gallon for each tankful? So far I've pumped in 1890 gallons of gas so I've "saved" nearly $400.

 

We only have one Shell in my area so it might be an isolated thing. The company that owns the station owns others that are not branded and they run their own transports. I've never had a problem with the other stations but there have been issues with water in the gas from time to time so I avoid them. The Shell station is open late night so I occasionally get stuck buying there. Another interesting thing about the Shell fuel is it sets the OBD-II light off in my Silverado every time I use it.

 

This is my first post and I've been reading alot of the posts on alot of differenct subjects on this forum. Lot's of knowledge out there and it is greatly appreciated.

My '07LT2 has never drank a drop of regular since the day it was new. I bought it off of the showroom floor with an almost empty tank and 4 miles on the odometer. The particular dealer I bought it from does not fuel up their new vehicles, but instead gives the buyer a $50 debit card to use at the filling station of your choice. Owners manual recommends premium, that's what I use.

Can't give any comparisons because of this. I'm very happy with my HHR and am just now getting the urge to make some mods as far as performance. I just trim the airbox yesterday and plan to mod it more today to pick up some fresh, clean air from the gap on top of the radiator.

I'll post photos soon.

 

Power loss or optimization is a personal choice.

 

I'm on my 2nd HHR w/2.4 and have run nothing but 87 oct. in both. In either vehicle I have always averaged between 26 & 30 mpg on the hwy and 20 to 25 mpg in town (with no noticable power loss). I think putting premium gas in these engines is a waste of $$$$$$$. IMHO .....