Do I really need to spend the extra money to buy premium gas for my car (Acura MDX and BMW 330ci)?

A gas station operator told me it is completely unnecessary to spend the extra money on premium gas for my Acura MDX. (The owner's manual specifies at least 91 octane.) I spoke to someone in the service department of my Acura dealer, and he also said it is not necessary to spend the extra money on premium.





Can I use regular gas without damaging the engine, for a vehicle whose manual specifies I should use 91 octane or higher?


Will performance be truly worse if I use regular gas rather than premium?


If premium gas makes a difference, can I gain the benefit from using it occasionally rather than every time I fill up? (If yes, how often should I use it.)





If spending the extra money on premium is unnecessary, this seems like a big scam. Why is it recommended?|||Premium gas does nothing for normal cars with normal compression (almost all).





You "wrenchers" are not chemists.





http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/auto鈥?/a>|||of coarse not....you can buy cheap gas and use the extra money you save to make repairs to your engine as it will need lots of money to rebuild what you mess up trying to pinch pennies. preignition ping can cause catistrofic engine failure...BOOM!


Oh, and another thing, i'd take the advice of a gas guy over the factory engineers anyday.....that is why i got guaranteed job security!|||If your manual recommends 91, stick with 91. Putting premium in an engine that doesn't have a recommendation for premium is a waste, but if you put lower octane in yours, you're going to get a ping.|||Not at all. You also can buy a cheeper car to save the money.|||USE the manufacturers recommendation and pay the extra. You may not notice any difference using lower octane fuel initially, but in the longer run it may cause problems with piston heads. YOU will eventually start hearing pinging sounds which is never good for an engine. ITS the old "pay me now or pay me later"|||you don't have to use the higher octane gas. My pick-up manual says to use it too, but the only time it is really necessary is when I'll be using a lot of horsepower, ie pulling a trailer. If I have lower octane in with a trailer on is the only time I hear the ping.|||Ok all you "wrenchers"! It IS possible to use lower octane fuel in ANY vehicle by the following method. Starting with an almost completely empty tank, go and fill the tank with low grade gas and make sure the station is as close to your house as is possible. After you get home, remove the Negative (-) lead from your battery and leave it disconnected for at least 15 minutes. Re-connect the Neg. cable back to the battery and immediately start your car. The computer will have been totally reset and it will sample the intake (gas and air) and the exhaust (o2 sensors) and WILL be perfectly happy with the lower octane of fuel. You WILL lose some horsepower but most folks don't notice it. Think this is BS??? Then why can I do the reverse by adding a higher HP chip that requires premium???? The car's computer WILL go both ways. My Honda S2000 and wife's VW Passat have both been weened to cheaper fuel for over two years now with NO problems at all - period!