2.0T 87 vs 93 Octane in the 2.0L Test

[Danilio Raigoza]

Hey everyone!

I've had my Stinger for close to 2 months now and I wanted to post my finding on regular vs premium. When I first got my 2.0L Premium I contemplated and researched the whole regular vs premium. And for financial reasons I decided to stick the regular for a bit.

So a little bit about my driving habits. I have a regular office 9-5 that's about 3-4 miles away from my house. Because I live on a small island our speed limits out at 35 mph. I usually drive 40, and with this turbo I found myself going 45-50 without even noticing (don't tell KWPD, I've since gotten a handle on that lol). I would have frequent stops, and only one real long stretch on the boulevard for about 2 miles. Throughout the week and weekends I would have 6 DJ gigs that would range anywhere from 1 - 5 miles in distance from my house. Every Sunday I would drive the car up the Keys just to break it in and enjoy sports mode. I would put about 50 extra miles on it doing that.

With all the said I would have to fill up my tank once a week, on Sundays at my local Shell. I am going on my 11th day on premium and I still have a quarter tank left. The performance is noticeable and the engine sounds a lot cleaner. Needless to say I should have gone premium the first go around, the extra 10 bucks or so that I pay gave me longer ride time and probably would save me some cash in the long run.

I think in my case of riding such short distances is why I am getting better mileage. The switch to premium came from reading up on engines running at lower rpms and the benefits of premium. Either way I am now a believer in Premium vs Regular in the case of the Stinger.

 

[Danilio Raigoza]

Also I'm not paying any mind the the MPG meter because it seems like its lying to me, I have been contemplating taking to the dealer but I'm waiting for more pressing issues before i do that

 

[BlaydeX15]

MPG meters always lie, I don't think anyone has ever had an accurate one in any car ever, lol.

It's usually about 10% optimistic, or I'd be seeing 29mpg tanks on my GT.

 

[StungBlueGT2]

Hey everyone!

I've had my Stinger for close to 2 months now and I wanted to post my finding on regular vs premium. When I first got my 2.0L Premium I contemplated and researched the whole regular vs premium. And for financial reasons I decided to stick the regular for a bit.

So a little bit about my driving habits. I have a regular office 9-5 that's about 3-4 miles away from my house. Because I live on a small island our speed limits out at 35 mph. I usually drive 40, and with this turbo I found myself going 45-50 without even noticing (don't tell KWPD, I've since gotten a handle on that lol). I would have frequent stops, and only one real long stretch on the boulevard for about 2 miles. Throughout the week and weekends I would have 6 DJ gigs that would range anywhere from 1 - 5 miles in distance from my house. Every Sunday I would drive the car up the Keys just to break it in and enjoy sports mode. I would put about 50 extra miles on it doing that.

With all the said I would have to fill up my tank once a week, on Sundays at my local Shell. I am going on my 11th day on premium and I still have a quarter tank left. The performance is noticeable and the engine sounds a lot cleaner. Needless to say I should have gone premium the first go around, the extra 10 bucks or so that I pay gave me longer ride time and probably would save me some cash in the long run.

I think in my case of riding such short distances is why I am getting better mileage. The switch to premium came from reading up on engines running at lower rpms and the benefits of premium. Either way I am now a believer in Premium vs Regular in the case of the Stinger.

Nice review and I had basically the same results on my 2.0T Optima. Once I switched to the 93 I never went back. More power & better mpg is a win win!

It even makes more of a difference in my GT2 and is well worth the extra few bucks per tank.

 

[Shockington]

I've had the opposite experience with the 3.3TT. Premium "tanks" my city fuel economy. Har har har

 

[StungBlueGT2]

I've had the opposite experience with the 3.3TT. Premium "tanks" my city fuel economy. Har har har

That’s shocking but it’s in your name so I assume that’s your point. Lol.

However it must just be from other factors(driving conditions, speed, throttle, etc)that caused a negative change. It’s a fact that 93+ premium fuel burns more efficiently than regular. Better efficiency means more power and miles per gallon. It might not be significant but it’s still a fact and should help economy.

 

[StingEm]

MPG meters always lie, I don't think anyone has ever had an accurate one in any car ever, lol.

It's usually about 10% optimistic, or I'd be seeing 29mpg tanks on my GT.

My 2.0 consistently reads about 10% high on the dash compared to real life as well.

 

[Paul32]

That’s shocking but it’s in your name so I assume that’s your point. Lol.

However it must just be from other factors(driving conditions, speed, throttle, etc)that caused a negative change. It’s a fact that 93+ premium fuel burns more efficiently than regular. Better efficiency means more power and miles per gallon. It might not be significant but it’s still a fact and should help economy.

I'm not sure of your facts, my understanding and what I have read is, it helps to prevent pre-ignition and if you are not pushing your car to the limits, you will not get pre-ignition with lower octane fuel. Things that I have read say it does no good to burn premium if your car does not require it. Now the other side of that argument is with today's on board computers, and the ability to adjust timing, could reduce the efficiency of the engine giving lower power and MPG. My final outcome is: I use 89 oct and drive keeping MPG as my goal which could be the reason it looks like lower octane produces better mpg figures. In my opinion, the biggest factor in getting good mpg is how you drive not what gas you are burning. I don't disagree with your comment.

 

[Danilio Raigoza]

I'm not sure of your facts, my understanding and what I have read is, it helps to prevent pre-ignition and if you are not pushing your car to the limits, you will not get pre-ignition with lower octane fuel. Things that I have read say it does no good to burn premium if your car does not require it. Now the other side of that argument is with today's on board computers, and the ability to adjust timing, could reduce the efficiency of the engine giving lower power and MPG. My final outcome is: I use 89 oct and drive keeping MPG as my goal which could be the reason it looks like lower octane produces better mpg figures. In my opinion, the biggest factor in getting good mpg is how you drive not what gas you are burning. I don't disagree with your comment.

Whole heartedly agree with your statement about how you drive the vehicle. Initially when I got my car I drove it aggressively. still trying to stay with in the recommendations of the break in process. but i also drove like an old man for a week to test the gas usage, I saved some gas that week for sure.