About Requirement for Premium Gas

[MerlintheMad]

I always use the good stuff.....

Holiday up on the corner (that's Sinclair at that station) and Costco. Premium at either one. On road trips I just pull in wherever when I need to fill up. Believe it or not, outside Sheppard AFB (Wichita Falls, TX) there is a station that sells only regular. On our way back to Salt Lake city I discovered that I could not fill up there so got on Hwy 287 and headed out. When the tank got low enough to concern me I pulled over and used a pump at a rather run down looking station; not open yet. The damned dispenser jammed and flooded the ground under my Stinger! I had been doing a stupid thing: letting the motor run. I haven't done that since! After that experience I have avoided "private" looking establishments and stuck to name brand stations that look upscale. Man!

 

[rocket23]

lucky there wasn't a kaboom!....gasoline knows how to explode , thats for sure.

 

[mldavis2]

Two quick comments:

First, Kia recommends top tier fuel for the Stinger. It's in the Owners Manual. You can get a list of stations that meet that standard at toptiergas.com

Second, most engines today use variable valve timing and computerized spark advance. You "can" run regular fuel because the computer will compensate for any tendency toward pre-ignition. But it will possibly cost you more in fuel economy than you will save by buying cheaper fuel, and you certainly will lose power as timing is retarded.

 

[rocket23]

agreed, My hemi needed a outside source but it would accept 89 once tuned...... It' absolutely out of this world, (well mine anyways) the tech that gets into the cars these days......I'm amazed at the stinger.

 

[Marc Collins]

Two quick comments:

First, Kia recommends top tier fuel for the Stinger. It's in the Owners Manual. You can get a list of stations that meet that standard at toptiergas.com

Second, most engines today use variable valve timing and computerized spark advance. You "can" run regular fuel because the computer will compensate for any tendency toward pre-ignition. But it will possibly cost you more in fuel economy than you will save by buying cheaper fuel, and you certainly will lose power as timing is retarded.

It's really not more complicated than @mldavis2 comment above.

If you care about money, depending on the gap between regular and premium (which varies dramatically from one jurisdiction to the next) it may or may not be economical to spend the extra on premium.

If you care about performance, likely premium is better, but we are all still waiting for KIA to clarify what the engine output specs are at different octane levels. They have published these for some of their other high-end cars, including in the owners manual. But mum on the Stinger despite many requests to clarify.

With output info, people would know exactly what power they were forsaking and could decide accordingly, including to vary depending on their own driving conditions. The car won't be damaged regardless.

Apparently this is too much to ask from KIA, so we have a raft of endless threads debating the topic

 

[rocket23]

^^^ That being said,rationally one would look for a 91 octane and just go with that.........I dunno it's been a hot day for me....kinda fried.

 

[Clearly Canadian]

The difference in cost in Western Canada is significant enough that I think I’m going to try out the lower octane during the winter. Can’t do much heavy accelerating with snow on the ground anyway.

 

[rocket23]

buying by the litre up there as well hurts.

 

[Paul32]

The difference in cost in Western Canada is significant enough that I think I’m going to try out the lower octane during the winter. Can’t do much heavy accelerating with snow on the ground anyway.

I'm using 89 oct. all the time and seems to do just as good or better than 93 in the two tests I ran. But, I don't push the car hard. Drive for economy all the time.

 

[rocket23]

I'm using 89 oct. all the time and seems to do just as good or better than 93 in the two tests I ran. But, I don't push the car hard. Drive for economy all the time.

89 octane is actually considered premium for the most part...for us older folks, we were pumping regular ieaded , non-leaded regular,premium,super,high test, .....for awhile we were able to get 95 octane .....but that was for a very short time. We also got our water from the stream, and music from a set of spoons!!!

 

[davebo]

and music from a set of spoons!!!

Hey now, let's not bad-mouth the people who may have that 6-spoon stereo in the base 2.0 model.

 

[rocket23]

Hey now, let's not bad-mouth the people who may have that 6-spoon stereo in the base 2.0 model.

I AM one of those people!!!,lol....actually the stock radio is all right, I heard worse, not into the bass crap thats out there; unless its' classic rock.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I AM one of those people!!!,lol....actually the stock radio is all right, I heard worse, not into the bass crap thats out there; unless its' classic rock.

Ramble Tamble sounds awesome on my Harman Kardon. And I am guessing it sounds just about as good on the stock factory nine speaker system, since we have established that virtually all of them have the subwoofers under the front seats. (How did we get off from talking about gasoline grades?)

 

[rocket23]

Ramble Tamble sounds awesome on my Harman Kardon. And I am guessing it sounds just about as good on the stock factory nine speaker system, since we have established that virtually all of them have the subwoofers under the front seats. (How did we get off from talking about gasoline grades?)

It was me........lol.

 

[Clearly Canadian]

I'm using 89 oct. all the time and seems to do just as good or better than 93 in the two tests I ran. But, I don't push the car hard. Drive for economy all the time.

I’ll be trying 87.

 

[Marc Collins]

I’ll be trying 87.

The car works fine on 87. But we don't know exactly what the output is at that octane. Even a 20% drop in power (and it won't be anywhere near that) still leaves a car with more power than most vehicles on the road.

Initially, we thought the rated power was with 87 octane. The owners manual reprint and stickers to "recommend" premium were likely to cover KIA's legal butt around the advertised power ratings. In the end, we can debate this until the cows come home. The only fact that matters is the output at various octane ratings. Either press KIA to provide it, or keep talking to ourselves endlessly here.

 

[davebo]

I don't know who that "we" refers to but since Kia always recommended premium I assumed that's what gives the stated power output, as is the case with other car manufacturers. I know Kia reported the power output with lesser fuel in a few models, but that seems to be the exception not the rule, so if anyone is dying to know what percentage decrease you'll get I'd say take it to your local dyno on premium, then do it with regular and report back. I hope you know the person running it though, because otherwise the cost will offset more than a few tanks' worth of premium/regular price gaps.

 

[Marc Collins]

I don't know who that "we" refers to but since Kia always recommended premium I assumed that's what gives the stated power output, as is the case with other car manufacturers. I know Kia reported the power output with lesser fuel in a few models, but that seems to be the exception not the rule, so if anyone is dying to know what percentage decrease you'll get I'd say take it to your local dyno on premium, then do it with regular and report back. I hope you know the person running it though, because otherwise the cost will offset more than a few tanks' worth of premium/regular price gaps.

Sure, let's all go do dyno tests instead of getting the info from KIA.

 

[Paul32]

Sure, let's all go do dyno tests instead of getting the info from KIA.

Or go with your gut.

 

[Marc Collins]

Or go with your gut.

If your gut can detect that level of power difference, NASA needs you for some special work.