Does turbo require premium gas?

[RockTheShazbot]

The Premium Fuel Better Mileage Controversy - Chevy Cruze Forum : Chevrolet Cruze Forums

Interesting post about this topic and it seems premium wins on here as well.

As far as the e0 thing i have not a single station within like 75 miles that has e0 but i have been planning on only using premium since my buddy at work who knows a ton about cars says it will keep the engine running longer

 

[laborsmith]

Many marinas still carry pure gas. I don't know why, but there may be some differences in boat engines that disallow using ethanol.

Having already researched this topic, I concur with the conclusions TravsSonic posted.

Laborsmith

 

[AxelRipper]

Many marinas still carry pure gas. I don't know why, but there may be some differences in boat engines that disallow using ethanol.

Having already researched this topic, I concur with the conclusions TravsSonic posted.

Laborsmith

I have a feeling it has something to do with some of the older boats running pre-mix. While it works for a while, after sitting for a while it can become not very pretty. I've seen e85 premix... things get ugly (and sticky) quick.

 

[laborsmith]

Good point. It has been so long since I have owned a boat I forgot about some of those steps.

Laborsmith

 

[Sugardaddy2885]

I asked this question as I was doing the paperwork at the dealer. They took the car and filled it with 87 and said it doesn't matter what octane I use. Just had the face.

 

[Sonic]

No it doesn't require premium. I actually got worse MPG when I tried a full tank of 91, so I went back to 89.

 

[laborsmith]

The Sonic 1.4 is a European derived engine, designed to run on the equivalent of our Premium, but has been detuned to run on Regular. The ECU will sense the octane level and set the timing for whichever grade of fuel you are using, which is why this is one of the few engines you will get better MPG as well as improved performance by using Premium over the recommended Regular. It is also why "tuning" the engine will gain such huge improvements in both MPG and performance.

So, you can use 87 safely, but bear in mind any forced induction engine responds better and probably lasts longer if a higher grade is used.

So, in short, it does matter. As in so many things in life, it just depends on what "matter" means to you.

Laborsmith

 

[laborsmith]

And using my reasoning, mid-grade (89) would be better than regular (87).

Laborsmith

 

[Sonny@bnr]

i would never use 87 in a turbo car ,just my 2 cents

 

[Eric Smit]

But to answer your question-turned-debate, it will run fine and does not REQUIRE premium, and it will run fine on 87.

 

[AxelRipper]

For more info, see: http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t897/

 

[bigcanoe]

Regular gas?

Does the turbo engine really use regular gas? Does it perform better or return better MPG on higher octane? What about if you add a tune, do you need to run premium then?

 

[fivespeed302]

Yes, it uses regular 87 octane. If it had required 92, I wouldn't have bought the car. I have heard reports that it may run "better" on higher octane, but my 1.4T runs great with 87, so what's the point? If I had wanted a race car, I'd have gotten the Camaro SS.

 

[laborsmith]

This question has been discussed and answered on CruzetalkDOTcom, numerous threads.

Consensus is better performance and mpg when using higher grades of fuel.

There is a thread that speaks to the particular benefit of premium when driving in hot high summer weather.

I never had the opportunity to test the difference as the dealer, at my request, used premium for my first tank. Normally using premium when regular is recommended is a waste of money, but in this case there are two issues one could consider, the first is the engine control module is designed to check for detonation and back off on timing whenever detonation is noted and the second is the engine uses forced induction.

But check oother threads in this forum and consider looking at the referenced Cruzetalk threads, where you will find empirical information including dyno charts.


Laborsmith

 

[SonicChris]

The tune does require you to run 91 and above. I'm not tuned, but I run 93 any way because it burns cleaner and is better for your engine. Generally I put about 10 gallons in at fill-up, so it's only a difference of about 3 bucks per tank.

 

[bigcanoe]

Does the MPG take much of a hit with the tune? I dont mind putting in premium if I am getting close to 40mpg highway

 

[SonicChris]

From what I've read, no, but someone who has a tune would be more qualified to answer that question.

 

[gsxr1000]

The tune does require you to run 91 and above. I'm not tuned, but I run 93 any way because it burns cleaner and is better for your engine. Generally I put about 10 gallons in at fill-up, so it's only a difference of about 3 bucks per tank.

If your engine isn't dentonating then both 87 and 93 both burn the same (clean) actually 93 actually higher flash point. Also 87 actually has more BTU's per gallon. premium isn't more powerfull kinda like alcohol.... the reason you make more power is you can run higher compression/boost

 

[Sonic]

Please continue fuel discussion here.

 

[SonicChris]

If your engine isn't dentonating then both 87 and 93 both burn the same (clean) actually 93 actually higher flash point. Also 87 actually has more BTU's per gallon. premium isn't more powerfull kinda like alcohol.... the reason you make more power is you can run higher compression/boost

I understand 93 isn't more powerful and it is used due to compression. My SVT was N/A , but ran 10.2:1 so it required 91+. Same reason the tuned Sonic has to use higher octane. By upping the boost your upping the compression. As far as 87 vs 93 being cleaner, it's not really cleaner in say a carbon build up way as we were led to belive in the past. 93 is "harder to ignite" than 87. it doesn't burn any cleaner, or have more energy than 87 octane does. however, it requires more energy to initiate combustion, and therefore is less prone to detonation during the compression cycle or due to hot embers in the combustion chamber. 93 octane allows the engine to run at peak performance by allowing the timing to be as far advanced as possible.