High Octane premium fuel = smoother ride?

[CF7]

There was kind of documentary from CBC on high octane gas...just few nights ago...they found no difference...if your car is designed for 87...extra money goes to the the petrol company....

[Negative 1]

...But as our resident Hyundai tech explains above, higher octane gas can, in some cases, make a positive difference. It may allow the engine to use more advanced ignition timing, which helps performance.

I am familiar with this concept from driving an old BMW 528i. BMW themselves said that 87 octane is fine, but don't expect it to perform as well as it will with higher octanes.

[v33sonata]

Originally Posted by CF7

There was kind of documentary from CBC on high octane gas...just few nights ago...they found no difference...if your car is designed for 87...extra money goes to the the petrol company....

Correct sir!

[v33sonata]

Originally Posted by Negative 1

...But as our resident Hyundai tech explains above, higher octane gas can, in some cases, make a positive difference. It may allow the engine to use more advanced ignition timing, which helps performance.

I am familiar with this concept from driving an old BMW 528i. BMW themselves said that 87 octane is fine, but don't expect it to perform as well as it will with higher octanes.

however our cars are not programmed to take advantage of this. Hence for our cars he is wrong.

[Negative 1]

They have knock sensors... I have never looked into this, but I have to assume they can retard the timing if needed. What it seems you're saying is that they can't advance the timing to take advantage of higher-octane fuel. Easy to believe, if that's the case. If that's true, I guess the only way high-octane gas would help us is in comparison to a really crappy batch of low-octane gas.

[craigbrooks]

and why would we buy "low" octane gas? By accident I would presume.....

I purchase midgrade 88 octane and have for the last six years in the Sonata. Manual calls for 87 octane as well did my '95 Lumina and I ran 88 octane in it for 11 years. Tried the occasional 92 octane but did not notice any difference except for my checkbook balance.

It's all in your perception...I guess if it feels good...go ahead and do it. You won't go blind. hahahaha

[edwardp]

OK, I'm reading "yes" and "no" here...

Since I've had my Sonata (January 2011), I have used 87 octane exclusively, but I stay away from Mobil and cheap (unbranded) gasolines.

Is it worthwhile to fill up with one tank of 93 every once in a while, maybe once every three months to clean out the engine, then go back to 87 after? And in doing this, will the 93 octane actually clean the engine?

[Voivod]

Putting 93 octane in a car that calls for 87 only means you're paying more for that tank of gas. It won't do anything for your car. Higher octane gas isn't a magic engine scrubbing brillo pad. Use top tier gasolines and the octane the engine calls for and you're set.

[edgarhighmen]

Originally Posted by Voivod

Putting 93 octane in a car that calls for 87 only means you're paying more for that tank of gas. It won't do anything for your car.

Thats what I thought... After running 5-6 tanks of 93 octane (discounted to .019 cents per gallon) I went back to a full tank of 87 octane today (16.5 gallons, I know our tank holds a little over 17 though - I think I pumped up to 17.8 gallons once)

After 20 miles of driving with the 87, Accelerating felt rougher, acceleration seemed slower, and there was longer Hesitation when depressing the pedal before acceleration (.5-1.5 secs on 93, 1.5-2 seconds on 87 - shifting seemed slower too; is something wrong with my car?) I was noticing all week that I was getting one second shifts (or at least what you can feel while it shifts) the last week, and this evening it kept taking 1-2 seconds to shift, and slightly jerky (in automatic) after putting the 87 back in.

Maybe here in FL we're just getting really bad 87 octane gas? =/
I can't comprehend any reason how it could mess with my car's shifting either.

I used to think my friend was making things up when he ran the higher 93 octane in his 90's honda accord and kept telling me it drove better. After switching back to 87 octane today after about 4-5 weeks of 93, I realized what he said made sense, even though a reason for it seems improbable.

I noticed a difference switching onto 93 octane (didn't expect it) and I noticed a difference switching back to 87 (didn't expect that either)

Maybe Hyundai could make more sense of it? I usually drive 75-110 miles a day, so I notice when something changes about my car =/

Don't know what to think of it really, but that's my current experience with this situation. If I ever get a discount again I'll try a tank of 93 octane, I still believe if my car is Made to run on 87, then higher octane shouldn't make a difference, however, it is making a noticeable difference in my car.

[Voivod]

A good deal can depend on where you're buying your gas.