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Sales of premium fuel fall sharply
The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the national average for premium gas is now $4.48 a gallon, some 40 cents more than regular, and that drivers are just refusing to buy it.Truth be told, most people who've been buying premium probably don't need it at all, but even among those whose engines specify 91 or higher, demand is way down. The Freep says it's actually at its lowest level since 1984. The higher-octane fuel accounted for 16% of gas sales at the height of its demand in 1997. Last month it was half that at 8%. Demand for premium is so low that in some areas it takes gas stations 3 or 4 weeks to sell out a shipment of premium compared to just a couple of days for regular.
Experts say that demand is dropping for a number of reasons. People are switching from luxury and performance models to more efficient cars that only require regular. Many owners of premium-only vehicles are just driving less. And some people who choose to buy premium despite their cars and trucks only requiring regular are just wising up. When looking at the situation, Consumer Reports has gone so far as to say that "many cars that are supposed to only use premium perform just as well with regular." So keep those extra bucks in your pocket and go with the 87 for now. Just don't yell at us if something starts knocking underhood.
NOTE: This picture was taken on March 3, 2007... in Nevada.
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
chop 4:33PM (6/19/2008)
makes sense. i mean here where i live all the gas stations have seemed to adopt a new tier'd pricing where 87 goes for 4.69, 89 goes for 4.89, and 91 goes for 4.99
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H2oVento 1:08PM (6/20/2008)
The real reasone for the decline is because people who drive cars the require 93 Oct. Like any turbo from Audi, VW, Subaru are putting 87 in the tank. People think they are saving money. Wrong. With an 06 A4 2.0T we drove the car for 1000 miles with 87 Oct and 1000 miles on required 91 or better. (we have 93 in NJ). On avg the car got 2.8 MPG worse on 87 over all costing about $1.77 more per fill up.
Tool 6:12PM (6/19/2008)
Any engine that "requires" premium gas will run perfectly fine on regular unleaded.
Even Porsche engines are designed to work on any quality of gas anywhere on earth.
Any degradation of engine performance is hardly noticeable.
Nick 6:23PM (6/19/2008)
Any car made after 1995 has fairly sophisticated knock sensors. So regular gas won't damage your engine, but some engines severely pull timing on lower octane fuel which results in both a performance degradation and an efficiency degradation, which may negate the savings of regular fuel. Remember that a 10% reduction in fuel economy on regular fuel(which Edmunds has seen on their long term G35S) wipes out any fuel savings. Your mileage (literally) may vary. For instance, a 4.6L Mustang engine can probably run regular gas with few if any side effects, whereas my 286 hp 2.0L Lancer Evolution is barely happy with 91 octane.
SimbaDogg 6:54PM (6/19/2008)
@ Tool
you're a tool if you think that, though my car has a knock sensor and does retard the timing quite a bit (as most cars do) the performance, including mpg becomes crap.
So dont go around spreading complete nonsense please.
Fernando 10:20PM (6/19/2008)
I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, I fill up my tank when I reach 1/4 tank and it usually takes 12 gallons of premium fuel. So, if I fill up my tank once a week, using premium costs me about $2.50 extra per fill-up (premium is $.25 more than regular where I live. $.25 x 12 gallons = $2.50). It's really not breaking the bank.
Also, most newer cars, as is mentioned, have knock sensors that will retard the timing of your engine to compensate for the lower octane fuel. This results in lower MPG numbers. Someone on Acurazine.com actually tested his car with all three types of fuel and found that regular gas returned a 15% reduction in MPG as compared to premium (he drove the same road in the same direction with all three tanks of gas).
Jei 12:24PM (6/20/2008)
Fernando said:
"I don't see what the big deal is...using premium costs me about $2.50 extra per fill-up (premium is $.25 more than regular where I live. $.25 x 12 gallons = $2.50). ...
... (lower octane fuel) results in lower MPG numbers (for engines requiring premium). "
I think it's an important issue. Using a lower octane fuel than what is recommended over an extended period of time will affect the engines overall efficiency and may cause other mechanical problems do to prolonged knocking during the combustion process. The knock sensor detect a lower octane but the engine can not eliminate 100% of the knocking. Consumers may risk higher maintenance bills or even engine replacement by not following the manufacturer's recommendations.
Alex B 4:34PM (6/19/2008)
"Takes regular gas" was one of the top 2 or 3 criteria I had the last time I went shopping for a new car. My last car specified premium and wouldn't run well on regular. Requiring premium is what keeps me from seriously considering nice cars like Acura, VW, Saab, etc...
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Infra 5:31PM (6/19/2008)
Premium may cost more, but an engine designed to run on it also extracts more energy from the same volume compared to regular unleaded. More energy = less fuel used to travel the same distance.
Really, you are not paying that much more per mile traveled.
Scott 10:04AM (6/20/2008)
Where I live, premium is usually around 20 cents more than regular. I usually fill up with about 14 gallons at a stop, and it usually takes 2 weeks before I fill up.
So the math looks like this:
.20 x 14 = $2.80 more per fill up. (That $2.80 is about 4% of the cost of filling up.)
52 weeks in a year / 2 = 26
26 fill-ups x $2.80 = $72.80 more than my "regular unleaded" friends.
$72 more a year...Yeah, I think I can live with that.
To put this in perspective, a full ink refill on my gf's HP inkjet costs $50 PER REFILL.
Chris 4:36PM (6/19/2008)
hard to believe that was only 3 months ago...
and please...if your car says you require premium...use premium. The car companies are not plotting agains you with the gas companies to make u buy more expensive fuel. It says so for a reason.
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Ian 5:54PM (6/19/2008)
Hah... hard to believe because it's not three months--it's fifteen months. March of 2007, not 2008.
Michael 8:42PM (6/19/2008)
Not always true Chris. My 1998 Infiniti I30 is just a rebadged Maxima. The 1998 Maxima's fuel door says regular fuel recommended and the inside of my Infiniti's fuel door says "Premium Fuel Recommended for Maximum Performance". It's the same engine, same compression, same power, same everything, except different engine cover, wheels and slightly different exterior/interior.
Infiniti did this so the I30 would fit the whole "Premium" image, above Nissan. I mean what kind of so called luxury car runs on regular? (the consumer asks this) My car runs fine on 87.
Chris 8:13AM (6/20/2008)
well i guess Autoblog changed the date...yesterday it said 2008 lol
Todd 4:36PM (6/19/2008)
Wow. Prices have doubled in 90 days. Does that mean $8.00 a gallon in September?
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Purifoy 5:27PM (6/19/2008)
I doubt $8 a gallon will be in our near future, Todd. (But with the way things are going, you never know).
Scott Eaton 12:48AM (6/20/2008)
I dunno, I saw $5.45 for Regular today
ASEVENSEE4 4:37PM (6/19/2008)
In my area premium hasn't been more than 20 cents extra over regular.
This is going to be bad news for all of the cheap people filling premium only cars with regular, I would fear buying a used car, god knows people will go to extremes to save an extra three dollars a fill up, even so far as to damage the engine to save that extra $3 dollars. Modern Engines designed to run on 91+ can handle 87 short term, but not long term.
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Taylor 6:12PM (6/19/2008)
I have a Acura 98TL that requires Premium. I've driven it on regular/midgrade for 100,000 miles now over the past 6 years and no problems so far.
JunkStory 4:38PM (6/19/2008)
This is fccking insane.
Do NOT put regular into your car if it requires premium.
You will PAY for it in the long run if you do.
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