you guys can say what you want about there being no noticable difference in our cars when we use 87 or 92/93 octane gas, but i totally disagree. i am a rather spirited driver, and i used to driver a camaro tuned specifically for premium fuel only. after i got the balt it was habit to put the good gas in it, and i have done so for all 6700 miles i have put on the car. last week i descided to see the actually differences (if any) in my car with regular gas in it. the acceleration feels the same to me, i cant tell a difference in performance at all, however, my gas mileage has plumitted. with my driving, done in the city for about 80+%, i typically average 27+, and i have never personally see less than 25 otherwise... hell i averaged 27.3 on the way to our last columbus meet going 100 mph most of the way lol. after putting the regular fuel in my car, i immeadiately noticed the change here. in the city im lucky to break about 23, and i only averaged 27 on the highway right after filling up.

to me, its more than worth the $.20 and i will never put regular in my car again. please do not flame me saying that our compression does not justify the use of higher octane fuels, this is just what i have experienced.

 

hmm, I never thought of it that way

Next time I fill up, I will try this and report back with my results.

Wait..

I have no DIC buttons anymore!!

 

Who says there is no difference? I never seen a post like that! There definately is a difference....whoever says there isn't doesn't know anything about cars in my opinion! If you can't feel it, then you are just stupid...

My Cobalt SS/SC is my wife's so I rarely drive it. One day, I did and I was like what the hell, what happened to the acceleration and throttle response? I looked at her and asked "Did you put in regular?" She admitted and I told her never do that again....if she can't afford the extra $.20 a gallon =$2.60; I'll give it to her!

 

i never ever ever touched regular in my ss s/c i always put premium even when my dad takes the car i always make sure he gets premium b/c i know his cheap ass whould put regular but still at premium i put 20 bucks from empty i get past the half way mark

 

that's in the ss/sc which calls for premium...

 

I run better times at the 1/4th with 93 or 94. The car runs stronger, longer, and I'm sure it will get more life in the long run with running at least 92 all the time.

 

Ah, my bad, I looked at his sig which says he has a LT...regular gas is fine for that....

 

It does say that you can put in Regular. In the manual no less...but to each his own.

 

i usually use 89 in mine and i typically get bout 27 miles/gal i haven't used 93 or high yet but im going to try it sounds like u guys are gettin a lil better gas mileage

 

im actually going to do a study now. the next time that i fill up, im usiong regular, im going to record the avg mileage and cost to fill up and figure the actual cost per mile. then the following week ill do the same for premium. ill report back with this in 2 weeks.

and btw marerick, i do have an lt, and it does make a difference.... thats what this whole post is about lol

 

Never get Giants Fuel (Large SuperMarket Chain in the Harrisburg PA area, which also happens to sell fuel in some locations), I decided to get it becuase my wife shops there all the time, and she uses this Bonus card. Well she racked up enough bonus buy points to save a $1 off at the pump. We filled our car with 92, both fill ups cost us just $24.50 (about $1.30 per gallon), not bad for two vehicles. After running a few days on this Giants 92 fuel, it feels more like I'm running on 87 or 89. I usually get Citgo's 93 or Sunoco's 94, and my car runs awesome with those grades. So, yes, you can definitely tell a difference in these cars.

 

You could, but mid grade would be better. The computer knows what gas is in there and rolls back the ignition timing so nothing gets messed up.

 

I know, I admitted I messed up and didn't know you were talking about a LT instead of a SS/SC...my bad man! I also had a LS Sport Pkg Sedan, and I only used regular in that.

 

I think the report will be a lil messed up from the switch. In my experiences with the car, Ive noticed that when you switch, say going from 89 to 94, the car acts funny while it gets used to the higher octane. Its more noticable goin down the chain from 94 to 87, as the car begins to hesitate and runn awful until it gets used to the octane. I think that you should allow a grace period durring the switch to allow for proper readings IMO

 

I have a 05 LS and have never run anything but regular through it. I am a pretty sprinted driver (well the most I can be for an LS anyway) too. Never has my car read below 27.8mpg. Driving from Erie to State College Pa. At 75mph the whole way (about 230 miles) I even got 36mpg. In my 00 Focus ZX3 I had I ran both 87 & 93 for and never noticed a difference. I see no reason to switch.

 

The study would be worthless unless you can replicate the driving situations each time EXACTLY.

As for making a difference it dosent. Even GM has a bulletin about using higher grade gas and how it does absolutely nothing for your vehicle. (If I remember I'll grab it at work tomorrow)

However if you use TOP TIER GAS it will make a difference down the road as it doesn't clog your fuel system.

 

I accidently put 87 in from an empty tank, i didnt want to find out if there was any difference, so I just put 104 octane booster just to be safe

 

that was bad. Attitives are a no-no in these cars. It will throw a CEL and when u come off it the car will run like ****. oh well live and learn

 

Permium burns cleaner and you get less fouling on the O2 sensor..

They are $200.00 from GM so IMO, pony up, get the good gas, even if your car can't use the extra octaine. Plus the chicks will know and love it..

 

Look at his sig

 

Another factor in your loss of gas mileage is the temperature change we have gone through recently. The cold air causes yuor gas mileage to drop as well. Make sure that is factored in.

 

well i agree on the mileage in town cause im a delivery driver. I almost always put premium in my car when i am delivering for that exact reason. But on the highway the 87 octane showed no differences for some reason. When i drove to Penn this summer from Texas it didnt matter what gas i filled up with i still never really got over 36 mpg avg.

 

Oh no, it isn't. I have an LT and had a 2003 Cavalier LS. With both of them I noticed about a 5mpg increase just going from 87 to 89 octane. The premium doesn't make any more difference so I don't go over 89 unless the station doesn't have it, like Sam's Club. It does make a difference in the N/A cars.

 

Who ever says it doesn't matter should take that rediculous argument to GM and ask them why then does the SS Cobalt say it should use 91 or better? GM doesn't own the oil companies so why would they care?

 

I never said you wouldn't notice a difference...anything but the SS/SC are tuned to run on regular gas. Crappy quality regular gas can make your car run like ****. Where you get the gas can make the difference too. I always try to get my gas from the newest stations in town. I know their tanks are new and the chance of water seepage or leaks are slim to none. The older the storage tanks, the more contaminated the gas can be. Also, name brands do make a difference. I was always told Hess is one of the best stations to go to...Hard to find except on the upper east coast I think. Shell and Sunoco are good too.