Jkunzy1690

hi, i just purchased an 06 supercharged cobalt. it says to fill up with premium. i was just curious why, and what would hapen if i filled up with regular? please help thank you

chris88z24

If you're stock the PCM will pull timing which will limit power. It's forced induction, to achieve optimum performance you should run at least 91 octane in a stock s/c cobalt. When you mod it(stage 1, stage 2), you NEED to run 93+.

SSRedSC

Honestly nothing will happen, it didnt for me. The dealership gave me a full tank when I bought the car and Im sure that it didnt have 93 in it. I run 93 because its only like three bucks more for a tank, but if your stock you can run 87 if you want. The manual "recommends" premium, not requires.

I wouldnt be going to the drag strip and for the three bucks a tank you might as well just get the good stuff.

tru2nrtt777

iTrader: (1)

It says 93 because anything lower and you are risking detonation. When you get unwanted detonation timing retards and you lose power.

Red2.4SS

your engine will get detonation with less than 91 octane fuel! DO NOT use anything else, unless you don't like your engine. You can always get a higher octane though, as the higher the octane the higher the detonation resistance is.

chris88z24

If you are stock you can run 87 but you won't be getting the full power from the LSJ. You need at least 91 octane to get full power without detonation. If you are staged you NEED to run 93 octane.

Red2.4SS

not wise at all. the ECM will be pulling timing all over to try and save itself, and you loose tons of power as a result.

If you want to save on gas buy an AVEO! I mean really!

chris88z24

Um.. I use 93 every time I fill my car. And i'm stock motor-wise. I'm just saying you technically can run 87, the car isn't going to combust into a pile of dust. It won't harm anything. But I mean come on.. if you're buying a performance-oriented car at least put the right gas into it!

Red2.4SS

that is what I said! don't use less then 91 octane ever.

you could run 85.5 octane too, but the ECM will pull timing like mad to protect itself. The idea is to have 0* knock retard at all times.

maverick0716

Totally agree. Even the N/A 2.4L is supposed to run at least 91 octane. There's no way in hell I'd run anything less than 91 in a stock SS/SC.

chris88z24

Actually now that I think of it I accidentally put 87 in my car once. I was half asleep, driving to my gf's house which is 2 hours away. I went to a different Hess station where the regular is in the middle of the 3. At the station I always go to the premium is in the middle, so me being half asleep just grabbed the middle nozzle without thinking and pumped away. After the tank was full I realized what I had done. I drove the car for the entire tank, with about 250 of those miles all highway. Nothing was damaged (obviously) but you could deffinitely feel the decrease in power.

Jkunzy1690

thanks alot guys, looks like im not running anything but 91+, ill have my pics up soon, rollin on 20s

Austyn_Balt

I had an ion 2.4L and i only ran 87 and i never had a problem. Im not even sure where to buy 93 up here, the highest i have ever seen is 91 at the pumps. Im probably just blind tho.