Mirage Escorts

My New Car

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Esco!

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Nov 10, 2004
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Hey guys, my new car says premium gasoline only.
This to me sounds like some kind of carmaker/oil company conspiracy and so far I've only put in regular gas.
Butwill this harm the vehicle??????

Also, can Mazda void the warranty if they find out I havent been putting in premium??? And how would they know, can they test for it????
 
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papasmerf

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Oct 22, 2002
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You ashhat......They have cameras at every gas pump that activate when a Mazda pulls up.
 
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Cobster

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danmand

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Nov 28, 2003
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I have acar like that also, and it is expensive.

You may get some knocking when using low octane gas, and that is not good for the engine. I believe you can have the ignition changed to accept lower octane gas, however you will lose some Hp by doing that.
 
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Esco!

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Nov 10, 2004
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danmand said:
not good for the engine
Click to expand...
Otherwise I do take good care of all my cars (oil change every 5K and tuneups all on time).

But will using regular gas increase my chances of developing engine problems in a few years????
 
T

TRX

Active member
Oct 10, 2005
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with the newer car it is more effective if you used the specified octane rating recomended due to you get some knocking when using low octane gas. with higher octane your car burned fuel more effeciently and you actually saves by getting more mileage per liter
 
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YellowDog

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Jan 5, 2007
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In the long run it will be cheaper to use the correct grade of gasolene. There is no collusion between car manufacturers and the oil makers. People demand certain preformance from a vehicle that can only be accomplished using higher graded gasolene.
 
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smiley1437

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Oct 30, 2005
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Esco! said:
Hey guys, my new car says premium gasoline only.
This to me sounds like some kind of carmaker/oil company conspiracy and so far I've only put in regular gas.
Butwill this harm the vehicle??????

Also, can Mazda void the warranty if they find out I havent been putting in premium??? And how would they know, can they test for it????
Click to expand...
A common misconception is that premium (high octane) gas gives more power to your engine in and of itself. It's a misconception that gas companies promote.

This is just plain wrong.

Engines have a fixed compression ratio. Higher compression ratios generally give you more power, but the higher heat and pressure in the cylinder can cause lower-octane gas to detonate early, way before the piston reaches the optimum detonation point (the optimum point is a little bit before Top Dead Centre). When this happens, it is REALLY BAD for your engine because it is forcing the piston BACK against the way the crankshaft should be turning. The term "knock" understates how bad it is for your engine:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_knocking

So you shouldn't use low-octane gas in a high-compression/high performance engine.

Higher-octane gas is more stable and won't detonate too early, so you won't get knock.

The truth is, modern engines can detect knocking and will start compensating by adjusting the timing (and reducing your power), but you can bet it's recorded so you can't really get away with it.

That being said, if you don't drive TOO hard you might be able to get away with some mid-grade occasionally, but really, if you can afford a high-performance engine, you should be using premium gas.

Hope that helps.
 
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lookingforitallthetime

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Mar 19, 2006
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I have the same problem with my car. You have to suck it up and use the higher octane or it will cause engine gamage. The octane is important in relation to timing and detonation in the combustion chamber.

Sorry mate.
 
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tboy

resident smartass
Aug 18, 2001
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holy fuck smiley, good answer my man! Awesome that someone else actually knows what TDC means!!!

Only additional thing is that higher octance gasoline actually burns faster which also increases power. That's why they use nitro-methane in Top AA fuelers......
 
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l69norm

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Jan 25, 2004
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Esco! said:
.. so far I've only put in regular gas. But will this harm the vehicle??????.. And how would they know, can they test for it????
Click to expand...
The octane rating is a measure on how resistant the gas is to detonation. The amount of detonation you're liable to get depends on how you drive:
- If it's a stick and you like to run low revs and lug the engine a lot
- tow trailers or high loads on long steep grades
- lots of hard acceleration
The car computer senses detonation and delays the ignition timing to reduce the combustion temperature/pressure to compensate and prevent damage.

Reduced ignition timing also kills horsepower by as much as 5-10% (20 horsepower on a 200 horsepower car!). It was a common trick in the old days to advance the ignition timing way beyond the stock setting to get the maximum horsepower possible. It's also how those aftermarket "high performance" 20 HP computer chips used to work.

If you drive normally using regular gas, you'll not notice much if any difference because there won't be much detonation.

Yes, the dealer technician could deduce that you are using regular gas because the car's computer records the amount of detonation it's been experiencing and the timing settings that it is using as part of it's learning algorithm.
 
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Mongrel4u

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May 27, 2005
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its best to follow dealer reccomendations

which Mazda is it? if its the Mazdaspeed 6 you def have to put the 94
 
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bestillmehard

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Jun 21, 2006
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My new car also requires premium fuel. I oblige only because my mechanic ( NOT DEALERSHIP) agrees that you get better wear and tear on parts and better mileage, that to me means less time and money in the shop.....and thats a good thing!
 
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