Anyone using 89 instead of 91?Any problems?

 

Oh here we go again!

 

It's not worth it. Spend the extra $2.50 each fill-up to make your car happy and healthy. Our cars are fragile as is with higher octane.

 

I've never tried running 89 in my JCW MCS. Every now and then in the summer time I will get a little pining under WOT if I'm running 91 fuel....so most of the time I just run 93 to avoid any problems. I would imagine that 89 would be ok...until you get into the boost, then you are most likely going to hear some pinging....which is not good.

For a few extra cents a gallon...why risk hurting your motor??

 

Does the pinging apply to just the turbo engine or is the NA also suceptible to detonation?

 

Regular is fine for a justa (non-turbo).

 

89 is all my wife and I put in our '02 and '03 R50 models, unless we are going on a club drive or up in the mountains and need the power from 91 octane for hill climbing. It works fine and we get adequate power from it and have had no problems with it. We always use real gas- from a Chevron or Shell unless we are in a pinch. Never from ARCO, though.

Val

 

15,000 miles a year @ 30mpg, 93 octane @ 25 cents more per gallon = $125 per year. To me it's worth that to take care of my MCS.

 

You can run regular but MINI recommends premium in the non turbo as well as turbo. This might have changed to lower standards in 2011 as I recall the S model capable of running on 89 all of the time, but premium should be used.

"Required fuel
Super Premium gasoline/AKI 91
This gasoline is highly recommended.
However, you may also use gasoline with less
AKI. The minimum AKI Rating is:
> Cooper S, John Cooper Works: 89
> Cooper: 87
If you use gasoline with this minimum AKI Rating, the engine may produce knocking sounds
when starting at high outside temperatures. This
has no effect on the engine life.
Do not use any gasoline below the specified minimum fuel grade. Otherwise, the
engine could be damaged."

 

I have a Justa(Non S version) Countryman and always use 91 or higher as the Owners Guide states that, but something else interesting that I read there was they state NOT to use any type of gas with ethanol...really..here in Texas, it seems that is our only option??????

 

Been a little while since I read mine (2012), but I seem to remember that up to 10% ethanol was ok but E85 (85%) was bad. I could be wrong.

 

haha i thought the same thing! there is a search function on here that works really well... google works well too...

 

Where I live, the differential between premium and regular is .40 to .50. My tank averages for regular are generally 37 MPG when running regular and 39 MPG when running premium with no perceptible difference in performance (knocking, hesitation,etc.). Running premium all year would cost me an extra $250/year. Is it worth it? Dunno. For a normally aspirated engine, probably not.

 

Here in Rhode Island our choices for gasoline at 87, 89, and 93 most places. Of those, I usually fillled up with 89. Hope I'm not doing any damage with this. D: I'm moving up to 93 though, now that I'm in the R56 over the R53. After the short lives of our previous two Minis, I'm doing everything in my power to keep this one runing.

Prices:
87 - $3.77
89 - $4.03
93 - $4.20ish (I don't remember exactly)

The difference filling a 13 gallon tank is only about $3 - $4 at max, and it's definitely worth the cost. The car feels a lot better, and the piece of mind is great as well.

 

The first time I filled my MINI up, I used Regular Unleaded. You would think the sticker on the gas cap would have been a good indication I should've used premium.
I guess I was just in a hurry to get back on the road, and it's habit since the previous cars were all beaters.
I live in the Mountains Northwest of Denver, and it made a huge difference!
Not as much power, and kinda sluggish. I didn't notice any crazy sounds or anything. I have been a faithful Premium User ever since, and I always check the octane now.
I figure I'm not using near as much gas as I used to, and that's with a Supercharger, so it's always worth it if it makes my MINI happy!!

 

Ah...music to ears of Mad Men everywhere

Of course, we all just believe we're getting premium when we pull up at the pump and pay more. I can imagine a cartoon where the pipes for all three pumps (regular, plus, premium) are shown connected to a single tank underground. People pay more for the peace of mind and swear their car runs better.

All kidding aside, there are many marketing studies that address this. Same coffee served in different paper cups with different prices and the customers preferred the "premium roast".

 

I remember a law suit recently where a gasoline truck had too much 'regular' gas so added some of his 87 octane into the 93 octane tank. I always wonder the same thing, whether or not it's a placebo effect. Then I think about all the law suits that would ensue if a company was charging more money for a product they were advertising as better quality when it really wasn't.

I'm not brave enough to test out the placebo effect. Only 93 octane for me...plus my tune 'requires' it

 

I haven't tried it in my MCSc and probably won't but in my 1970 Cutlass S/W if I run 89 or lower octane there was a noticeable difference in performance and pinging from the engine (10.5:1 comp. ratio in the wagon). I've always used 91 oct or above in the Mini and aways will

 

I just follow the recomendation of using premium gas, I do not want to be sorry over a few dollars.

 

HI, I just got my 2006 cooper last week, 1st tank was 87 octaine, with gas prices going through the roof I plan on running 87 for day to day commuting, and premium on special trips. I will be using a good fuel injector cleaner regularly. Everything I have seen from consumer reports and other consumer advocates say 87 is fine. If I am proven wrong on my theroy I will run the pricey stuff, but I have a 15 mile flat (No Hills) freeway drive to work each day.

 

Where does Consumer Reports say that using 87 in a car spec'ed for 91 is fine?

- Mark

 

Well I guess I was speaking in gereralites I have seen Clark Howard on CNN say it many times, and here is a web article on the subject, but just like anything else you can find opinions on both sides of this issue. Now you guys have got me rethinking myself. I need to calculated the price difference on a 14.5 gallon tank.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...nd-regular-gas

 

I know for sure that the placebo effect works when folks are running an octane rating higher than required for their engine. I've seen threads in other forums where folks swear up and down that their 87 octane spec'ed car runs "so much better on 93", or that it was "so much faster" at the track when they put 100 octane race fuel in it ("race cars use it, so it must make a car faster").

The rule is: Use the lowest octane rating that does not produce knocking at WOT. Otherwise you're just wasting money, and losing power.

The MINI has a knock sensor, so the spark is retarded when the engine begins to knock. So use the recommended octane rating for you engine, but don't sweat if you have to use a lower grade fuel. The engine will protect itself from damage, but you will be down on power and MPGs.

 

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 89!!!!!!!!!!nIf you were in Iowa and ran 89 you'd never drive your MINI again cause it says on the pump for 89, "contains 15% or more ethanol". Yeah, don't do it. premium or bust unless your out in the middle of nowhere.

 

Holy Drunken MINI, batman...too funny..LOLx2 I would have to be double-dog dared to put 15% into my MINI. Does it come with the worm too!