I've never bought any gas besides regular unleaded. Now, I've read all of the posts here about how most people opt for the premium... is there really a difference? If I always put regular in my tank and not switch back and forth, will it make a difference?

I'm not totally against premium, I'm just not used to spending that kind of money!

What do you guys think?

 

Mini, both dealers I have spoken too and the web site recommend premium.

 

If you do the math, you'll see that on a year's basis, premium doesn't add up to as much as you might imagine. In other words, it's worth it.

Godspeed.

 

Your MINI is designed to run on premium fuel. The computer will compensate for lower octane, but performance and mileage will suffer. You might see the savings at the pump, but if you are driving with lower performance and get worse fuel efficiency, the savings disappear quickly.

If you use regular unleaded, you will end up paying the same for gas as you would for premium, but you will suffer lower performance and fill up a bit more often with the lowered fuel efficiency.

 

splurge and get premium. you won't regret it especially in your MCS. a straight MC and you might be able to get away with it once in a while.

pretty soon you'll be dropping $$$ on modifications anyway.

re-read- you have a MC -- i'd use prem. all summer. not quite as important during those lovely MN winters. -you'll have plenty of cold air for your car.
and not as much WOT driving as the summer.
PS i was a MN resident for 4 years-i moved back here where it's more snowy but less cold (most of the time)

 

Sounds like I'll be going premium... I guess I never noticed anything on the MINI sites recommending premium. Maybe cuz it' a newer concern for me and I never really cared before...

Whatever's best for my baby. :smile:

 

How about sacrificing your weekly Starbucks fix? Premium's roughly $2.50 more per fill-up. I'd say that that's worth it

 

No Starbucks around these parts!!! I'll just take advantage of the extra points on my credit card.

 

That's only one day . you can still have your starbucks the other 6 days and get premium!!!

 

Very true ...6 out of 7 ain't bad

 

Keep in mind that one of the reasons premium fuel is recommended is because of the compression ration of the engine. 10:1 is pretty high. At a lower octane the gas is more likely to pre-ignite (ignite because of the compression and not the spark plug, like diesels do). The higher the octane the less likely that will happen.

Granted the software will compensate from that if it detects "knocking," but it's not perfect. Aside from the lower gas mileage you will likely experience, you may also be doing damage to the engine by the pre-ignition.

MC has a compression ration of 10:1, and the MCS a ration of 8:1. Forced induction however does increase the effective compression ratio to a much higher number. So lower octane in a MCS will do well, but if you start to stomp on the gas your compression ratio changes to something much higher due to the forced/compressed air entering the engine.

I'd stick with what's recommended.

 

Woah! Way over my head. No big deal, I get the point - go with premium.

 

For my MCS it is always premium. At 20 cents more per gallon and 12 gallons per fill up at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year that comes to $2.40 more per fill up and $96 more per year. This helps performance maybe 5% and improves gas mileage maybe 2 mpg. I want to keep my car for 10 years so premium it is. In my Maxima SE I can tell a big difference in performance when I use Premium but in my Honda Odyssey van I can't tell any difference. The Maxima is supposed to use Premium.

Here is a good article from USA today-
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...emiumgas_x.htm
Some highlights-
Engines designed for regular fuel don't need premium.
Supercharged engines benefit from premium.
Premium makes up 12.1% of total gas sales (20.3% in 94' and still dropping)
Premium gas allows car makers to uprate HP figures for engines
Upmarket cars are rated for premium gas
Premium-SUV getting 14 mpg driving 12,000 miles a year it's $171 more.
All cars must run OK on regular- since world wide availability is not certain

 

In a nutshell: whatever you save at the pump, you'll lose in lower mpg. So why not feed the engine what it's designed to run on?

 

2005LY, you'll adjust to buying a different grade of gas.....no problem! Keeping your MINI happy is a good thing. I never, ever bought premium grades before....now I not only buy a premium grade, but I'm also selective as to where I buy it!!!!

LY/B = very hot!!!!

 

Not using premium can also be a warranty issue. On a different note, Starbucks brews some really nasty stuff. Head on down to New Orleans for good coffee - I was truly and thoroughly spoiled from living there for 6 years.:smile:

 

Since we are talking about gas, I just bought a sour tank of Shell V-Power
premium today at the Shell located at the intersection of Roselle Rd and
Irving Park Rd in Roselle, IL during my road trip. bad bad gas!

Ended up in limp mode after I ran 2nd gear to almost redline. poof!
Luckily I was close to home so I just limped home. Checked my oil and
coolant levels, restarted the car and it started just fine. I restarted it
5 more times to clear the cel.

Switched my Unichip program to the A map (less aggressive). Won't be
buying gas from that station ever again. This never happened before
while buying at other Shell stations.

 

The fuel octane you put in your MINI not about splurging and spending the extra money - it is a direct correlation to how the engine was designed. The MINI's higher compression (or boosted for the MCS) engine was designed for 91 to 99 octane; purchase accordingly.

 

Mine has "Premium Unleaded Only" tag right on the gas-lid...

 

Everyone has their own opinion about gas. But my brother in-law who works in the "gas industry" says he'd rather **** in his gas tank than use Shell gas. And that's a quote. Needless to say, I don't use Shell in my MINI.

 

Using a lower-rated octane will cause premature detonation of your air/fuel mixture. This will result in retarded timing. You'll be down on power, and will experience engine knock.

This obviously isn't good. Use as high of an octane as you can get, especially if you're driving an S. 93, or 94 if you've got a Sunoco that carries it.

 

...and the octane?????

 

When my MCS was stock I tried regular 87 octane, unleaded plus 89 octane and premium 92 octane in my area and found no knocking with any of these.
The MINI did fine but had less performance with the lower octane fuels.

Now that I've done my upgrades I use Premium only. With the MC you would be free to try any of the grades of gas and see if you get knocking or if there is any difference you can feel.

"**** in my gas tank"? reminds me of-

 

I have a stock MC-my husband accidently put regular unleaded in it-I knew immediately-Louie pinged away until I was able to put premium in again. So the comments about being able to put regular in a stock Cooper is baloney. It has a high compression engine also & requires premium gasoline! And I still get my Starbucks

Lois

 

I think Im going to try some Mobil or British Petrolium next time.

I had to pull out my Unichip tonight cause the car still knocked on
the gentler "A" map. SHELL is bad bad bad!!!

I should go mix some 100 octane when Im about half full.