disclaimer, make sure your car is converted for e85 before usin' product, hicup!

 

Try resetting you ecu, then letting it relearn useing just 93 or 91 for 3 tanks. It will remind you why you bought a MINI in the first place. It is a premium small car, it needs good fuel to run as such. If you want to buy yourself an engine or a rebuild, be my guest, save 2$ a week....or better yet buy a Honda Civic......you will be more happy!

 

follow the manual... it says 91 or higher... must be for a reason

 

mr zippynh,

you r not getting my point. this mini s i was fixing for a lady, it had carbon build up in the combustion chamber, my theory; hi performance car- low performance driver. u think " premium" gas means better fuel. the answer is, "premium"/ higher octane fuel = s o l w e r burning fuel. check chemists working at chevron(someone who knows chemistry)

if we take what you said at face value, than run alcohol in your mini, you can get octane values somewere in the 103- 109? with alchy, but i believe you will develop combustion problems eventually, (we are not going to talk about rubber degradation in this reply).

please dont look down your nose at honda. just like folgers has more caffeine than starbucks, price does not equal results.

PLUS honda wipes the floor with bmw/mini in F1 and IRL.

 

mr zippynh,

oh yeah, today she brought the 03 mini s back and when she tried to let me hear the noise in the engine compartment, the crank pulley separated of it's self. the rubber in the vibration damper sheared off. I've never heard of that before. at 96 thou mi. sounds like a design flaw !!!!

 

Naww....the car I modded before my MINI was a Honda crx...I was trying to say that if you want a basic compact that runs on 87,then buy it. I was not trying to slam Honda in general. I would say a gently driven MINI should and that the key word...should be ok on 89, the engine should be able to retard the timeing and all should be ok. But should and will be ok are not the same, and you know the old saying, almost only matters with hand granades, horseshoes and atomic bombs. OK... Back on subject... Maybe the does need to be driven harder to remove some carbon, maybe some Sea-Foam or some Chevron Techron, but the act of adding these to the gas will lower the octane more....any way I can see what you are saying...and did I say I hate typing on an I-Pod touch....sorry about the typo's!
As for the E 85, well with injectors, a tune, fuel pump maybe.. Go for it, but it is not what the car is Desgined to use....it is made for 91 octane (us rating system). anything else ang as we say in aviation you are beaing the test pilot. It is a shame that her car broke... Definately a shame. I just feel useing low test is a false sense of economy.

 

I had a friend a few years ago.. Put only hight test in hi breeze... Lol..he had to have his intake removed to clean out the carbon too... But that eng had a 89 recomened rating I think. And yes, slower burning gas is what cause the carbon build-up for sure!! 93 in a breeze...he was proud of his car!!

 

I wanted to see what would happen if i used regular... which actually was mid grade i used 87 - and it was a dramatic difference in performance. Mileage went down too so i figured i didnt save any money. Just not worth... im sticking with premium.

 

its all good in the car lover's neighborhood !!!!!

i owned a 95 firebird formula 4 years ago, it was rated at premium gas. i ran 87 and 93 through it. on 87 you could feel the derate of power. i just babied then. i would next put in 93, and joyful sounds would come out of the tailpipe and rear tires.

for myself, i like to take cars through its paces so i can feel confident in all its performance. the internal combustion engines are a giant compromise, and the modern ones are more suited to fuel grade variations. a little pinging wont hurt a bit. a lot of pinging will..... ?!!!!!

experiment my children and see what is good for you (but mostly stick with the owners manual recommendations)

 

like a plymouth breeze???

 

Yup.....like you said, experment a bit, have fun, be careful. It is all good!!

 

I have had my darling Mini S for 7 years and almost always use 91 octane. Once in a while I get a tank that does not run well at all. Most of the time it does fine. Generally I get the gas at Chevron that is supposed to be like liquid gold. I don't think the extra cost per tank is horrible, it's less than a cuppa joe.

When gas prices hit $5.00 gallon for premium, I did mix one tank of 91 with the next tank of 89 and it did fine.

What really torqued me off was when the ethanol was added to the fuel, my car has less pep and gets nearly 10 miles to the gallon LESS than it did before. I want unethanoled petrol!!!!!

 

I have no choice on ethanol fuel, it's all that is available. My car is NOT rated for the e85 or any other thing. My performance is down, gas mileage down. GGGRRRRRRRRRRR

 

One quick note.....since installing my JCW 380 injectors, my car now runs great on e-10 blends that are the norm now. Before, it was hit or miss, brand by brand. Now, any brand, 91-93, and she purrs, runs great, and is happy!!

 

I've run my 06 MC since new on regular unleaded and have averaged 36 mpg. When I bought the car the salesman stated the MCS needs the high test but the MC will run fine on regular unleaded. The only thing I've noticed about performance is in the summer with the AC on there is a very slight hesitation off the line. But I kind of think thats just due to the low HP and use of the AC.

 

What octane fuel are you folks using, and do you ever "balance" or even-out the expense by mixing premium with regular?

Being on a fixed budget, I have had to balance my fuels over the four-and-a-half months that I've owned my MINI (`03-R50) - usually by refueling/refilling at about 1/2 tank - one time with premium (93), the next time with regular (87).

Lately (past month or so/1000-2000 miles) I have gone to substituting mid-grade (89) for the premium (mixing about 1/2 with regular), with no "known" or noticeable effect/detriment.

I'm looking for some good, solid feedback on this. Am I, or have I been, setting myself up for any problem(s) please?

Thanks in advance...

 

There used to be a sticky on this somewhere. This topic is almost as bad as oil change intervals.

I used to use mid-grade. Car started easier and no effect on performance/economy (if the octane is too low and causes pings, the engine is automatically toned down to prevent it). After I installed a pulley, I went to premium just to be safe. Even my local MINI dealer recommended mid-grade to improve starting. As long as no pinging is detected, there is nothing wrong with running a lower grade.

I would still go with a Top Tier fuel though to insure you are getting the same level of detergents. Part of the Top Tier requirements is that the station must use the same level of detergents between all grades of fuel.

 

It saves you money till you start getting misfire codes after 15,000 or so miles....then you need a head or a piston and a set of rings. If you have no choice, drive gently, and hope things get better. Good luck.
There has been a debate about this forever....pretty heated too!!

 

Heres how I see it:

10gal of 87 @ $2.65 (my current local)= $26.50

10gal of 93 @ $2.99 (What I payed yesterday) = $29.90

Is it really worth saving $3.40 when you fill up? If $3 is a decision making amount of money, then dont buy a BMW. I spent too much money on my car to potentially damage it over $3 a week.

just my 2¢

 

I use Shell Top Tier 93+ Octane because I believe it is $$ well-spent & I love my MINI.

 

I agree with Johnny. $3 a tank at 30 miles per gallon is 300 miles or a penny a mile. If that is a deal breaker for you, you should be driving a Toyota.

 

Super/Premium all the way. Don't let that computer ever catch you with lower octane!

 

Please allow me to streamline my question(s):

As the owners manual (my manual, that is, for a NON-turbo/NON SC R50) calls for "91", I had been mixing 93 & 87 (though leaning more heavily to the 93), thereby achieving (I believe, and using simple math) an approximate octane number of "91".

In your opinion, would this suffice the R50 octane req., and, would it not be logical?

If not, can you explain my irrationality in it, please?

I have not found 91 octane (specifically) in my travels in the time I have owned this vehicle, and again, am on a tight budget.

@ "Johnny Villain" - the "buy" point is moot - I've already 'bought' a "BMW".

@ "lwelch" - not at all interested in what type of vehicle you think I "should" drive.

 

My current vehicle is an R56. The User Manual for that vehicle says that any octane between 87 and 91 is suitable, but recommends 91. I would expect your blending of octanes will produce suitable fuel.

I use 92 octane. Also there is no top tier gasoline available in my area.

 

grc: have you tried using straight 87 octane? If it doesn't ping with the 87, it won't damage the engine. But there might be a slight performance penalty as the ECU compensates for the lower octane.

BTW, the top-tier hype is just that, imo.