It just gets a whole lot more complex :impatient and requires a computer

 

on 87, i noticed anywhere from a 7-10mpg drop from my usual 22mpg with 93 octane and half a bottle of octane booster.

Oh yeah, if anyone hasnt tried it, i noticed when i combine a half a bottle of octane booster (Lucas is my choice brand) with the crap winter gas we get here, my mpg goes back up to about what it is during the summer!

 

Nope. never have put less than premium in my MINI. You shouldnt either. MINI says that they need a fuel with 91 octane or more.

 

with 91 you WILL get timing retard.

Matt

 

Sound like a disease ... now that your a famous author timing retards sound scary

 

I do all the time ... on the recommendation (insistance really) of the BMW Master Technician & Diagnostic Specialist who is The Man in Charge of the folks who work on my Mini at the Mini Dealer. Been running on regular unleaded for over a year now. No appreciable change in MPG or performance.

 

I don't plan to use anything less than premium if I do go along with the MCS, I know it'll retard the timing, but I'd rather not. Its just a few bucks in the long run.

 

I've been saying this all along, but a lot of people think their MINI will self-destruct if they don't use premium. I've seen post from people in a panic because they accidentally put some.....horrors....87 octane in their baby.

 

Although you can run it on 87 octane, and some do for long periods with no problems, my 2 cents are..."I say 93 octane"... fact is cleaner fuel burns better. It may seem to run just fine on a lower octane but you can't look at the inside of your fuel system daily either!

 

TOTALY CONFUSED NOW! i AM NEW TO THE MINI WORLD NEW OWNER OF 06 MCS CONVERTABLE. MY SALES MAN FILLED HEAR UP WITH REGULAR WHEN ON THE TEST DRIVE. I ASKED DO I NOT NEED PREMIEM ANSWER NOT AT ALL. WHIN AT THE GAS PUMP I READ THE LABLE ON THE IN SIDE OF GAS CAP IT STATES 91+ . WHAT IS THE REAL STORY ? IWILL BE USING 91+ FROM NOW ON

 

Total ignorance alert,

Do I *want* to retard my timing with 91?

Here in San Francisco I only see 87, 89 and 91 as options. We've been using 91 dutifuly per the manual as did Phanda Cub's first owner!

thanks,
aaron

 

Here's what I think the real story is. The salesman either wanted to save a couple of bucks or just picked up the 87 octane nozzle out of habit, maybe from filling up his own cars.

Using 87 octane will not hurt your MCS. It's no big deal. I'd use 91+ because the owners manual says to and, depending on the dealer, they might refuse to fix a boot latch rattle if they could prove you used 87 octane gas.

In other sources on the MINI I have read where it's designed to run on 87-98 octane fuel. Knowing the car was going to be sold worldwide, BMW engineered it to run fine on a wide range of available gasoline.

As has been said before, the savings from using regular is relatively small, most people use premium.

 

Here in Texas we have 87, 89 and 93 octane. You rarely see a station with any 91 octane.

 

91 oct all the time!

 

Being in San Diego, where the gas prices are super high to begin with , the difference between 87 octane and 91 octane is 20 cents.

So, assuming a 15 gal fillup everyweek:

87 octane @ $2.80 = $42

91 octane @ 3.00 = $45

The difference is $3.00 a tank/week or:

A grande latte at Starbucks or
A slim Jim and Diet Coke at 7/11 to munch on while motoring or
A Krispy Cream and small coffee or
A Happy Meal or
An air freshner shaped as a Hula girl (she moves , my fav) or
A pack of Hostess Cup Cakes and a Diet Coke, etc.

Almost all high performance cars run on Premium, it goes with the territory.

 

that you may get worse gas milage with the lower octane. It doesn't take much to errode the difference in savings...

Matt

So it's only half of a latte!

 

Just paid $2.99/Gal of Citgo 93 Octane fuel.

Gallons: 10.87
Total: $32.60

 

`

 

Hi all,

I'm new to NAM and just ordered my MCS. How long is the break in period? How many miles? And, of course I'll use premium for my MCS!

Jen

 

Since I started using the 93 I did not notes mugh in gas milage with the first tank how every after the thired fillup there is a notesable milage incress. and performence was notesed greateley.

 

mininin:

recommended break-in period is 1200 miles

 

Does anybody know what Premium is costing out in the midwest? Also, is it 91 or 93 out there?

Over here in washington it's either 91 or 92...

 

Break in is 1250 miles, not to exceed 4500 RPM or 90mph during that period.

 

Thanks o-ron. 1200 miles is a lot of miles. I was thinking like 500 or so.

 

4500 rpm or 90 mph during a breakin period? Sweet! I thought it was 50mph. Sweet!