Hi Folks,

I'm new to this and have not purchsed a Mini yet. I'm still in the thinking mode trying to figure out what to do. With the increased fuel prices I have concern about the need to use premium fuel and if I will be able to find it in the near future. Has anyone tried regular in their Mini?

 

Nope, never have and never will.

 

Yup. In my MCS (wasn't paying attention...).

The performance difference was like night and day -- don't even think about it!

You can freely use the cheapest super unleaded you can find -- just make sure you get it from a station which has high product turnover so that the fuel is fresh. That winds up being Costco and Arco around here...

When all is said and done, you won't be spending that many more $$ by using super.

 

I would not put less than 91 in my MCS. Even then, I have had bad experiences with some brands.

 

Your engine will run with lower octane, but it will adjust the timing so that it will protect the engine. In the process, it will run less efficiently, and your MPG will drop so that your perceived savings disappears.

You won't save any money buying the cheaper gas.

Here in Alabama, they sell 93 octane premium and 89 mid grade. If your local area is the same, you could mix these two 1:1 and get 91 octane. You could probably save 50 cents per tankful if you wanted to bother.

 

My dealer recommended using 89 octane in the cold upstate NY winter, because he said it is more volitle and thus the car will run better. All other times of year, he recommended 91 (per manufacturer specs). I have not had the car in winter yet, so can't comment.

 

Remember that The MC does not need super unleaded like the MCS.

So putting in the higher octane in a MC is wasting your money.
Just my 2cents.
Cheers

 

Are you sure about that? I thought the MC needed super unleaded because of its high compression ratio?

 

if for no other reason than getting an upgraded additive package with the 91+ octanes you should do it. the fuel additive packages these days are pretty darn good and they will help your injectors and fuel system stay clean. I am not big on marketing, but there is a difference b/t the additive packages used between the various grades of gas. so, take care of your mini, forget about the $$$ and use the good stuff. In the long run you'll be saving money and getting better gas mileage.

anyway, just my 2 cents...

 

I've been using Regular since my first fill up, no problems and the performance is perfect.
Higher octane is to help reduce ping and knock, which can be deadly to a forced inducted engine. That is why if a lower octane is used the car will compensate and performance will suffer.

 

Premium is 20 cents more than regular in my area which works to about $2.50 a fillup on 12.5 gallons regardless of the price of gas.

Is $2.50 going to break the bank? I think not, plus you don't risk engine damage/reduced mileage and/or performance .

 

You should really reconsider that. What you're effectively doing is saving $2.60 for a full tank of gas, but at what price? The MINI's compression ratio is over 10:1, compensating for the huge disparity required for 87 octane will turn your car into a classic Mini (performance-wise), and the computer may not be able to play that game forever.

You're also in the break-in period, I'm guessing, which is when we're supposed to be as friendly to the engine as possible.

The higher the octane, the greater the resistance to combustion under compression. You are crippling your engine.

 

Well I stand corrected. Just checked the owners manual and it says 91 oops.

I was not using the regular to save money but because I thought all it needed was regular.
That being said my Francis runs very well

 

If you've never used the correct fuel, then how would you know if your car's performance is "perfect"?

 

How do you know the performance is perfect if you NEVER tried using premium?
High octane fuel is not only for forced induction engines.... It is also used for normally aspirated cars with a higher compression. I thought the MC used premium gas? Read the manual and use what is recommended by MINI.

 

Dude did you not read my last post?
And yes it runs very well! No Dyno numbers but very well.
I was a bit missinformed. I see that there is no need to FLAME me for it.
Cheers

 

From the master himself:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/041008.html

Main points:

• do what the manual says
• you didn't buy a high performance car to cheap out at the pump, did you?
• using too low octane will lose power and efficiency. He does not assert that the loss in efficiency will net to more $ / mile, however.

 

That article should be required reading for all MINI owners....

 

I love it Cecil.

 

 

In addition to a minimum octane rating of 91 for the MCS, I personally would buy a gasoline product that has a high detergent level. Check out www.toptiergas.com for information on the detergent issue and the current participating retailers. If you skimp on the detergents in the gas, you will be looking at a de-carbonization procedure in about 10,000 miles. If it comes down to a decision to run 89 octane (or god forbid, 87 octane) with TopTier detergent levels (and quality), or 91 octane without TopTier detergent spec, I would go for the 89 octane with TopTier detergent spec. Having said that, as ahamos posted above, $2.60 (the delta between regular unleaded and premium unleaded at $0.20 per gallon for a 13 gallon fill) is not going to break the bank; so I will continue to fill with Chevron Premium.

 

Hell, I obtained a bottle of SLP octane booster during this last weekend when people went crazy(I live in Orlando, FL) and suddenly gas was impossible to find, on the off-chance that gas-stations would do as they had done last year and restrict their pumps to regular only. Last year, it was impossible to find the good stuff anywhere.

This time around I was prepared, but thankfully didn't need it as gas stations resupplied on Sunday.

 

Hello to all!
I to am new on this site but we do have a 2005 mini cooper s convertible & if we use anything but regular it really acts up! When i try premium it coughs & sputters around. I hope you get to enjoy this wonderful little car as much as we have!

 

Me too. I have an 02 Cooper and have always used Premium. This year when summer came around, it started sputtering and stalling on cold starts, even with an outside temperature of 60-80. I called NWMini, and they said that the gas changes for summer, and directed me to switch to the mid-grade gasoline to solve the problem. The problem improved, but its still there a little at startup. So the dealer actually told me to not follow the manual's instructions, and said that it will not hurt the car or be noticed in performance if I am not racing it. Hmm...

 

Huh? You have an '05 MCS Convertible and it acts up with premium so you use regular? I would have that pretty little cabrio sent into the dealer to have it checked as you should not be having that problem as MINI recommends 91+ octane for S models.