the manual says that the MNI requires premium gas. has anyone tried regular?? i really dont want to pay the price of premium gas.

 

yes, and actually, it was my motoring advisor who told me it would be ok....but after I put in a whole tank of it, I noticed pinging. so I switched back to premium and have never put in anything else. Here in Hawaii, premium is up to $2.25 and is this high all year long. Sucks especially for me since I'm getting average 18mpg!

_________________

 

The MINI does come equipped with an anti-knock sensor. Some here have reported using regular, and have everthing go OK. I would still run it on 91 octane if it was me.....which I do, even if I had a regular Cooper. But on an MCS, well, I'm sure you could get away with it, but, you'll be hindering the car's performance, and robbing it of the higher grade juice to run good. I'm sure everyone feels your pain in regards to the price of gas. But IMO, I wouldn't want to have my car suffer just to save a couple bucks here and there. I'm sure it could add up to more than a couple bucks in savings, but still. I like to give my MCS a good work out when I'm behind the wheel. that's why I got it. To have fun.
Cheers,

 

thankyou for the inputs.

 

I'm pretty content to feed my MINI premium grades. There's usually some SUV or monster truck gassing up near me so I always figure it could be worse. Then I consider the fun I'm getting out of the deal. I just don't want to scrimp and risk poor performance or some unseen glitch that might affect my engine over time. I just tanked up @ $1.895/gallon in the D/FW area.

 

If you drive 14,000 miles a year and save $0.20 a gallon on regular, including the loss of economy for running lower octane, you usually save around $50 a year.

If that's worth it for the reduced performance, you're fine.

Or you could have one fewer Starbucks every other week and get the recommended octane for your car.

 

The MINI was DESIGNED to use premium gas (91 octane or higher). Anything less than that cancels out the performance characteristics and enjoyment of the car.

 

If you are financially unable to buy 91 octane gasoline, then it isn't wise to buy a car that requires 91 octane gasoline!

 

My regular fill up guy put regular in by mistake once about 1/2 a tank
gas milage was a bit lower for that tank.So in a year the lower milage would
cancel out the savings I think.up here in Canada paying about $3.20 for a imperial
gallon witch is alittle bigger than U.S

 

Although I doubt that this would convince those who hold fast to the "premium gas is too expensive" opinion, running your MINI on lower octane fuel is a perfect example of pennywise and pound foolish. Besides, the view that routinely using less-than-91 is "ok" is not uncontested. There have been other threads which have strongly maintained that low octane fuel will definitely damage the engine if used over the long haul. I tend to believe those...although very occasional or accidental use is probably not a crisis. Anyhow, why risk damage for a couple of bucks a tank...or maybe a hundred bucks a year?

 

In addition to reduced performance, wouldn't you get worse mileage with lower octance gas, thus negating the savings?

I thought higher octance could result in better effciecny in cars that recommend premium.

 

I never understood why people that spend $20K+ on a new car are so cheap when it comes to maintenance and gasoline?

The MINI's engine was designed specifically for gasoline 91 octane and above. Yes you can use regular only in EXTREME emergencies but it is not a good idea to make it into a regular practice.

Even at current gas prices, we MINI owners, are still paying much less than owners of vehicles equipped with larger 4 cyl engines, V6's and V8's. $.10 more pergallon using premium is not a huge difference in a car like the MINI. The excellent gas mileage compensates for the extra cost and so do the better performance.


Please, don't put cheap gas in your MINI...these cars let you know right away when you have poured in less than acceptable quality fuel in the tank.

 

Scary thing is, when I picked up my MINI I asked if they used premium gas for the initial fillup and they said no, to which I gave them major ***** since in the manual it says to use premium, dealer has a policy of not paying for anything but regular, so I called MINI and informed them of this...I doubt anything has changed. This included their M cars at the BMW portion of the dealer!! How can a dealer scrimp on like $5 difference AT MOST on a car like that, or any car for that matter, shouldn't that be included in the $500 or so dealer fee??

_________________
Armando Perez; 2003 Inka/Black MCS in Miami, FL

 

>>Scary thing is, when I picked up my MINI I asked if they used premium gas for the initial fillup and they said no, to which I gave them major ***** since in the manual it says to use premium, dealer has a policy of not paying for anything but regular, so I called MINI and informed them of this...I doubt anything has changed. This included their M cars at the BMW portion of the dealer!! How can a dealer scrimp on like $5 difference AT MOST on a car like that, or any car for that matter, shouldn't that be included in the $500 or so dealer fee??
>>
>>_________________
>>Armando Perez; 2003 Inka/Black MCS in Miami, FL


Who was this? South Motors or Braman in Miami?


My selling dealer, Lauderdale MINI uses premium fuel for all initial fill-ups. No wonder Lauderdale MINI continues to be the #1 MINI dealer in Florida.

 

>>Scary thing is, when I picked up my MINI I asked if they used premium gas for the initial fillup and they said no, to which I gave them major ***** since in the manual it says to use premium, dealer has a policy of not paying for anything but regular, so I called MINI and informed them of this...I doubt anything has changed. This included their M cars at the BMW portion of the dealer!! How can a dealer scrimp on like $5 difference AT MOST on a car like that, or any car for that matter, shouldn't that be included in the $500 or so dealer fee??
>>
>>_________________
>>Armando Perez; 2003 Inka/Black MCS in Miami, FL
My dealer flipped out when I just asked about using regular gas
smaller markets up here dealers may work harder for owners
just a thought

 

Do the math --- if you can get about 2mpg more with the higher octane, according to the usual $0.10 difference in cost per gallon, you're saving money.

 

Who was this? South Motors or Braman in Miami?

South of course, though it wouldn't surprise me if Braman did it too..

_________________
Armando Perez; 2003 Inka/Black MCS in Miami, FL

 

So higher octane does equal better mileage?

_________________

 

>>Who was this? South Motors or Braman in Miami?
>>
>>South of course, though it wouldn't surprise me if Braman did it too..
>>
>>_________________
>>Armando Perez; 2003 Inka/Black MCS in Miami, FL

Typical of them. I avoid the South Motors group dealers (Including VISTA) like the plague. Braman is not better when it comes to service either. I am glad I made the trip to Ft Lauderdale.

 

I'm seriously thinking of making the drive up to Lauderdale for future service...South is just horrid, I'm getting pretty sick and tired of never getting called back and parts taking months to special order.

 

>>I'm seriously thinking of making the drive up to Lauderdale for future service...South is just horrid, I'm getting pretty sick and tired of never getting called back and parts taking months to special order.


When we got our first Cooper, we went to South for service a couple of times and really didn't care for the attention. The only "nice" service advisor left shortly thereafter to work for The Collection in Coral Gables.

South Motors used to be decent dealerships years ago. I bought many Hondas and VW's for them but when the MINI first came out in early 2002, they totally lost me with thier balooney "Mandatory accessory" packages and thier arrogant sales demeanor.

I know that things have changed in thier sales dept (I even know someone that works there who is a truly MINI enthusiast) but I still don't touch them with a 50 foot pole!


When you go to Lauderdale MINI for service, ask for Mr. Aamir Khan, he is the dedicated MINI service advisor and he will treat you like a king. he is absolutely the best of the best, so give him a call.

_________________
'02 Cooper CVT PW/B, MFSW, CD Boost, 15" 8-Spoke silver wheels.
'04 MCS CR/W, UJ Roof Flag, Aux Input, HK, Sport MFSW, Rain sensing, Auto dim mirror, 16" silver V-spoke wheels, Chrome grille, Chrome mirrors, OBC, front fogs.

 

>>>>I'm seriously thinking of making the drive up to Lauderdale for future service...South is just horrid, I'm getting pretty sick and tired of never getting called back and parts taking months to special order.
>>
>>
>>When we got our first Cooper, we went to South for service a couple of times and really didn't care for the attention. The only "nice" service advisor left shortly thereafter to work for The Collection in Coral Gables.
>>
>>South Motors used to be decent dealerships years ago. I bought many Hondas and VW's for them but when the MINI first came out in early 2002, they totally lost me with thier balooney "Mandatory accessory" packages and thier arrogant sales demeanor.
>>
>>I know that things have changed in thier sales dept (I even know someone that works there who is a truly MINI enthusiast) but I still don't touch them with a 50 foot pole!
>>
>>
>>When you go to Lauderdale MINI for service, ask for Mr. Aamir Khan, he is the dedicated MINI service advisor and he will treat you like a king. he is absolutely the best of the best, so give him a call.
>>
>>_________________
>>'02 Cooper CVT PW/B, MFSW, CD Boost, 15" 8-Spoke silver wheels.
>>'04 MCS CR/W, UJ Roof Flag, Aux Input, HK, Sport MFSW, Rain sensing, Auto dim mirror, 16" silver V-spoke wheels, Chrome grille, Chrome mirrors, OBC, front fogs.
we were talking gas here

 

*this post has nothing to do with gas, sorry to drift!! lol*

Yeah tell me about it with South, I've been there and done that, tried to deal with a different Advisor every time but they all seem to give three ***** about people. The Sales staff was actually always nice, with the first MINI purchase when it first came out in April 02 they tried to get me to bite on the mandatory option package, I told them to shove it or I was walking out. We've bought a few cars there and are good friends with the managers of the BMW dept so they dumped that, and when I got my second MCS in December of last year they actually gave me $500 off MSRP, so its not the Sales staff I have trouble with, just the service guys. The last time I dropped off my car I wrote a list of 5 things that were wrong with the car and when I picked it up they hadn't "seen" that list.

_________________
Armando Perez; 2003 Inka/Black MCS in Miami, FL

 

Never had anything other than a 93 octane tiger in my tank!

 

>>So higher octane does equal better mileage?

Using the correct octane gives you the best fuel economy.

Using too low an octane causes the engine to retard the spark and you get worse economy.

Using too high an octane causes the fuel to burn poorly, and causes lower fuel economy.