The basic answer is-

Always use top tier premium gas for your MINI. Period.

 

The '07 is a very high compression engine at 10.5:1 even for a normally aspirated engine, add forced induction, e.i. turbo, and your definetly want to run premium. (same goes for any turbo or supercharged engine). Premium also contains better detergents to keep injectors and valves nice and clean. You will have better performance and get maximum fuel mileage also.
So... Grin and bear it at the pump, its a small price to pay, and your gonna love your new MINI
Cheers,
--Dan

 

the car loves above 93, so below that is pointless if you can avoid it.

 

You Cali Mini guys still have to put up with $3.50/gal for premium . Thank God for the East Coast. I can get premium here for $2.25/gal and that is at a Chevron. Ohh, and to the new future mini owner, follow the owners manual on gasoline grade and you should be fine. Welcome to the club.

 

Another vote for going with the owner's manual recommendations.

That said, I've run plus before just out of curiosity, and I noticed absolutely no difference. But there are probably long-term benefits to the better gas (detergents, etc).

 

well you also have to run premium for two or three tanks so the detergents can clean everything out and then youll feel it, i gurantee it

 

everything is marketing. no damage will occur if you use 91. Some people in California say that 91 is the most they can get (for reasons unknown, but people in forum say so, shrug?)

To say that 95 is optimal would make no one buy the car.

That doesnt mean it isnt, because actually, it is!

93 is like comprimise im goign to take and add 2-3 gallons of cam2 100 octane to it.

I duno how many threads needed to be run in order to solve this issue.

 

So glad I found this information! I just got my MCS and have only filled up once, I put premium gas in then, and will not continue to do so!!!!

 

Premium all the way! Nothing less will do for my MINI.

 

Uhm, what thread are you reading that is going to make you "not continue" to put in premium?

 

Exactly.

It's your choice to use whatever you want.

Anyone not noticing any difference with various grades of gas are probably driving "sanely".

But since we know that many of us are MINIacs about performance driving the premium would allow for highest performance and better mpg than if using lower grades of gas.

I could easily tell which grade of gas I used in my old Maxima but in the MINI it's not quite as easy to tell when I drive easy.

I always recommend using quality premium gas to MINI owners.

 

Just a note - I put in a tank of regular into my '04 Cooper w /CVT (the gas station was having issues with their premium tank, and I was too lazy to go to a different station, so I figured let's see what happens) right before a long highway cruise, and while I lost maybe a bit of power, my highway gas mileage went from a typical 32-34 MPG to around 28 for the tank!

(I also don't understand how folks can pay $20k+ (and sometimes significantly more) for a vehicle, and then nickle-and-dime arguably the most important thing to go into your car... especially when others have noted, it only works out to an average of $150 a year more... , but that's another thread! )


-Paul!

 

exactly!! spot on my man!

 

WE'RE TALKING 10 BUCKS A MONTH!!! How can people be so cheap when maintaining a 25K dollar car

 

I was leaving an autocross once and pulled over somewhere in Iowa with empty tank. Turns out neither of the 2 gas stations in that town had premium fuel, all that had was midgrade with 10% ethanol. Since I had no choice, I put about half a tank of midgrade in the car so that I could make it to the next gas station.

I didn't notice any problem, but I wouldn't make a habit of running "cheap" gas, either.

Speak for yourself! In NY, premium was around $3.50 this summer. It's a little cheaper now, but my Mini hasn't been out of the garage since sometime in December.

 

Just got my '06 MCS. The manual recommends premium, but says the absolute minimum required to operate with no ill effect is 87 octane. However, my NAM acquired MINI education, prior to my purchase, convinced my wife and me that $120.00 a year isn't too much to keep my MCS happy. So I recommend reading the manual when you receive your MCS, and going from there. There was a European R56 manual floating around. If you happen to see it, please remember that Europe measures using a different method. Wikipedia has a great article here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_Rating

Have a good one, Zen