It will cost you $208.00 annually if you fill your car with premium gas instead of regular. The difference between regular fuel and premium fuel is about twenty cents per gallon. Therefore it will cost you $4.00 more per tank if you use premium gasoline instead of regular gasoline. This assumes you have a 20 gallon tank and you fill up about once per week.
Let's look at the increase in fuel economy question first. The plain and simple answer is absolutely not, higher octane gas does not effect fuel economy at all. The octane number is a rating that has nothing to do with how efficient it is in moving your car.
The octane rating is a measurement of the proportion of isooctane to heptane in fuel. In non technical terms it is a rating that grades how much energy it takes to ignite that fuel. The rating has nothing to do with how much energy the gas puts out.It has absolutely nothing to do with fuel economy.
Does premium gas make your car run better? Once again the simple answer is no, there is no increase in a cars performance with premium gas.
That said, I must throw in this one caveat, your car might perform with slightly more horsepower with premium than with regular but you would be hard pressed to notice the difference. Premium just allows car makers an extra advertising ploy.
Car manufacturers utilize this slight horsepower gain to market their cars claiming more horsepower by optimizing and designing their cars to take advantage of higher octane premium gasoline's anti-knock properties. Engineers and car experts agree that if you opt to use regular gasoline in your car designed for premium gasoline, the loss of horsepower is so small, you will not be able to detect any difference.
Will you harm your car or void your warranty if your car manufacturer recommends that you use high octane gas? Most automakers say using regular gas even when your owner's guide says to use premium gas won't void the warranty. Most automakers also say that using regular will not damage the engine.
When you next stop at the gas station, try regular gasoline instead of premium. Your immediate benefit will be saving $4.00 right away on that tank of gas. Pay attention to how your car runs with regular octane gasoline. If it seems to run fine, if you cannot feel any difference and if you do not hear your engine knocking, then continue to purchase lower octane regular gas. You will see a savings of over $200.00 per year!
