Premium gas for Mini ?

[Pete Peterman]

Greetings:

Quick question. I have a Mini Cooper S on order. I note that it calls for premium gas. My Audi, BMW Z-3 and VW Beetle also all "required" premium gas. (I do not currently own all of those cars!). However, the dealer in each case advised me to use the middle grade gas. I have, for thousands of miles, without problems.

Suggestions? Do any of you use the middle grade gas?

Thanks much.

Pete Peterman

[NEMINI]

nope I only use premium, the slight difference in price IMO is not worth the risk.

[Humourl3ss]

Nope, nor would I start. I don't pretend to be more knowledgeable about what fuel my car requires than the engineers at MINI/BMW. Dealers can say many things, many of them erroneous. Follow what your car's manual says and save the aggro.

-CW

[gja_era]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pete Peterman

Greetings:

Quick question. I have a Mini Cooper S on order. I note that it calls for premium gas. My Audi, BMW Z-3 and VW Beetle also all "required" premium gas. (I do not currently own all of those cars!). However, the dealer in each case advised me to use the middle grade gas. I have, for thousands of miles, without problems.

Suggestions? Do any of you use the middle grade gas?

Thanks much.

Pete Peterman

The Mini Cooper 'S' does not technically require 'Premium' fuel. The Owners Manual calls for 91 Octane. 'Premium' at most stations is 93 Octane. I my area I have mostly Citgo stations. One of them sell 87, 89, 91 and 93 octane the others sell only 87, 89 and 93. There is about a five cent difference between 91 and 93.

I use 93 octane most of the time since those stations are more convenient. When I get gas at the station that sells 91 octane, that is what I put in.

Motor On!

[scooterboy]

I actually tried 89 octane for a couple of tankfuls (no 91 around me so I can only get 93). I have a commute that's mostly highway, so I could make a very equal comparison in mileage performance. Results? The engine ran fine, but 89 did about 2-3 mpg worse than 93. So any savings at the pump is going to be lost in the mileage. The engine is optimized to run with 91 or higher, so I'm going to stick with that.

[CooperS4us]

The Cooper S' supercharged engine requires 91 AKA gasoline. In cases of emergency you may use 89 octane fuel but it is not recommended on a permanent basis. Here in South Florida, 91 Octane gasoline is almost a non-existent commodity so I have to use 93 octane.

In order to achieve a 91 Octane rating you could fill up your tank with 89 midgrade gas, about halfway and then fill up completely with 93 but then again, is kind of a hassle.

So whenever possible, stick to 93 octane fuel. If you are travelling in rural areas where 91-93 octane fuel is scarce you may use 89. I would be wary about using 87 but then again that would be in an extreme emergency.

The MINI has active ati-knocking sensors so the computer upon detecting a lower octane fuel will automatically adjust the timing to prevent knocking.

[Mini1380]

I am lucky. There is a gass station near me that has a super Tuesday. On Tuesday's they sell Premium gas (93 oct) at the regular price. I save $.20 a gallon.

[stryder]

Here's the simple logic: They say 91 because in CA and various other places 91 is the highest you can get. Its to keep it simple, that then equates to premium gas in the US, which most places is 93.

Also think about it as money. Premium costs $.20 more, you fill up say once a week, and get 12.5 gallons that's $2.50 extra, you do this every week of the year, except 2, when you take a vacation and don't drive your car. You've spent all of $125 a year extra on a car that cost you at least $20,000. Does this really matter?

Get the gas reccomended, getting lower will work, it'll just decrease performance (and economy as people have shown, so its an emergency type provision).

[NEMINI]

just to add to what stryder said .20 extra per gallon, for around here at least, is a high estimate, generally mid-grade and premium are within 5-8 cents (again this is my area) so that $125 would be even smaller

[stryder]

Quote: Originally Posted by GMINI03

just to add to what stryder said .20 extra per gallon, for around here at least, is a high estimate, generally mid-grade and premium are within 5-8 cents (again this is my area) so that $125 would be even smaller

Oh yeah.. My rx-7 uses regular... I forgot we were comparing midgrade and premium, not regular and premium. Thanks for the correction.

[dinlo]

We only have 87, 89, and 91, so I always use 91 for my MCS.

[Pete Peterman]

Re: mid-grade vs "premium". Many thanks folks. Looks like it will be 93 or 91!

Pete Peterman