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Premium fuel required!?

This is a discussion on Premium fuel required!? within the 3.8L V6 Supercharged (L67)(L32) forums, part of the W Body Tech category; I was washing my 01 GTP today and when I opened the gas cover, I noticed a sticker that says &...


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Old 06-07-2008, 02:43 PM   #1
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Default Premium fuel required!?

I was washing my 01 GTP today and when I opened the gas cover, I noticed a sticker that says "PREMIUM UNLEADED FUEL ONLY"

...Im like ! Nooo! Premium is $4.50!

I have been putting reg in there since the day I got the car. No problem that I can notice.

So whats the deal with premium only? Is it harmfull to put regular in there? Please enlighten me about this whole premium only deal.

Thanks!
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Old 06-07-2008, 04:14 PM   #2
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Default Re: Premium fuel required!?

Without Premium fuel, your more than likely experiencing pre-detonation when your engine is under boost or under load. That is a bad thing and can cost you a new engine. You should only run regular unleaded if you have tuned your car to run on it. I for one, would never put anything but premium in my tank since it only cost $3 more a tank. It would take a lot of $3 savings to = a new or rebuilt engine.

If your modded at all and have been running regular, I would be surprised that you haven't chipped a piston yet.
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Old 06-07-2008, 05:03 PM   #3
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Default Re: Premium fuel required!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ91284 View Post
Without Premium fuel, your more than likely experiencing pre-detonation when your engine is under boost or under load. That is a bad thing and can cost you a new engine. You should only run regular unleaded if you have tuned your car to run on it. I for one, would never put anything but premium in my tank since it only cost $3 more a tank. It would take a lot of $3 savings to = a new or rebuilt engine.

If your modded at all and have been running regular, I would be surprised that you haven't chipped a piston yet.
Your right. I had no idea that the car needed premium. I was a little shocked by that. I will from now on run premium. Also the car is stock.

Quick question about premium for my car.

Will it improve gas mileage? I see people saying that get 23-26 mpg when no matter how granny I drive, I still am under 21mpg.
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Old 06-07-2008, 05:08 PM   #4
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Default Re: Premium fuel required!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Freebeer187 View Post
Quick question about premium for my car.

Will it improve gas mileage? I see people saying that get 23-26 mpg when no matter how granny I drive, I still am under 21mpg.
I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Unless you have been running the 10% ethanol. If you have then you should see an increase in gas mileage. If I was you I would do a tune up on your car. Change things like fuel filter, air filter, plugs, wires, O2 sensor. That is if they haven't already.
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Old 06-07-2008, 05:10 PM   #5
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Default Re: Premium fuel required!?

Not sure if you will notice a change in MPG

Your PCM has a high octane spark table and a low octane spark table. When using regular gas it will use the low octane spark table to prevent knock. Many people have used regular gas on stock s/c V6's without issue. Since the low octane spark table has greatly reduced timing versus the High octane table you notice an increase in performance switching to premium.
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Old 06-07-2008, 05:21 PM   #6
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Default Re: Premium fuel required!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew_99GTP View Post
I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Unless you have been running the 10% ethanol. If you have then you should see an increase in gas mileage. If I was you I would do a tune up on your car. Change things like fuel filter, air filter, plugs, wires, O2 sensor. That is if they haven't already.
Just had a small tune up the other day. Replaced old PMK (something like that, i forgot the name) plugs with AC Declco plugs. Also cleaned the fuel injectors and intake manifold. Put a drop in K&N filter in about a month ago. Oil is good too. After the tune up, the car just runs great (it did before but now its even better). It gives a real smooth ride with a little pick up too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by IndeedSS View Post
Not sure if you will notice a change in MPG

Your PCM has a high octane spark table and a low octane spark table. When using regular gas it will use the low octane spark table to prevent knock. Many people have used regular gas on stock s/c V6's without issue. Since the low octane spark table has greatly reduced timing versus the High octane table you notice an increase in performance switching to premium.
I didnt know that about the low/high spark. I have about 2 gallons of reg in my tank. I have a long drive tmw (about 30 miles on the high way) so im hoping to burn up whatever I have before that trip and fill it up the premium.

Thanks for all the help!
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Old 06-08-2008, 08:39 AM   #7
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Default Re: Premium fuel required!?

I personally think the pcm still adds to much timing under the Bad Fuel SPark table. If I recall correctly, the pcm (97-03) adds around 8 degrees of timing under full load on the BFST. Under the 04+ grand prixs, the pcm pulls the timing to like 0 under full load under BFST. I uploaded an 05 comp g timing tables to my gtp and the cruise timing was increased from around 30 to 44 degrees of timing. While running on low octane fuel it drops the timing way more than my 97 bad spark table. The 04+ gtp's say you can run on regular fuel but your power will be reduced and that would be partially because the timing was pulled
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Old 06-08-2008, 09:39 AM   #8
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Default Re: Premium fuel required!?

It is safe to say that when you run higher octane fuel, you will get worse gas mileage (unless you have a tune other than stock).

Further, I feel ya on the bad gas mileage - my 97 GTP only gets about 21-23 MPG mixed city and hwy driving. It would be nice to get the 25-26 MPG like the other fellas on here.... but I'm working on that.

Good Luck!
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Old 06-08-2008, 09:15 PM   #9
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Default Re: Premium fuel required!?

I am getting 29mpg with my regal now and running 89 octane with 10% ethanol. I hope I can squeeze some more out of it though.
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Old 06-08-2008, 09:54 PM   #10
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Default Re: Premium fuel required!?

i will say this-- i know of a daily driver stock 99 regal gs that has had a pretty steady diet of 87/89 octane most all of its life, and it's at 187K miles.
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