Will it kill my car if I use regular gas? It’s hard to get premium where I live. How long can I get away with using regular?

 

Biggest risk is your catalitic converters.

 

I have always used midgrade with no issues.

 

Same here, midgrade, no issues and the car GOES FAST! I would NOT use regular (the fuel tables in the ECU just might struggle AND you could get engine damage due to pinging (especially if the regular you get is below the stated minimum octane on the pump).


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I use premium. That's what the manual states, that's what I use.
Just my choice.

 

Regardless of the type vehicle ALWAYS follow the procedures in the manual.

 

except for the 10000 mile oil changes on new cars

 

Those come with caveats.

 

i have ran 87oct in all of my NA 112/113 cars, including

04 xf
05xf
08xf
00 ml320
00 ml320
01 slk320
06 ml500

i use premium on the boosted cars

we see customers cars come in at 450,000 miles which lived on 87 octane the whole time.

 

Would you also qualify this statement on an N/A with a TUNE and mods? Inquiring mind(s) mine & possibly others, want(s) to know...


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GG - that would be one of those aforementioned caveats.

 

There are threads in this forum about this. Consensus seems to be that engine knocking is not an issue since the engine's computers prevent preignition. However, a trait of mamy, many XF owners is to keep everything at or close to OEM specifications.
As prices for Premium here approach $5/gal I refill at half a tank and alternate Premium (93 octane) with Mid Grade (89 octane). Normal usage takes about two weeks to burn half a tank of fuel.
When prices go down as they did a few years ago and Premium costs under or near $3/gal I exclusively use Premium.
A fixed income makes for creative and safe ways to pinch pennies while enjoying my Crossfire.

 

I believe the consensus at some point was that SRTs should never use Regular gasoline and if you have no choice, don’t gun it and rather drive it as “civil” as possible.

On the N/A, however, the ECU would throttle back and adjust for regular and knocking isn’t an issue. For a period, I drove nothing but regular in my N/A and just every so often used premium. I could not notice a difference or see visible signs of problems.
THAT SAID, the manufacturer knows best and so if it says “Premium Only” I’m sure there s a real good reason for it, so to each its own.

 

Whether one uses 87 or 93 octane gasoline you should be certain it is a "Top Tier" branded product. This referes to the detergents and additives in gasoline and diesel fuels. Using a retail brand that meets EPA regulations will not give your engine and injectors a better chance of longivity and engine preformance. Some premium brands have more additives in the 93 octane than their 91, 89 and 87 octane products, yet all thier products will meet the "Top Tier" specification. So run the octane that suites you, but be advised there is a difference in detergents and additives.

See the link Detergents and the EPA

 

I normally only run Sonoco premium in my N/A.