Radical Noesis - Thinking outside the box

That's right car drivers of the United States, lower octane, no special formulation fuel is not required for your vehicles.

"Automotive experts say using regular gas in most vehicles does no damage and makes no discernible difference in performance. Cars made in the past 15 years have such highly refined computer controls that the engine will adjust to the grade of octane in the gasoline, even in cars sold as requiring premium gasoline. Some drivers -- in some cars under some driving conditions -- may notice a drop in horsepower, but for most people behind the wheel, it wouldn't be enough to notice, the experts say."

Talk about a slap in the face, the president of the Petroleum Marketers Association (Daniel F. Gilligan) states that after consumers realize they can use regular gas: ""Will it be more difficult to attract consumers back to the higher-octane fuels? I don't know."

So where's the gas / auto industry collusion? Look at the gas cap on your car. Does it say "premium fuel only?" How about the owner's manual? Why do automakers do it? The reason given in the article is so they can claim slightly higher horsepower ratings in their brochures. My guess is that there are more benefits than a few horsepower ratings. Read this clap-trap:

"Oil refiners make the most money from selling higher-grade gasoline because the higher cost to produce it is more than made up by the added charge to customers, said Fade Ghent, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York. Gas stations also benefit from higher margins on premium fuel.

"It's to everybody's advantage to push the high-grade," Ghent said.

For their part, the oil companies say they're just providing the fuel that carmakers demand. "We're guided by what the car manufacturers say and what the octane requirement would be, so our responsibility is to fill the need and provide what the consumer would require for their cars to work most efficiently," said Gerald T. Davis, a spokesman for Sunoco."

What is the world would gas companies advertise if they didn't have all their premium fuels? Since roughly 14% of the cost of a gallon of gas is marketing, it might mean that gas would be cheaper.

The advice and stated requirements to use premium fuels are so prevalent that it is "common knowledge" that cars run better on premium gas. There may be some truth to that if your car is 1980 or earlier, but that is tied to the octane rating and not to the special formulation. Apparently, premium and special formulation fuels are just good for business.