Understanding Fuel Octanes

Regular, Premium, or Super Gas? Fred and Nancy help you understand the different octanes of fuel at the pumps!

Transcript:

Nancy: When you go to buy fuel at the gas pumps, do you notice are different grades of fuel would different octane levels? Do you even know why there are different octane levels? Hi, I’m Nancy at Kneble’s Auto Service Center, and this is my husband.

Fred: Fred.

Nancy: Fred’s here today to help us out. Fred, what is octane even for?

Fred: An octane rating or octane numbers is the standard measure of performance of engine fuel. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before igniting.

Nancy: So I guess I need to know what octane level my car takes. Where do I find that information?

Fred: You’ll find that in your glove box, in the owner’s manual, under the fuel section, and if you don’t have that, Google it.

Nancy: Okay, Fred. Good idea. Okay, I now know what octane level my vehicle takes. I’m at the pumps. I think I’m going to be nice to my car today. I’m going to give it a higher octane. Good idea?

Fred: No. First of all, you will be wasting a huge amount of money paying a higher octane level.

Nancy: Wasting money. I’m wasting money. I’m going to be buying shoes. I’ll bring you home a bottle of wine after I shop.

Fred: Yeah. Your car will not run correctly whether you notice it or not. Higher octane requires more heat precision to burn correctly. So if your car is designed for 87 octane, 93 won’t work. Your car miles may suffer. The inability of your engine to burn higher octane gas correctly will cause your engine to produce less power, thus require more fuel to perform that same level of performance.

Nancy: So, okay, I now know that it takes premium. Is there the same level of octane in all the states for premium?

Fred: No, Nancy. The words are not important to you. So you could go to one station, one will say regular to be 87, and then there’ll be a special. That maybe 89, and then there might be a super, and that maybe 91, and then there might be a higher octane, 93. Forget the words, looking for the numbers.

Nancy: Oh, so I should know my octane level for my vehicle.

Fred: Absolutely.

Nancy: You know what? Share that information. Let everybody know the next time they go to the pumps they are buying the correct octane level because nobody wants to waste money. Thank you for watching. Thumbs up. Like us on Facebook.

Fred: And any comments, please put it below. You have any questions for Fred, I’ll gladly answer you in the next video.

Nancy: Fred, I like when you’re next to me.

Fred: Yeah, I like it, too. We love each other.

Nancy: We do. Thank you for watching.

Fred: Have a good night.