Lazy Old Coot Loc: Gainesville, Florida

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WereWolf1967 Loc: Knoxville, TN

Ain't it the truth.

Best thing about owning a vintage 426 Hemi anything is the awesome sound those twin Carter AFB's make at wide open throttle!!!

I had a 68 Hemi Belvedere with a 4-speed and 4.56 posi, Dana 60 rear end. That was a beast.

Lazy Old Coot Loc: Gainesville, Florida

Modern engine control units are now designed to detect "pinging" and retard the ignition timing to prevent it from doing any damage to the engine. Even though many modern engines call for premium fuel you can run them on regular without causing any damage, but you will lose some horsepower and mileage. ....... Coot

WereWolf1967 Loc: Knoxville, TN

I couldn't find any pics on-line of the Knoxville Prius's but here's some unusual police cruisers.

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Fezz Loc: Whidbey Island Washington

I bought a new Lexus GX470 V8 in 2004 and in spite of the owners manual saying to use premium fuel, the dealer told me that plus was good enough. I now have 100,000 miles on the car and it is running just fine and I have never detected any pre ignition pinging. So I am saving about 10 cents per gallon and buying better wine!

Lazy Old Coot Loc: Gainesville, Florida

Here's the German version. ....... Coot

DickC Loc: NE Washington state

Yep, my '89 Jag requires it!! :cry:

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

I agree and I didn't know that about the Mini, Smart, and Fiat.

My older Cadillac Deville requires premium and I grind my teeth every time I'm standing at the pump looking at $3.39 for regular, $3.59 for mid-grade, and $3.79 for premium. That's 40 cents a gallon more, which is about $8.00 per tank for me. Since I use about 1 1/2 tanks a week, that's $12 per week extra X 4 = $48 extra per month just because I must use premium. I've tried mid-grade and it pings up a storm that sounds like the engine is going to blow, so I can't counter the rip off.

If I leased a highly efficient new car that uses regular gas and gets 10 - 12 mpg more on average than I get now then subtracted that $48 premium penalty from the calculation, I could just about pay the lease payment completely with the savings in gas consumption and gas type.

Gas companies don't have to charge that much for higher grades but they can and do get away with it. For most of my life mid-grade was one or two cents higher than regular, and premium was one or two cents higher than that. Which means we should be paying $3.30, $3.32, and $3.34 instead of the gouging we're getting. And Diesel fuel users should be paying less than $3.30 like it always was for all my life.

On top of that, I went into a brand new station this week (known as RaceTrack here) and they have another hose on the new pumps for non-ethanol gas if you prefer that. It's even higher than premium.

Welcome to the world of unregulated corporate greed.

Two weeks ago gas was down to $3.20 for regular here and there was a TV news report that gas prices would continue to decline and might even go below $3.00 after the first of the year because of more efficient cars lowering demand for fuel, oil prices being lower during the conflicts in the Middle East, and a couple other reasons that I believe were just speculation. The next week prices shot straight up to $3.35, a couple days later up to $3.39, and they've been there ever since. There's no holiday to price gouge us for, so what happened?

I'll tell you what happened... this is southwestern Florida and October is the month for northern "Snowbirds" to return to their winter homes. Here they come so... BANG! Up goes the price of everything until next June. Those of us who live here all year long get shafted along with them because of, again, unregulated corporate greed. And then we'll see even higher jumps on gas prices for Thanksgiving through New Years. I expect to see $3.69, $3.89, and $4.09 as usual during the holidays.

Last Thanksgiving I went up to Michigan and regular was 40 cents cheaper there than down here which verifies my Snowbird theory.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

Very good and correct explanation of octane.

Workind in gasoline research and tech service for years. think maybe the reason tha European gas is one grade is because it is more efficient to market one grade than 3 (or two and mix them like Sunoco used to)

WereWolf1967 Loc: Knoxville, TN

Ah Yes,

The old Sunoco 260, great stuff for street racing, oops, boulevard cruising.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

The new regular runs fine in mowers and most new cars. As stated earlier, octane is strictly a measure of antiknock. No knock no need, not a qualtiy measure.

The use of ethanol, however, dilutes the gasoline with a lower BTU less efficient water soluble liquid. Also keeps the price of corn up.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

:-D

kjfishman Loc: Fulton MO

Our 99 Infinity I-30 recommends premium. We have been running mostly 87 octane for the last 75k miles with no problems. No noticeable change in fuel consumption but it accelerates faster on 93 or higher octane. My truck is flex fuel and the fuel economy drops big time with E85.

gemartin Loc: Statesboro, GA

Trempealeau is on the Mississippi River about 24 miles north of La Crosse, WI. Home of Army Corps of Engineers Lock #6 (of 29 that are between Minneapolis/St. Paul to St. Louis). This is a great little town with more than 500 miles of bike trails in the county. If it wasn't colder here in the winter than it is in Anchorage, it would be paradise.

Towboat and Barge traffic Mississippi River Lock #6

WereWolf1967 Loc: Knoxville, TN

Thanks,

Sounds like it.