[rdjlachance]

I have a Dart on order with a 1.4l turbo. Salesmen told me it ran on regular. I have some friends that told me it needed premium. Anyone have one can tell me who doesn't know what he is talking about?

 

[99Subaru93]

Yes Premium is at least very highly recommended, ask the dealer to see the manual for the fuel requirement. I'm pretty sure it does need Premium to run right though. Sales man is pulling your leg.

 

[rdjlachance]

Thanks. Not what I was hoping to hear but thats life.

 

[JoshMHam]

Premium (91 octane) is recommended, but regular is acceptable. All of the gas stations around me only have 87, 89, and 93. I typically fill-up with 89, and occasionally use 87 (if they are over charging for 89). Have not had any problems at all.

 

[rdjlachance]

OK thanks. My parents drive a hemi jeep and said the same thing. I guess if I want the full 160hp, I'll put premium in. Do you get the same gas mileage with different types of fuel?

 

[Stratuscaster]

Yes Premium is at least very highly recommended, ask the dealer to see the manual for the fuel requirement. I'm pretty sure it does need Premium to run right though. Sales man is pulling your leg. lying to your face.

Fixed that for you.

 

[JoshMHam]

OK thanks. My parents drive a hemi jeep and said the same thing. I guess if I want the full 160hp, I'll put premium in. Do you get the same gas mileage with different types of fuel?

I have been recording the gallons and miles when I fill-up, but I haven't run the numbers yet. I don't think I will have enough tank fulls of the 87 to give a good comparison, but I will see what I come up with.

 

[rdjlachance]

I have been recording the gallons and miles when I fill-up, but I haven't run the numbers yet. I don't think I will have enough tank fulls of the 87 to give a good comparison, but I will see what I come up with.

thanks again. Decided not to wait for a factory order. Picking up one up on the lot today. The only thing different than what I wanted is it's red with a stick.

 

[Doug D]

OK thanks. My parents drive a hemi jeep and said the same thing. I guess if I want the full 160hp, I'll put premium in. Do you get the same gas mileage with different types of fuel?

I've not noticed a significant difference in fuel mileage or power in my Hemi-powered Ram or with the 3.5L V6 in our Journey in regards to the different octane fuels. 89 octane is recommended for both vehicles. I've run 87 and 89 and have not noticed a significant difference.

FWIW - it's only $0.10 price difference between 87 and 89 octane. On a 20 gallon fillup that's only a difference of $2 with my Ram. Considering 91 octane is $0.30 higher than 87 octane, on a 10 gallon fillup that's only $3 more for the recommended fuel in the Dart 1.4L turbo. Just wanted to give some perspective. IMHO, spend the extra few bucks and enjoy the turbo.

 

[rdjlachance]

Just picked up my car today. Pg 106 of the owner's manual shows 87 Octane Acceptable, 91 Octane Recommended. So I'm going to use 91 octane. If it is not available when at a more remote area I don't have to sweat it. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[TWX]

I recommend, once it's broke in, try a tank of 89 and check your fuel economy and note how it feels to drive, and if those are both good, try 87.If it runs as well as you'd like without suffering poor fuel economy and no check engine light (knock sensors should detect excessive detonation and warn you) then you can probably stop overpaying for fuel.

I had a girlfriend years ago that only put premium fuel in her econobox, even though it probably would have run fine on low-eighties octane Mexican fuel. The name "Premium" gave her the impression that the fuel was better, as opposed to just being suited to a higher compression engine.

 

[Moparian]

I believe most people are getting better MPG with the 91 and up by a point or two and seems to run better for them.

 

[suzq044]

Yup; from what i've read over @ dodge-dart.org, they're getting better MPGs, and more power (butt-dyno probably) as well.

 

[Stratuscaster]

I've encountered many people that will gladly put 91 in an 87-rated engine thinking that "91>87 = better", and many more that want to run 87 in a 91-rated engine because 91 is more expensive than 87. :huh:

If the $1.50 difference on a tank is going to kill your finances, then perhaps you should have considered that before you bought the car with that powertrain. Just saying.

Availability is a whole 'nother issue.

 

[Dave Z]

... dropping to 87 will also tell you whether your gas station has been putting regular into their premium tanks...

 

[Bob Lincoln]

My 84 Daytona Turbo Z is also "91 recommended, 87 allowed". On a hot summer day it will ping on 87. With 91 it never does. 87 gives about 2 mpg less than 91. Sometimes I'll run 89 and it's OK, but I always run 91 in summer. Unfortunately, 91 is 40 cents a gallon more than 87. But I don't drive it enough for that to hurt me.

 

[TWX]

If the $1.50 difference on a tank is going to kill your finances, then perhaps you should have considered that before you bought the car with that powertrain. Just saying.

Well, when I was car shopping I skipped on the used SRT8s because of the premium fuel requirement. The cost difference around here seems to be about $0.30 to $0.40 per gallon from 87 to 91, so that's about $7 per tank, probably around $350 a year. I still wouldn't mind an SRT8, but the car itself would also have been more expensive to boot.

 

[Dave Z]

The extra cost of premium gas per year, could have been your insurance surcharge, per month.

 

[pjfsu331]

... dropping to 87 will also tell you whether your gas station has been putting regular into their premium tanks...

This recently happened to me.

I had been filling up with premium at the same two or three gas stations. I was averaging between 33 and 34.5 with an 80/20 split highway/city. I then filled up at a station I hadn't before and my average mileage dropped to 31 in just one tank.

I originally thought it was because of the drop in temperature here in Detroit. But I filled up again at one of my regular stations and got my average back up to 33 in just 50 miles of highway driving at 23 degrees.