Is it safe to use unleaded regular 89 octane gas when vehicle manual recommends premium gasoline?
Asked by BigDCarGuy Jun 10, 2018 at 08:32 PM about the 2018 Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI quattro Premium Plus AWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I recently purchased a new vehicle and the owners manual recommends
premium gasoline, will the engine suffer any damage from using regular
unleaded gasoline? Typically I only use Top Tier gasoline as I believe the
additives to be more beneficial to my vehicle engine, is it safe for me to utilize
Top Tier regular unleaded gasoline?
4 Answers
enginecreator answered 5 years ago
In small amount with premium in tank too.
No damage but it may have reduced power.
moka_un_cane answered 5 years ago
i heard that it could possibly melt like water on the wicked witch from the east...
I depends. Many newer cars adjust the timing based on the octane rating of the fuel it senses. This is if your manufacturer "recommends" premium fuel rather than "requires" it. So your car experiences a 5% loss of horsepower (that your wife in her SUV won't notice) but you realize a 10% savings at the pump (taking into account 5% est. lower fuel economy also). Some say the 2.0 liter turbocharged engines "need" premium gas - I'd suggest that in order to get more than 100 hp/liter, the 2.0 liter turbocharged engines must utilize a higher compression ratio, which sequentially means an engine that responds better to a fuel less likely to combust under pressure (which is what a higher octane rating indicates).
