A driver learned that her car takes minimum 91 octane gas, and has instead been rolling with what she thought was the prudent choice of 89 octane gas. Has she been doing it wrong this whole time?
The video essentially positing this question comes from creator Alexis Nido-Russo (@locaeclectic). She posted the video last Sunday and has drawn more than 5.3 million views in a week. In it, she takes a video from the gas station and records her moment of revelation.
It starts with her saying, “Just stopped to get gas. My cousin goes, ‘I’ll pump for you,’ and then she goes, ‘Your gas pump says minimum octane rating 91.”
The cousin inquired about what kind of gas she wanted to put in her car, and Nido-Russo replied, “Oh, just do the middle one, seems good enough.” The view of the pump shows, as is typical of American gas stations, an 87-octane, 89-octane, and 93-octane choice. (In California, however, the state-mandated maximum is 91.)
She then observed, upon studying those three values, “I had no idea what these numbers mean.”
But she did conclude, from this episode, “So, I have to put premium gas in my car. I don’t know if this actually matters, but who knew what those numbers meant?”
@locaeclectic I was today years old when I learned what these numbers on the gas pump mean…
♬ original sound – Alexis Nido-Russo
Does fuel grade actually matter?
According to fueleconomy.gov, it matters. That site notes, “Higher octane fuels are often required or recommended for engines that use a higher compression ratio and/or use supercharging or turbocharging to force more air into the engine. Increasing pressure in the cylinder allows an engine to extract more mechanical energy from a given air/fuel mixture but requires higher octane fuel to keep the mixture from pre-detonating. In these engines, high octane fuel will improve performance and fuel economy.”
It also notes if you go below the recommended octane rating, “Using a lower octane fuel than required can cause the engine to run poorly and can damage the engine and emissions control system over time. It may also void your warranty. In older vehicles, the engine can make an audible ‘knocking’ or ‘pinging’ sound. Many newer vehicles can adjust the spark timing to reduce knock, but engine power and fuel economy will still suffer.”
Car and Driver tested out the efficiency of premium gas in several different cars in 2019, and found a high-performance BMW did especially well with 93 octane gas compared to the 91 found in the Golden State.
“The higher-octane fuel trimmed a single tenth of a second across all of the M5’s acceleration times,” that article observed. “That results in a time-bending 2.7-second slingshot to 60 mph and 10.8 seconds through the quarter-mile and lands this five-seat, 4246-pound four-door squarely in the realm of supercars.”
“The M5 Competition stands as proof that the octane rating does make a difference, although in the case of these two premium fuels, if you’re forced to use 91 octane, you’re hardly missing out,” it concluded.
Viewers weigh in
Commenters to the TikTok video gravitated toward the “who knew” question.
“We all knew,” one scoffed.
However, another replied, “I was today years old when I found out.”
Someone else, deducing from context clues that she was driving a Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV, observed, “Paying money for a Gwagon and putting low or mid grade in it is absolutely wild. Read your manuals.”
Another, commenting on the higher price of high-octane fuel, said, “My minimum octane rating is ‘it’s supposed to be plus but I’m too poor for that.’”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via email and TikTok direct message.
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