What fuel do you use on your 2007/2008 2.0 Sentra

[GTiRS]

Manual suggest the use of 87 octane (regular grade).

Anyone notice benefits of using premium or any other higher octane?

This is just for the 2007/2008 2.0L engine. I know the 2.5 spec v runs higher compression and so it should run higher octane.

[nametakennow]

I doubt you'd see anything from running higher-grade fuel. It is cleaner, though, so I generally recommend that you fill up with higher grade every now and again to kind of flush the system. It may be hogwash, I dunno, but it can't hurt. Definitely don't waste your money on high octane all the time, though.

[djtorello]

87 octane is what is recommended for you. to most of us, thats low grade regular, however, there are some parts of the US that has 85 and 82. Please try to stay at 87 as a bare minimum. The higher octane isnt gonna help you on the MR20DE.

Btw, if you havent done it yet, remove the engine cover, the engine looks so much better that way.

[GetThatThingISentra]

I usually run midgrade of 89 octane just because it burns a little cleaner and I feel like its better for my engine (I have the 2.5). Even though there is reportedly no gains from it, I notice slightly better fuel efficiency (.5 MPG on average). I've even used high octane 93 and noticed a 2 MPG gain in highway driving (31 - 33).

[GTiRS]

Thanks for the answers guys.

Guess I'll stick to 87 except on lower elevation when I do my Calgary->San Diego->Las Vegas->Calgary (with many stops in major cities) trip next month.

I've done this trip 2 times already and the other 2 cars I drove felt sluggish in a few parts.

[gotak]

Like everyone else says 87 is fine. I wonder if premium fuel really makes that much of a difference in how clean it burns. My friend drives a Mazdaspeed 3 and of course he puts in at least 91 and his exhaust is covered in soot after just 4 months or so. Him and I both don't use our cars much and I have been driving for a year now and my exhaust still looks very clean. I run 87 most of the time with the occasional "oh I'll treat my car" 91 fill up. Although I have stop doing that much now that prices are so high.

What I do do is avoid Esso stations. I stick to Sunoco, Shell and Petro Canada here in Toronto. I was told that Esso never join some clean gas alliance or something that says they guarantee the detergent levels in their gas. Which according to the web is the important part of it now much high the octane level is.

[michaelahess]

The octane rating has nothing to do with quality of gas, that's more of a brand specific thing.

All the octane rating is for is to show how easily the gas combusts. The higher the rating the harder it is to burn the gas, so it only ignites when the spark is fired, instead of pre-igniting, which is bad.

High performance engines, se-r, have higher compression which causes pre-ignition easier on the lower octane fuels.

Mileage "gains" you see with different fuels are almost impossible to substantiate as conditions are never identical. I get from 28 (all city) to 41 (hwy) and no two tanks even on similar runs are ever near identical.

One thing you may notice, is running 85 octane, like I do here in Wyoming. If you fill up with 87, the engine idles smoother as it doesn't need to retard or advance timing as much to compensate for the lower octane.

If you fill up with premium or even mid grade for most of you guys, you are simply throwing away money.

Now my Hemi Dodge, that needs 89 or it runs like s**t! But again, no improvement over 91.

[ser-steve]

you know mine is rated for the high octane and i switched to the cheap **** in light of prices and i actually picked up and extra 40mi per tank

and just FYI octane changes the viscosity [mispelled] of your fuel causes it to detonate later the higher your octane, think of going from 87 - 93 as advacing your timing a 1/4 if a degree it doesnt make a big difference till you start getting to race fuel and nitro applications

[rhino11]

read your owner's manual, QR25DE requires 91 octane or higher, which you aren't doing.

[djtorello]

read your owner's manual, QR25DE requires 91 octane or higher, which you aren't doing.

Not quite, The QR25DE in the SE-R recommends 87 octane at the very least, but for optimum performance, 91-93 octane.

The high compression SPEC-V requires 91 as a minium.