Gas and oil question. ( 08 3.5 coupe )

[LightEmUp]

Hey guys, i just bought an 08 Altima Coupe 3.5 cvt and the dealer is telling me that the VQ35DE is made specifically to run on reg unleaded fuel with normal oil. I find this kind of odd, you make a performance vehicle and design it to run on 87 octane? I know with previous vehicles ive owned if the manufacturer "recommends" a certain fuel/oil type then others can do damage to the engine IE: running 94 octane in a vehicle designed for 87. Can anyone clear this up? Is it beneficial or harmful for my coupe to be running on full synthetic oil and 94 octane gas as opposed to the usual? Thanks alot guys.

[rcboy514]

the VQ requires premium to run properly. As for the oil, that's not as big of an issue, but I would suggest that you run full synthetic or at least semi-synthetic if you are strapped for cash.

It's "true" that the VQ will "run" on 87 octane, but it won't be as efficiant and will eventually cause a knock from predetonation.

[LightEmUp]

Thanks alot for the info man, i bought the car used just last january and seriously questioned the dealer on using 87 octane and crappy oil. Ive always been using 94 or higher octane and sythetic oil, hopefully in the 50k the previous owner had it they didnt @#%! it up too badly. No knocks yet and still drives strong. I will continue to fill with the proper fluids, thanks alot!

[Mr.Coupe]

Screw that dude. It you can run Premium fuel and put Mobil 1 FULL sythetic oil. That's ofcource if you can afford you drop some extra cash. If not no problem run what you would like .

Ricky C.

[AlexM.]

If you have the manual it tells you what type of gas to put in your car.

[downedzephyr]

91 and royal purple, son!

[rcboy514]

91 and royal purple, son!

exactly

[LightEmUp]

thats what i had figured. I live in canada so i fill up at the Husky stations that have 94, im due for an oil change so ill prob put in some winter stuff while its cold out.

[J Russ]

apparently the guy at the dealership told me that they changed something in the engine for the 2010 model year so that they can run off regular alright, does this sund like a load of crap? tell me what u guys think!

[rcboy514]

yeah he doesn't know what he is talking about. Sure it will "run" on regular, but it's bad for it in the end....pre-detonation causing a knock, blah blah, Just run premium, it costs about $3 extra per fill-up.

[Towncivilian]

The 2008 owner's manual says that 91 octane is recommended for best performance for the 3.5L engines.

My Pathfinder's VQ35DE will run on 87 octane, but there is definitely a noticeable performance increase when running 93 octane. I always use 93 octane as a result; as the above member said, it's only a few dollars difference per fill-up.

[Ricko]

Royal purple is better on domestic cars. Castol syntec edge is better for our cars.

[mattyfo0z]

yeah he doesn't know what he is talking about. Sure it will "run" on regular, but it's bad for it in the end....pre-detonation causing a knock, blah blah, Just run premium, it costs about $3 extra per fill-up.

No.. you're wrong. My cousin has a 2010 3.5SE and he puts in 87 octane with no problems. I checked the manual because I too was confused as to why he could and I couldn't (still haven't found out really why), but sure enough it specified nothing of having to use 91 octane for optimum performance.

[rcboy514]

No I'm not......I assume by 3.5SE you are talking about an Altima coupe?

I didn't want to do this but I made a special trip out the the car so the OP can have accurate info and this thread can end. We've now made 18 laps around this question with people's retarted answers based on nothing.

Page 9-3 and 9-4 in the owners manual






Not to mention




so run what you want because it's not my car, but when you just ignore facts and research to save $3 you are about as smart as people that smoke when, "product can cause cancer" is written on the outside of the box. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

[beeristasty]

No.. you're wrong. My cousin has a 2010 3.5SE and he puts in 87 octane with no problems. I checked the manual because I too was confused as to why he could and I couldn't (still haven't found out really why), but sure enough it specified nothing of having to use 91 octane for optimum performance.

No I'm not......I assume by 3.5SE you are talking about an Altima coupe?

I didn't want to do this but I made a special trip out the the car so the OP can have accurate info and this thread can end. We've now made 18 laps around this question with people's retarted answers based on nothing.

Page 9-3 and 9-4 in the owners manual

You're both right. Nissan recommends premium in pre 2010 3.5 models. For 2010 and up there is no distinction between recommended fuel between the different engines, so they likely made a change to the 2010+ 3.5's timing.

[rcboy514]

that's strange....the OP has an 08 and that's who asked the question so I answered accordingly. I'll have to research the 2010 change if any...sounds interesting.

[Ranga14]

I ran 87 for almost the first half year that I had my car and no issues and using it shouldn't cause any long term problems regardless of what the stupid manual says.

apparently the guy at the dealership told me that they changed something in the engine for the 2010 model year so that they can run off regular alright, does this sund like a load of crap? tell me what u guys think!

Yeah, no engine changes, they're smoking crack. The only differences are part number revisions.

[mattyfo0z]

No I'm not......I assume by 3.5SE you are talking about an Altima coupe?

I didn't want to do this but I made a special trip out the the car so the OP can have accurate info and this thread can end. We've now made 18 laps around this question with people's retarted answers based on nothing.

Page 9-3 and 9-4 in the owners manual

Not to mention

so run what you want because it's not my car, but when you just ignore facts and research to save $3 you are about as smart as people that smoke when, "product can cause cancer" is written on the outside of the box. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

Well I don't know if you skipped over it or not but I said 2010, I have a 2008 and have to put 91 octane in. My cousin has a 2010 3.5SR (sorry, forgot the model change) and that's what I was talking about with the manual not stating anything about it.

[rcboy514]

The OP has an 08 so any info about the 2010 is irrelevant to him.

[mattyfo0z]

I know, but I was merely responding to J Russ' post.

[rcboy514]

Gotcha

[Ranga14]

The OP has an 08 so any info about the 2010 is irrelevant to him.

This is completely false and misleading. The engine internals, transmission, suspension, everything is just about identical minus the part number revisions for identical parts. The only reason Nissan decided to take that verbiage out of the official manual for 2010+ models is due to complaints and also the fact that 87 was harmless. Would running 93 improve performance and get better MPG? Yes, it would but 87 in no way would lead to engine damage as the original manual is stating which again is WHY Nissan removed it from the newer model manuals and from what I remember, they even suggest running 87.

[rcboy514]

so I guess this thread is meaningless then lol My response was made assuming that people are contributing accurate information. Where did you read where they are telling us to use 87 and that it won't cause damage? Just curious


From what I understand fuel with a lower octane rating will ignite easier than fuel with a high octane rating. The reason higher compression engines (like the VQ) don't run as well on 87 is that the fuel will ignite prematurely before the air/fuel mixture is fully compressed in the chamber and that can cause a knock. This is the same reason that cars designed to use 87 won't benefit from using a fuel with a higher octane rating.

I'm not trying to prove anyone wrong or anything, I just really want to know because this subject can be so controversial.