GASOLINE FOR '03 G35

[dyldorichardson]

I just purchased a 2003 g35 sport coupe and saw in the manual that 91 octane gas is recommended. Is it required to put premium gasoline in it? what damage could come from putting regular gasoline into the tank? just curious...

[Mudgen]

We have a member, Telcoman, who's been running regular in an '06 G35 for about 150K miles. No problems. He'll probably be along to remark further.

[SVTCOBRA]

Telcoman has a SEDAN....and it is not required in a sedan. (I had an 05 sedan and when we could not get prem. I did run regular and it did fine. No spark knock.

Pretty sure that it is required in the coupe.....you might want to check your manual again. When we could not get prem., my coupe stayed parked until we could get it again.

[Mudgen]

I stands corrected.

[telcoman]

I just purchased a 2003 g35 sport coupe and saw in the manual that 91 octane gas is recommended. Is it required to put premium gasoline in it? what damage could come from putting regular gasoline into the tank? just curious...

Welcome to NICO

As you will discover there are lots of opinions on the use of gasoline and oil in this and other forums.

The only reason the owners manual recommends anything other than regular 87 octane is so the engine can meet the hp ratings that the manufacturer publishes. Younger members seem to get hot to trot over hp ratings a a few other things but if you don't drive many miles and you have the extra $.30 a gallon for premium you will be fine.
On the other hand if you are cheap like me and enjoy saving a few bucks where possible 87 octane is not going to harm your engine.

Just my $.02 with over 40 years of using regular 87 octane in a long list of vehicles some with over 200k miles
You are probably too young to remember when one had to choose between leaded and unleaded in addition to whether to use premium. When I first started driving gasoline was $.25 a gallon and I put regular leaded into my 1958 Ford the POS that it was.

Telcoman

[SVTCOBRA]

I just purchased a 2003 g35 sport coupe and saw in the manual that 91 octane gas is recommended. Is it required to put premium gasoline in it? what damage could come from putting regular gasoline into the tank? just curious...

OK, googled your 2003 owner's manual to see if it's different from my 2004 and it is not.

The way I read the manual, it is required not recommended for the coupe.

Unless, you can not find Prem. then, it is recommended that you only use enough regular to get you to a station that has Prem.
And, avoid WOT. (probably want to avoid hills too! Or, pulling trailer or hauling heavy people around too)
And, fill it up with Prem. ASAP.
This does not read as a recommendation to me.
Again, let me say that they make a distinction between the COUPE and SEDAN in the owner's manual.

[tollboothwilley]

It is relevant to the tune. Since the coupe is supposed to be tuned a bit more aggressively it may require higher octane. There are many people who have used 87 and been just fine. It really depends on your driving style though. If you don't plan to drive the car very hard then the lower octane is generally ok. If it pings at all then you will need to use 91 octane. If you drive the car aggressively, you should probably use higher octane as it keeps the ECU in more aggressive timing and higher octane results in cooler burn and less chance of predetonation.

[biggie]

Yes, really wouldn't run anything under 91 on the coupe.