http://www.usatoday.com/money/...x.htm

What do you think? Premium fuel is 30 cents a gallon more expensive that the regular unleaded and 15 cents more than mid-grade unleaded. I'm hesitant to say that our Q may see a little bit of the cheap stuff roll down the filler neck once in a while in the future...

Its an interesting article and we've discussed it in the past. The problem with making the Q utilize its knock sensors, is that to retard timing detonation has to have already happened. Thats not good. Fortunately, the timing remains retarded if you continue to fill the same grade of fuel.

So, if you go with midgrade, stick with midgrade. If you go regular, stick with regular. Don't go back and forth.

I would agree with that article to a certain degree if we were talking about a 96+ car with OBDII...

Our OBDI vs OBDII is like comparing a 286 to a pentium 3.... its just more sophisticated, can react quicker and make better judgements.... Take this for example... The times when your prone to detonation is when your under a little load, going up a slight hill when its really hot out with the AC on.. Newer cars can compensate for that but our old Qs cant... Its ESPECIALLY more important to run premium when its hot out, when its colder out you could probably get away with it easier.... meaning it may run just fine... Notice how on most newer cars it says "premium fuel recommended" where on ours it says "premium fuel required"..... We've run our grand prix GTP (supercharged) on regular and it does make a difference! For most grandma drivers that have never shifted the car at the redline, it makes no difference.... Theyre doing more damage by grannying the car around than they are by putting regular in it.

That being siad, the thing about the memory doesnt apply to the Q. The Qs ECU has a very short memory and tends to correct things in real time. Besides, EVERY time the ECU is turned off, when it comes back on it has to re-detect everything... so its not like running regular for 2-3 tanks will make the car "used" to it... It runs at full power until it detects knock, then backs off the timing... Thats why sometimes the car feels good and other times it doesnt. Once its detected knock, it wont let the timing come back until you shut the car off again!

Personally, Im on the edge of performance with my timing bumped to 17* and im running the JWT ECU... Not gonna put anything less in my car!

Did you notice that it only costs $171 MORE for a car that gets 14mpg and is driven 12,000 miles a year?

article wrote:Actually, the price debate is nearly worthless. At 20 cents more for premium, pumping 20 gallons of it instead of regular would cost $4 more. Annually, that's a difference of $171 for a vehicle that averages 14 miles per gallon — as some big sport-utility vehicles do — and is driven 12,000 miles a year.

$171 a year is CHUMP CHANGE on a Q45.... Theres nothing that I spend per year that is less than 171.... I mean come on, you cant spend an extra $4 per fill up to maximize the performance of the car??? go buy a honda if you cant suck it up....

so, if its only $171 a year (which you could EASILY make up by not buying that coffee on the way to work every day) why bat an eye at it.... People say "oh man that stinks, you have to put premium in your car"... I tell them, yeah, it costs me an extra $2-4 per fill up and thats why I drive an infiniti and you drive a [insert beater]

Yes.. the car WILL run on regular and it will run "fine".... it wont be as fast, gas mileage may or may not be effected, but why mess with it... However, you gotta pay to play...

article wrote:Some people feel almost guilty, as if they are abusing their cars, when they don't burn premium, says gasoline retailer Jay Ricker, president of Ricker Oil of Anderson, Ind., which operates 28 stations. "They go all the way down to 87 (octane), but maybe every fourth tank they put in the good stuff."

Sam Turner has seen the appeal, too. He's president of Favorite Markets of Dalton, Ga., which operates 139 outlets in three states.

He recalls visiting one of his stations during a price war with a nearby station, which had cut the price of premium to just 4 cents more than regular, instead of the usual 20-cent difference.

"A customer was waiting and asked me if I was going to match the guy across the street. I said, 'Yeah,' and he said, 'Good. For 4 cents, I'm gonna buy super.' "

Pretty cool, thats from my home town!!! We have "rickers" stations all over the place!

One final note:

If the car recommends regular, run regular! it is not good for them to be used with other grades....

If the car recommends premium, run premium. If you dont want to run premium, dont get that car!

ALLRIGHT, ALLRIGHT, ALLRIGHT! ! ! Wes, you have reinspired me to not stain the inner chambers of my fuel tank with nothing less than natures best petroleum products. I wanna play... Considering in the last month I have spent $600 in parts on the car, I can manage the $171.

$600 isnt bad, when you start getting the big ticket items it really gets fun... 2 grand in one month is fun, been there and done that...

In 3 years, Ive spent close to 15 grand on 2 Q45s and theyre parts and stuff....

YOu will notice unwanted hesitation and other sideeffects when using gas less than Premium. Even if you put dry ice in your intake air box !Wes is right, can't afford extra 4$$ per fill-up, dont own Q45!Cheers!