Premuim or Regular in 3.5 SE??

[GreyZone]

What kinda gas are you running in your 3.5s? Manual calls for premuim. I just got mine this week (FINALLY!) and the dealer filled it up with premuim...I have yet to put gas in it.

For anyone using regular, is it pinging?

[notaverage]

Regular works fine, premium is only recommended. My thermodynamics professor told me, you're a sap if you buy premium if its not required for your car.

Manual says you might lose performance if you use regular.

I use regular on occasion, no pinging here...

[generic808]

3.5 here and I only use top tier premium in my baby! When you think about it, you spend $25K+ for a car and you skimp on the gas? The difference would be less than $4 per fill-up so what's the big deal? I don't know why anyone would use reg when premium is recommended?

[jdshift]

Do some research on that. I only use 91 rating, and yes I can notice a performance loss and ping!! It is recommended for a reason, I also would add you should do a SEARCH for a thread on that.

[rjdmmfl1]

I agree with Eric 100%... and its about long term performance. Regular and premium gas is NOT the same. I'm not a technician, but everyone I have spoken with says that long term engine performance will def be improved having used premium gas instead of regular. Why spend this much money on a car, and go el cheapo loco on the gas??? 17 gallon fill up, .20 more / gallon, ~3.40 more... come on dude, we waste more than that on beer and... well beer

[GreyZone]

It makes sense to me to use premium, but is there more than just pinging that is the issue or is that the whole issue? The argument would be then, if it doesnt ping, regualr is fine, or is there more to it than that?

Then again, probably not all pinging will be caught by ear. And, the higher the octane the cleaner buring the fuel. I am sure I will use premuim, but I wanted to make sure its necessary and not just an uneccessary expense.

And when I do searches on this site, is there any way to search just this forum? Seems like it searches the whole nococlub.com web site, whcih is not what I want to do...it gets too many irrelevant hits.

[GreyZone]

And be careful flaming when the topic is gasoline!

[jdshift]

Regular works fine, premium is only recommended. My thermodynamics professor told me, you're a sap if you buy premium if its not required for your car.

Manual says you might lose performance if you use regular.

I use regular on occasion, no pinging here...

......

[CoupeSlate]

Premium all the way i was told that if you use regular for a long time and then switch to using premium that will mess up your engine. the smaller partials in the premium will get stuck in all the nook and crannies of the engine and lines. thus ending up will a very sad owner and car also ive asked my mechanic and he said with the VQ you pretty much have to use premium. it prolongs the life of the engine and slightly increases performance.
Modified by CoupeSlate at 9:46 PM 11/18/2007

[GreyZone]

Enough siad, I knew you guys would answer my question. Thanks for the feedback, and the confirmation. Premium it is!

God, I love this car!

[jdshift]

And be careful flaming when the topic is gasoline!

Here I am to flame the day!!! J/K......could'nt fight the temptation. Your ride will be better in the long run with the Premuim.

[GreyZone]

thats good shift, jd.

[generic808]

And to add to what I said earlier, you might as well go premium because going with a lesser grade then recommended will probably reduce your gas mileage. So that extra $3.50-$4 you save at the pump by going with regular will probably be negated anyway.

[GreyZone]

Plus Ill know I am taking better care of my baby!

[jdshift]

And knowing is just half the battle!!

[SHIFT_2.5S]

If the manual says premium, I wouldn't go any other way. The savings will catch up with you in the end.

[notaverage]

I'm not gonna argue with anyone here. My point is, that using regular gasoline will not harm your engine, it will reduce performance, but will not mess up your engine. If using regular is going to cause problems, then premium would not have been recommended, it would have been required. Which is why my professor only uses regular

In the end, using regular or premium is a personal choice that Nissan allows you to make on your Altima

[desertdragon]

I use only premium even for my 05 3.5SE.

Premium al the way!!!

[Mr_Coupe]

only premim kid no other... ur gonna spoil ur car if u use anygthing less

[cliffy21]

No one has pointed it out, so i thought i'd mention it. The engine management on the car changes depending on the grade of gas you are running. If you've been running high octane for a while, and switch to regular, for a short while the car will run a little rough and you may hear knocking. The engine will adjust to this eventually, and all that SHOULD go away. Hence why premium is only recommended. Of course, nothing but 94 octane for by baby.....

[dangeris]

3.5 here and I only use top tier premium in my baby! When you think about it, you spend $25K+ for a car and you skimp on the gas? The difference would be less than $4 per fill-up so what's the big deal? I don't know why anyone would use reg when premium is recommended?

LOL,...How true generic! I spent about 32K total for my baby and to skimp out just to save a few bucks at the pump is just stupid!...

It's like those guys who buys $30K harleys and complain about the costs of $300 saddle bags....

[Sarcanglk]

The argument is valid... why spend 31000 on a car and skimp on gas... I drive everyday and wind up spending 400 a month on gas... its like a second car payment lol

[SHIFT_COUPE]

This can be debated until the cows come home. Only the cows might not come home. Spending the extra cash on premium is negligible compared to what regular costs. I always use 91 or 93. We can get into the scandals on whether or not that gas your pumping is actually premium....but thats a debate for another day

[bembol]

Neither.

Ultra 94 for Megan

[altima coupe]

I can't resist. Nice taste in vehicle. The plates.... Ya need the Sens logo that's on mine. Only in Canada Eh.

[skiski329]

I use the best 93 gas in my 3.5 se you can see the difference in the profermence. also it will cost less in the long term if you use premuim and not kill your car with regular. (you get what you pay for) ALSO I RECOMEND THAT YOU GO TO MOBIL OR BP AND SHELL we have done a gas comperson and the damage and what is put in the gas. once again these gas companies are more expensive then speedway but you get what you pay for!! (ps i wrote this when i only got 2 hours of sleep plz don't look at my spelling mistakes i don't feel like reading what i just wrote).

[jdshift]

No worries dude..........thanks for your .02 cents.

[LongBeachCoupe]

heh... ill put water in the tank if itll run... 3.20s for regular here in ny... thats all im doin

[MagicM]

awh comon, why does everybod complain about gas. I hate when people complain about gas when i see them pay 2.99 for a bottle of water, and 1.25 for 591 ml of pepsi!. Pepsi doesn't move cars!

[notaverage]

awh comon, why does everybod complain about gas. I hate when people complain about gas when i see them pay 2.99 for a bottle of water, and 1.25 for 591 ml of pepsi!. Pepsi doesn't move cars!

Sorry, I shop at costco, so I pay $.10 for my can of pepsi