2010 Pontiac Vibe (1.8 L) - Gasoline Octane

[iucu]

How important is the gasoline quality for engine performance, in terms of power/acceleration and noise, not necessary the mileage ? In the book they recomand, Top Tier Detergent Gasoline and ONLY certain places like (Shell, just example) have that kind of gas. 01. Did you experienced an improve in engine performance with 89 octane gas ?02. Will 89 or 93 octane kill the engine ?03. Do you buy from Top Tier Gasoline pomps or it is just a scam ?In 89 I believe when gas was 80 cents I was using in my old Camry 93 octane gas and the engine was running wery smooth...

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by iucu »How important is the gasoline quality for engine performance, in terms of power/acceleration and noise, not necessary the mileage ? In the book they recommend, Top Tier Detergent Gasoline and ONLY certain places like (Shell, just example) have that kind of gas. 01. Did you experienced an improve in engine performance with 89 octane gas ?02. Will 89 or 93 octane kill the engine ?03. Do you buy from Top Tier Gasoline pumps or it is just a scam ?In 89 I believe when gas was 80 cents I was using in my old Camry 93 octane gas and the engine was running wery smooth...It is difficult to get good information on this, but I am convinced that using higher octane gasolines is a waste of money, but also convinced that using top tier gasolines such as Shell is worth it. Once in awhile if I have 80 cents a gallon credit on my Giant Eagle Supermarket rewards card I will risk a fill up at their Get & Go gas pumps. Maybe higher octane is useful in higher altitudes - I don't know as I live in Ohio.

[iucu]

To me, better octane will improve the burning, so engine should run better ! Many miserable things are in gas (including here the detergent !!! which clean the engine !!! but keep in mind that detergent mean diluent)

[Scooter Dave]

Quote, originally posted by iucu »To me, better octane will improve the burning, so engine should run better ! NO. NO. NO.The higher the octane, the slower the burn. If your car was engineered to run on 87, put 87 in. Otherwise, you end up with unburned fuel and carbon build up.

[iucu]

Manual 8-39 : use gasoline rated 87 octane or higher so why not 89 ?No, because of 10 cents/galon more is not a reason...

[star_deceiver]

Yup, It's more expensive and will do nothing for you or your engine.

[ou.grizzly]

IUCU.... I am up for some coffee sometime and I can answer all of your questions/concerns regarding your Vibe.

[iucu]

Cool ! because to me all things have to be clear. My main problem was coming down from 4 liter Manual to 1.8 auto ! (my first ever auto) . Too abruptly ! Like I said before, at 50 mile per hour, RPM is 2000 so Vibe is a PERFECT car for some european countrys (I know that) maybe Canada too, where speed limit is 80-90 Km/hour !!! At around 90 Km/h the car is very confortable, mileage is the best and engine run like a clock. But at 65-70 mile when I see the RPM at 3000 I feel like I didn't made the right decision, to me looks OLD technology ...Now I understand what really mean 4 speed auto !

[Old Tele man]

...OCTANE is a measure of how "fast" the gasoline burns inside the cylinder: too fast (close to explosion) and pinging/detontation occur; too slow (close to paper burning) and power output will suffer, it's not a measurement of energy....the measurement of gasoline that affects both POWER and FUEL ECONOMY is its ENERGY content (BTU/gal, etc.), which varies slightly (from vendor to vendor) but is typically about 114,000 BTU/gal, and varies (due to additives) with summer/winter blends....a high OCTANE gasoline is needed with higher than about 10:1 compression ratios or turbocharged (like 2ZZ-GE) engines...the MINI and 2004 Vibe GTS come to mind.

[ParknVibe]

Just use 87 octane. You can use 89 if you want. You have a small 4 cylinder engine and it was designed to run on 87, period. do not waste your money.GK

[iucu]

But at 10 galons I waste ... one dollar !!! and it is a dolar which doesn't have too much value anymore !!! I guess my question was more related to the quality of 87 gas, god knows what they add in, what detergents to clean the engine !!!, because sometime you see a lot of water coming out from exhaust (I didn't see in my Vibe) At some pomps I saw at 87 octane, a label with ...10 % ethanol added. Indeed, I had tested 89 octane with no change in acceleration or milage

[ParknVibe]

Just buy name brand gasoline. Read the owner's manual for how to operate your new car. Check your tire pressure often, keep it at 32 psi when tire is cold.Water (water vapor) coming out of the exhaust is a good thing. Gray smoke is not. In the cold weather, it is a very normal thing to see vapor come out until the motor warms up. Please note that your new car must use 5W20 or 0W20 motor oil. It is a very very thin oil. you may not even see it on the dip stick. Do not use anything thicker like 10w 30 or 10w40. >>>But at 65-70 mile when I see the RPM at 3000 I feel like I didn't made the right decision, to me looks OLD technology ...Now I understand what really mean 4 speed auto ! I have the 2.4L motor, I do not see the RPM go to 3000 much. But I understand from reports of owners on this site, that the older 1.8L engines does run operate with a high RPM.>>>>To me, better octane will improve the burning, so engine should run better ! Many miserable things are in gas (including here the detergent !!! which clean the engine !!! but keep in mind that detergent mean diluentDetergent is a good thing, do not worry about it. I now understand that you came from driving a manual trans. Like I said to you in your other post, Just stay in Drive mode. In the lower gear mode I think you will make it run with a high RPM... but you will never go faster then 30-40 MPH. Drive in peace and safety.GK