Considering how high gasoline is now, I wonder how many people who have vehicles that require premium are trying, or have switched to, mid-grade?
I have a few vehicles that want 92 octane so I generally fill up with premium, but if premium is crazy high (like 70 cents or more over regular), I'm just topping up, or the station simply doesn't have premium, I don't have a problem blending mid-grade in with the premium remaining in the tank. That still gives me 90+ octane.
My motorcycle was 1/2 full with 93 octane so I was planning on topping it off with mid-grade. Most stations around here only have the price of regular and diesel on their sign so anyone who is accustomed to automatically hitting the second button for mid-grade to put in their Lexus just gave this station a nice bonus. Needless to say my Moto Guzzi got topped up with premium.

It does seem odd to have mid-grade priced above 93 octane.

If you have an app like 'GasBuddy' you could see whether this is unique to this station, or something that local demand and local supply have established.

I've never seen mid cheaper than premium. These are blended pumps so the station has two tanks; 87 and 93, for 89 it blends maybe 1/3 93 with 2/3 87.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
Considering how high gasoline is now, I wonder how many people who have vehicles that require premium are trying, or have switched to, mid-grade?

That seems ill-advised, IMO.

My Jeep has a 5.7L Hemi. I have seen people report on the Jeep forums of allegedly successfully using regular with no ill effect, but it's not something I'd try.

But I'm retired. I don't normally go through more than a quarter tank of gasoline in a week--if that. Perhaps if I was still driving twenty-two miles/day to and from work, and money was tight, it'd be a different story.

Then again: Had I still been doing that I probably wouldn't have bought a vehicle with a 5.7L Hemi in it

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
I've never seen mid cheaper than premium.

It usually is, here.

Ever since I bought the Jeep, in 2017, it's seemed to be a ±30¢/gal. bump from regular -> mid-grade -> premium.

I didn't check the regular and premium numbers when I filled-up yesterday, but I paid $4.95/gal. for Mobile Extra (mid-grade).

I'm going to speculate that the mid grade and regular tanks were refilled at a higher price point and the premium tank is still selling fuel from a previous, lower priced, batch.

It could be that the premium grade just hasn’t been used as much so the pricing reflects the cost when the tank was filled a month or three ago..

Modern vehicles will adjust for ethanol content as well as octane. There is some risk in burning regular octane, and certainly a reduction in engine performance. If you listen to a 2.0L Ecotec four-cylinder turbo on our engine test dyno running regular, you will hear knock. The computer will retard ignition timing, but knock is not good for your engine.

I cannot afford 36 gallons x $0.80 per gallon to run premium. $29 premium penalty. I use an octane enhancer, which costs $6. It treat 16 gallons, so in 36 the effect is diluted. But, it helps.

My GMC Sierra Denali HD 3/4 ton is getting 14 mpg now, on my 32 mile commute. I’m happy that the mpg is 1.5 higher than I measured in December and January and February. Something is better, I just can’t put a cause to the effect.

my last fill-up at costco, with premium was $0.50 higher than 2 weeks earlier.

like others, being retired i don't drive that much!

My go to car is a twin turbo Nissan 300ZX. I won't gamble damaging that engine to save a few buck on fuel.....just my opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
I'm going to speculate that the mid grade and regular tanks were refilled at a higher price point and the premium tank is still selling fuel from a previous, lower priced, batch.

Thats exactly what happened. Kind of rare these days to see three fuel tanks in the ground. Most places went to just two tanks in the ground, regular and premium, and they are mixed at the pump to get mid grade.

I know it's ill advised to use regular when premium is spec'd but many, including guys in a sports car club here, say you can usually get away running mid-grade in such situations and most of them do.

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
I'm going to speculate that the mid grade and regular tanks were refilled at a higher price point and the premium tank is still selling fuel from a previous, lower priced, batch.

I don't think so and here's why. As I mentioned here is no mid-grade tank only regular and premium tanks. For mid-grade 89 the pump blends about 1/3 premium 93 with 2/3 regular 87. Both the price of regular at $4.49 and premium at $5.09 have remained unchanged for the last 3 weeks so no increase.

That's a fugly gas pump.

Sheetz often sells 88 octane cheaper than 87.

LOL it is.

quote:

Originally posted by BigJoe:
Sheetz often sells 88 octane cheaper than 87.

That's different, 88 is 15% subsidized alcohol so a little less expensive than 87 which is 10%.

Mistake. By putting the prices in numerical order, the incremental differences are equal which is the typical pricing pattern between the three grades. Someone swapped the prices of midgrade and premium when it was entered.

Those pumps will be nostalgic soon. I’ve read that in some parts of the country most likely starting with California they are being converted to show double digits before the decimal. Wonder what their answer will be when they coerce/force enough people into electric cars and the power grid crashes and there are rolling black outs across the country.

quote:

Originally posted by GT-40DOC:
My go to car is a twin turbo Nissan 300ZX. I won't gamble damaging that engine to save a few buck on fuel.....just my opinion.

Especially when the difference is the same as it was when regular was $2.00 a gallon

My daily driver is a Ford Fiesta ST, a real sleeper of a car. While I can run it on 87 octane gas I gain 3.5 mpg and about 45 HP with premium in the tank.

Note, the fuel mileage ticker is showing 36.7 mpg with an average speed of 28 mph, so that is all city driving. Per Ford's claims the ST will do 0-60 in 6.6 seconds and has a top speed of 143 mph, so as a sleeper it's quite capable. Those driving your giant SUV's and taking right turns at a very slow walk take note, there used to be options available that are a lot more fun to drive and still capable of hauling a surprising amount of stuff.

My guess is the clerk flip-flopped the prices.

Wonder when that 9/10ths pricing will finally end.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
My guess is the clerk flip-flopped the prices.

Wonder when that 9/10ths pricing will finally end.

Maybe when the price display is changed to have two digits to the left of the decimal point.