running the 'cheap stuff' in the car

[Vendor Defendor]

do to the recent spike in gas prices, and only having my buick as my daily driver and being a full time college student, saving money everywhere i can is a good idea. so i was wondering if i turn the boost all the way down, will i be able to run the 'cheap stuff'' safely?

 

[NEARING]

You aught to be able to run 15psi or so.

 

[NEARING]

EEEEWWW.

You mean 87.

10psi? Maybe?

 

[zam70]

sure you can...it's all about cylinder pressure BUT - if you do the math, higher prices really isn't going to cost that much more per tank.
I'd probably drive less and run the stuff I want.

 

[NEARING]

Originally posted by zam70
sure you can...it's all about cylinder pressure BUT - if you do the math, higher prices really isn't going to cost that much more per tank.
I'd probably drive less and run the stuff I want.

What he says.

 

[Vendor Defendor]

i cant just drive less, i drive 60 miles (round trip) to school every other day...

anyways, what if i left the alcohol cranked up for saftey reasons. i cant honstly remember when the last time i got to beat on my car was

 

[disco stu]

Personally, I think I would rather spend the extra 2 or 3 bucks a tank than to risk it.

 

[Murt TTA]

I guess you could tune your car to run with alky and 87 octane and probably run 16-18 psi, but if you don't plan on getting into boost and just commuting, then 87 would probably work its just gonna burn off.

Be careful, don't wanna blow a HG!

~Murt

 

[turbo nasty]

no way.

 

[John Larkin]

I read lower octane gas burns hotter. I would think you'd also need to put in colder plugs to avoid knock.

 

[zam70]

Originally posted by John Larkin
I read lower octane gas burns hotter. I would think you'd also need to put in colder plugs to avoid knock.

This is very true...The truth of the matter is 87 is actually higher octane than 93 and is MORE volatile - hence it's ability to cause preignition and run on ... the measurement (87, 89, 91, 106 - whatever) actually denotes the LACK of actual octane. It gets confusing since the number goes up, it seems like thay are adding something, when they are taking it away.

There was a show on the learning channel about how the whole fuel industry works...all the way from production to distribution. It was one of the most informative shows I've seen.

Did you know they used to dump gas into rivers as a waste product? When they first started refining oil, they only wanted the oil to burn in lamps. Everything else was waste....my, how far we've come...

 

[scottyb]

60 mile round trip?
I'd definately consider it, but I'd prolly disconnect the WG arm (or just be disciplined to stay out of any boost) and monitor knock on the first round.

 

[gnturbo]

...and life is too short to buy Gas at Sam's

 

[Cme2fly]

pay the extra 20 cents per gallon for 93, cheap insurance to prevent a blown head gasket. I only use The Cheap Stuff in my lawn mower.

 

[strikeeagle]

Let's say you drive your car 15,000 miles a year.

Let's say your car gets 10 MPG.

Let's say the cost difference between regular and premium is 25 cents per gallon.

That's a whopping $7.21 per week.

And, if you drive less and/or get better mileage and/or the difference between regular and premium is less, you're talking less than $7.21 per week. Example:

10,000 miles per year/15 MPG/20 cents per gallon = $2.56 per week.

MATH, The Other White Meat...

 

[dyermullet]

Just Buy one of these, $700

Just buy one of these for $700
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~strebs/pictures/sonoma.jpg

4.3L no crappy 4 cylinder, 169,000 miles and it runs like a champ, gets 18mpg on the highway running 87, and you can use it to haul parts for your buick.

Something else to consider is that when you add a 2nd vehicle you insurance for your buick will go down because you tell them it isn't your primary driver.

Also the insurance for the truck would be cheaper because you have two vehicles.

I know about the college thing, now that I bought my WE4 I have no money left

But my combined insurance for my buick with full coverage, and my sonoma with just libality is cheaper than my under 21 rate for just the truck was .

And it is with Allstate, and not some crappy company like geico or whatever.