Is premium fuel really necessary?
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Is premium fuel really necessary? - 1/26/2006 11:44:35 AM
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rustyleskiv
Posts: 3
Joined: 1/26/2006
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I was looking into buying a 96-97 c220 or 280 and saw that it required premium fuel. Is it totaly necessary or can I get by with filling it with regular? I understand that if you want to drive in a sporty manner then yea, you need premium but if I just drive normaly would it be really necessary? Just wondering...
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RE: Is premium fuel really necessary? - 1/26/2006 12:25:27 PM
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BlackWolf
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For the right performance and life of your car I would recommend putting in the recommended fuel. Actually, most Mercedes manuals say never fill your car up more than half tank with the lower octane fuel and you should not drive over some pretty low highway speed tha tI can't remember off the top of my head.
Let me try it from this angle. I heard of people trying to go regular on the fuel and ended up with all types of problems, like sluggish take offs, short life fuel filters and pumps, and things. But then again, my uncle has a 1990 300SE and rarely put premium in his car and he drives like a bat out of hell and the thing has over 310000 miles on it and still running strong. He had plenty of Benzes and know what he's doing.
A tank won't hurt and see what happens. If it starts to under perform, add premium and you have your answer but if it runs fine (as long as you're not full throttle all the time.), then more power to you. I asked myself the same question when I got my Mercedes but decided not to risk it.
I'm sorry if I didn't answer your question directly.
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RE: Is premium fuel really necessary? - 1/26/2006 12:42:49 PM
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Lugnut
Rest In Peace 5/7/06
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The worst thing that happens is predetonation, or "pinging." It's very hard on an engine and can blow out head gaskets and even pop the heads up off the block. You need to retard the spark advance significantly to prevent predetonation. A '96 or higher ECU should do it automatically, but depending on the actual grade of the gas, you may need aftermarket programming to do it effectively. It would be a dumb move, though. Not the programming per se, but retarding the timing. It really kills performance. Better to just buy premium gas.
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RE: Is premium fuel really necessary? - 1/26/2006 1:38:33 PM
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mbz300sdl
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At least everyone seems to agree on premium gas.
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RE: Is premium fuel really necessary? - 1/28/2006 1:49:58 PM
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RockSolid
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As Lugnut says, the ECU combined with the knock-sensor will avoid predetonation. However, by avoiding predetonation with lower octane, your car will get lower mpg. Any savings at the pump is eaten up by lower mpg.
Futhermore, if premium is $.20 more/gal. then you are saving $120/year if you drive 12,000mi. I don't think anyone wants to throw money away, but $120 over 12 months is not a budget buster and I'm not convinced there aren't other benefits to the fuel system using premium.
Ultimately, I'm not sure if it hurts your car or not, but I don't see an advantage either.
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RE: Is premium fuel really necessary? - 1/29/2006 8:54:21 PM
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rustyleskiv
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Thanks for the input. Much appreciated.
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