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Unleaded - Plus - or Premium - Which do you Use?

18K views 139 replies 51 participants last post by  GrecianVolvo 
#1 ·
I've got a 2015.5 Volvo S60 T5 FWD.

I use Premium...Just curious if others do, too or am I throwing away money?
 
#3 ·
I use premium, but have run regular a couple times. Since premium is the recommended (though not required) fuel, the power and torque ratings were obtained while running premium and I just don't want to give any of that power up! The car does feel a bit down on power when I've run regular, but that is subjective at this point. Fuel economy has been comparable whether running regular or premium.
 
#6 ·
I've been running 91 non-ethanol in both the RD and my XC70 for the past year or so and the cars seem to like it pretty well. From my understanding that's not a choice that's available everywhere though.


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#7 ·
I use 93 because 91 isn't available at the stations I use. It's 87, 89, or 93.

Otherwise I'd use the recommended, which I believe is 91?

I do have the older 3.0L with Polestar Tune, so it's a bit different. But I wouldn't pay more to go above recommended.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Matt, did your Polestar Welcome Kit include the sticker recommending premium?
Just curious. Mine did not and I think they pulled that from the kit at some point.
 
#9 ·
Mine was installed at port or factory as part of the R-Design treatment and the sticker is there.
 
#10 ·
With a P* tune on the RD 3.0, 93 or 94 octane will get you at least the quoted hp and torque - say no more [emoji41]

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#22 ·
Why so coy, lol. Do you know more about the measurable relationship between octane and output with these cars? Please do share! My car did seem to run a little quicker and trap a little higher when I ran race gas at the track, but it was hard to say for sure as I was running my stock intercooler and temps were dropping at the same time, so I couldn't tell if the extra power was more about the slightly cooler air or the higher octane.
 
#72 ·
Now clean exhaust tips is something that I never thought about. That's a good sign that things are burning cleaner. I just used some Never Dull on my exhaust - and it cleaned the tips pretty well. I may have to try an experiment and run 93 for a couple of weeks to see if they stay clean - followed by a couple of weeks with mid-grade (91). I normally run 93 if I'm at a Sunoco (you can get 91 at most of the Sunoco's around her) - if I'm not near a Sunoco, I'm probably putting 93 in the tank.
 
#16 ·
Almost exclusively 87 octane. I must be getting old but there are very few times anymore where I feel the need to really get on it hard. If I know I'm going to be on 2 lane highways where passing is a possibility, I'll opt for premium but otherwise, regular does fine and at .$80/gallon cheaper than premium, puts some cash in my pocket. I do make sure I use only top tier gas.
 
#20 ·
87 regular unleaded most of the time. 93 premium when it gets really hot.
We burned 87 octane in our Saab Aero 2.3L, turbo, 4-cylinders most of the time and mid-grade in hot summers. We have been burning 87 year-round in both our 5-cylinder T5 Volvos with great performance and no problems so far.
 
#19 ·
I seem to think my car runs better on premium..but that might just be subjective.
 
#24 ·
This thread has been done a bunch of times. I did a blog post on this topic, here's the excerpt:
Over the last 11 tanks of gasoline I've done a modest experiment. I ran my first 5 tanks of gas on 87 octane, then performed a "washout" tank of premium, and then ran my next 5 tanks on 91 or 93 octane (whichever was available).

Regular octane average over 5 tanks = 24.1 mpg
Premium octane average over 5 tanks = 23.2 mpg

Weather during this test was extremely similar, with most days around or below 32 F and some random warm days thrown in. This was all on winter fuel which is normally 10% ethanol. I kept track of the city/highway balance for each tank and this was similar across both groups as well.

So there isn't really a difference in fuel economy. What about driving feel? There does seem to be a very subtle difference in smoothness and "eagerness" of the engine when using premium. However, this isn't blinded or controlled in any manner so I can't be confident that this is a real difference.

Although the extra couple of bucks per tank isn't a huge deal, I'm sticking with 87 octane for now. The small difference in driving feel just doesn't seem worth the extra money with no improvement in fuel economy.
 
#34 · (Edited)
That's great that it's been discussed before but those discussions are relatively useless if they are entirely subjective with regard to measurable performance or even butt-dyno performance. Some people have very vague butt-dynos and others' are much more dialed-in precision measurement tools, lol. We can close the book on this subject if and only if someone does dyno measurements and/ or quarter mile measurements with different octanes under identical conditions, otherwise it's just speculation and uninformed opinion, not fact. Many of us aren't all that concerned with fuel economy and are willing to spend a few dollars per tank more to have better throttle response and perhaps shave a tenth off our quarter mile times in the process. Some of us track our cars and drive them very hard, very often. Some of us aren't satisfied with "peppy" passing of dawdling minivans at part throttle and would rather pull down S4s at triple digit speeds :)

I guess for some, merely adequate performance is worth saving a few dollars per tank, or at the time of purchase (the ole T5 versus T6 argument), while others here place a greater emphasis on performance than on cost per mile. Neither set of priorities is universally right or wrong, but you can't use your own priorities to decide when a topic is or isn't worth discussing further by people who care about such things.
 
#25 ·
Premium. It runs better and frankly it's a near-luxury car, if you want regular gas, buy a Ford.
 
#28 ·
Maybe the cars are just built well? I haven't seen a Check Engine light on my Volvo cars in about 12 years.
 
#29 ·
I don't care to purchase a car that requires premium fuel, that's why I am troubled by the new T6 turbo/supercharged engines requiring premium fuel. I can afford it, I'm just cheap and don't really require the performance. If I can zip onto the expressway and pass a slowpoke on a straightaway with regular gas I am happy.
 
#30 ·
These cars don't feel very zippy with regular fuel, IMHO.
 
#33 ·
For what it's worth, it was subtle on all of my 5-cylinder Volvo cars.

But iIt was not subtle on my 3.0T T6 and if it's subtle on the 2.0ST T6, reviews are lying about how much power is there.
 
#35 · (Edited)
And here's the mother ship on the topic.

From the '13 (5 & 6 cylinder) owner's book:
Volvo recommends premium fuel for best performance, but using 87 octane or above will not affect engine reliability.

Demanding driving
In demanding driving conditions, such as operating the vehicle in hot weather, towing a trailer, or driving for extended periods at higher altitudes than normal, it may be advisable to switch to higher octane fuel (91 or higher) or to change gasoline brands to fully utilize your engine's capacity, and for the smoothest possible operation.
I always use premium myself.
 
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