According to new research from the American Automobile Association, U.S. drivers wasted more than $2.1 billion dollars last year by using premium-grade gasoline in vehicles designed to run on regular fuel.
With 16.5 million U.S. drivers having used premium fuel despite the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendation in the last 12 months, AAA conducted a comprehensive fuel evaluation to determine what, if any, benefit the practice offers to consumers.
After using industry-standard test protocols designed to evaluate vehicle performance, fuel economy and emissions, AAA found no benefit to using premium gasoline in a vehicle that only requires regular-grade fuel.
“Drivers see the ‘premium’ name at the pump and may assume the fuel is better for their vehicle,” John Nielsen, AAA’s managing director of automotive engineering and repair said.
AAA cautions drivers that premium gasoline is higher octane, not higher quality, and urges drivers to follow the owner’s manual recommendations for their vehicle’s fuel.
In partnership with the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center, AAA tested 87-octane (regular) and 93-octane (premium) gasoline in vehicles equipped with a V-8, V-6 or I4 engine designed to operate on regular-grade fuel.
To evaluate the effects of using a higher-octane fuel when it’s not required by the manufacturer, each vehicle was tested on a dynamometer, the equivalent of a treadmill for cars.
The laboratory testing found no significant increases in any tested category, indicating the practice of using premium gasoline when it’s not required for the vehicle offers no advantage.
“Premium gasoline is specifically formulated to be compatible with specific types of engine designs and most vehicles cannot take advantage of the higher octane rating,” Megan McKernan, manager of the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center said
To understand the magnitude of the issue, AAA surveyed U.S. drivers and found 70 percent own a vehicle that requires regular gasoline, 16 percent drive vehicles requiring premium. The remaining 14 percent own a vehicle that requires mid-grade gasoline (10 percent) or uses an alternative energy source (4 percent).
In the last 12 months, U.S. drivers unnecessarily used premium gasoline in their vehicle more than 270 million times.
“When it comes to gasoline, ‘premium’ does not mean ‘better’ if your vehicle doesn’t require it,” Nielsen added.
For this study, AAA did not evaluate the effects of using regular fuel in an engine that requires premium gasoline.
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