Auto mechanic says to use premium gasoline in winter?

  • Thread starter Thread starter sciencehammer
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sciencehammer

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I live in Michigan where winters are pretty brutal. I recently took my car into the shop for a tune-up, and my mechanic said I should be filling my car with premium in the winter to improve performance. I've never used premium before, so I guess I don't know what I'm missing. Should I consider buying premium? Will I really notice that much of a difference?

I drive a 02' Ford Taurus, by the way.
 
If you drive a taurus you shouldn't worry about performance period. Use common unleaded and you'll be fine, you will not need to pay at the pump. If you ever buy something with a powerful V8 then you may think about it. The only cars that really need it would be pre-75ish muscle car or a top performance dragster (Mopar Viper, Ford GT, etc.)
 
i drive an '01 taurus currently and when i switched to premium my highway mileage went from 20 mpg to 28 mpg, and my in-town mileage went from 14 mpg to 19 mpg. ive tried going back to regular a couple times since with the same old crappy mileage back... but i live in north dakota where everything except premium has ethanol in it, and ethanol kills mileage
 
Your mechanic is full of crap! Oil companies reformulate their gasoline in the Winter for better cold weather performance. There is absolutely no need to use premium fuel in a car designed for regular fuel. If you really want your car to run better in the Winter just add a few ounces of fuel line anti-freeze at every fillup.
 
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