Should I be using premium gas for my 04 S60? Recently the started to eat lots of gas, and my MPG went down as well. any suggestion??

 

Premium is recommended, try it for a tank or 2 and see if your MPG and performance improves.

 

The best you can find locally 93 is best but always use 91 or better. Stay away from Reg or the low grade no name stations.I would Try a few tanks of Shell Vpower 93 Octane gas if avaible to you and see if that helps with MPG. I know it cost more $$ but the car should run better.It may take the cars ECU a few miles to make the adjustment so run a tank or 2 before you make up your mind. Also change the Fuel filter is you have not done so already. Located passenger side right under the car between the front and back doors.Very easy replacement.How many miles on your car ?? If 100k i would think about doing spark plugs as well(OME). GL

 

We run 89 in my wife's 08 S60 2.5T. The car averages 27 mpg, but will get 32 mpg at 65 mph all highway. We really haven't seen a difference between running 93 or 89.

 

I agree that your 08 may run great on 89 but when your 08 is 7-8 years old we will see if using that low octane gas was such a good idea. Volvo recommends 91+ and the Ecu will adjust to the lower octane gas over time But why would you want it to. The engine response is smoother, quicker and just sounds better using 93 octane. Thats just my experience. I would rather spend the added $5 a tank for the piece of mind that im doing the best thing for the car. Gas is like Oil can you change your oil with some no name oil Yes will the car run sure but no one would ever do that to save a few $$.

 

I run 93 in my car and thats all I will run. Ive had a 1996 850 and when I even put mid grade , let alone 89, it just didnt run right or at all. Not willing to take the chance on my 04 s60 2.5t

 

If you run lower octane then recommended you run the risk of creating a knock or ping just so you know. Higher octane is how much of the fuel burns hence why 91 is better performance then 89. more of the fuel is ignited creating more power.

 

Thanks for the information, I have been searching the web for answers concerning fuel and I found this forum; I am a new 2005 Volvo S40 owner; by the way does anyone know what the best motor oil would be for this car?

 

There is no "best motor oil"...however, Volvo recommends Castrol. I have used Castrol in everything from a 509 cubic inch Chevrolet race engine to my lawn mower and it has always performed well. In my 2.5T I run Castrol Edge with Syntec. After my last oil change, at 98,000 miles, I sent a sample to Blackstone Labs for an analysis. It was perfect. I'm doing 7500 mile changes and the oil had plenty of life and the engine was very happy with very low metal readings.
Therefore, I feel comfortable recommending Castrol Edge. Your oil change, if you DIY, will be about $50 including filter...but with a 7500 mile oil run it makes plenty of sense.

 

Thanks so much

 

I'm fairly new to the forum, but have had my volvo for 4yrs and wish I would've come across sooner, because I've learned more about my car in the past 2 weeks lurking here than I did in the prior 4yrs or so (sad I know)...good information here though.

If it's not too late I will consider moving to using 91 because I have a ~80mi commute round-trip each day and don't know why I haven't been doing this already to save a few bucks.