I just bought my first Volvo S60 2007 as I am 50 years old.What took me so long,ha,ha.Drove Ford ect.. my whole life.i was reading in the manual that premium gas is recomended but you can use the regluar 87.You will just lose maybe performance a bit .Say from 0-60mph it might take you a 1/2 sec longer?It will not harm the motor at all as some might of thought.Has anyone used regular gas and do they see the differance?

 

Wont harm the motor at all.. You will feel the difference in power if you floor it though, especially if you own a turbo model..

That said, from my unscientific tests, i think fuel economy will drop a little on regular fuel as well.. maybe 1.5mpg or so..

Honestly, if you can afford it, use the premium.. If not, I would do what tech does and alternate premium and regular

 

... or compromise like I do, and use mid-grade. I also use mid-grade on my 2008 Dodge Charger R/T, but have adjusted the ECM parameters accordingly. Don't know if that is possible on a Volvo.

 

I dont really see the point of mid grade though..

Depends what state you are in I guess..
Here in Fl it goes like this
Regular 87 octane
Mid 89 octane
Premium 93 octane

Mid normally is more than half the cost difference between regular and premium, meaning you may as well go to premium

 

I have found that with 93 (91 if I can't find 93), my gas mileage improves significantly over 87. You may spend more to fill up, but a tank will certainly last you longer. As with most FI vehicles, the computer is tuned for high octane in order to run ideally. With my camaro I fill up with 93 if I expect to use nitrous, but use 87 if I only run it NA.

It won't harm your engine really, but it will make it run much better if you use what it is tuned for.

 

on my non turbo car I was running 93 ( I don't know what method they use in South Africa) I found I would get pinging under light throttle cruising, heavier or lighter on the throttle and it went away. I switched to 95 and I have not noticed any more pinging....

 

Yeah, in my part of TX, the octane ratings are 87, 89, and 91. Very few stations offer 93 octane.

 

I have a 2009 S60 2.5T, and so far I've only put in Premium, which as a previous poster already stated, is 93 octane here in Florida. Guess I'm not that adventurous.

As an aside, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, I don't believe there is really such a thing as mid-grade. What I mean by that is the gas station does not get mid-grade delivered to them by truck. They only get regular and premium, and then mid-grade is simply a blend of the two.

But back to the discussion of premium for your Volvo.

My take on it is this. If you don't push your Volvo hard, then regular is probably fine, and you likely will not notice a difference in performance. I would still listen however for knocking and pinging, and if you hear it, try using a tank of premium at your next fill up. If that makes it go away then perhaps you should switch permanently.

Remember that occasional knock or ping while accelerating hard is okay, but if you hear it more than that then premium may be the way to go if that fixes it. I've also had good luck with fuel system cleaners designed to remove carbon, they seem to eliminate or reduce knocking without having to resort to premium. They seem to work best when you put them in just before a long trip on the freeway. I suppose the higher speed driving for an extended period of time helps blow out the carbon deposits better.

 

Volvo has been using knock sensors on their engines since the early 90s or so.

They tune the engine to run on premium but they can run on regular since the knock sensors will do their job and retard the spark timing (probably/possibly restrict boost too?) so as to avoid engine knock, or pre-ignition.

Sustained engine knock (aka pinging) will indeed damage your engine; moderate/occasional pinging will not.

If you're experiencing sustained engine knock in your volvo, I would expect that one or more of your knock sensors is broken and you may have a CEL on.

 

As my wife loves her V70 2.5t too much to ever give it up, she's got the job of keeping it filled with gas. And she uses 87 octane regular as here in Michigan, midgrade is 10 cents more per gallon, premium is 20 cents more per gallon. And yes, I've explained to her that as the price rises from $2.00 to $3.00 per gallon, the relative extra expense is less, but that logic doesn't sit with her. She sees 3.00, 3.10, and 3.20 per gallon.

With 30K + on it, no problems using regular. She's not a drag racer, mind you, so the stress on the engine is less than you might put on yours. Yes, you'll lose some horsepower, but probably won't notice it in the first 2/3 of pedal travel, or the first 2/3 of the tach.

On the open road, where compression from the turbo isn't a big issue, I suspect (through logic, not repeated measurement) that gas mileage doesn't jump that much with premium use. Probably a better % increase in city or mixed driving where you're into the turbo more.

 

I just bought an 07 S60AWD and wanted to know about Premium fuel. These responses were very informative and helpful. Thanks to all who posted!!

 

I drove to Vegas 3x last month and using premium gas really gave the car more acceleration power. If manufacturer says use premium, just do it and enjoy the ride. Don't worry about the extra few cents.

 

Just my opinion here -
But what I do is mix it up between mid grade and premium every other fill up.
I never let my tank get below 1/2 full either.
I never use "no name" brands. (They are ****** and will buy from who ever is the cheapest)
Also and this varies by state; but these distributors and stations are allowed to cut the fuel with things you do not want in your ride - stuff from water to alcohol based products – Up to ten percent in some states. Stick to the name brand stations if you can.
Something else to consider NEVER Ever fill up when the tanker truck is filling the stations tanks, this stirs up sediment and you don't want that gunk in your tank.
I also try to use the same station so you know you are getting quality fuel and the cutie behind the counter who likes to flirt is just a bonus.

 

Thanks for your advice about using premium fuel. I checked the owner's manual for my 07 S60. Volvo says minimum of 87, but recommends 91. My regular service station sells 87, 89, & 93 with a 30 premium for the 93. I used it today for my first fill-up, and of course I imagined that the car was running even better as I pulled out of the service station ("imagined" I'm sure being the operative word, here). I've been a loyal customer of this station, but at 30 cents a gallon difference, I may have to shop around for a station that sells 91! Thank you, again, for sharing your ideas.

 

Premium gas is usually cheapest at Costco, BJ's or Sam's Club. They are usually a few cents less on regular to begin with, but as well, the "premium" they charge for Premium may be only 20 cents more than their regular instead of 30 cents.

 

Thanks for the advice, PeterJax!

 

But I have heard repeatedly that costco, sams, walmart etc use inferior quality gas. Particularly heard this from a few friends in the gas station leasing business who advised me to avoid those, Race Trac, Marathon and any unknown name...
Personally , I tend to go to Hess just because their premium is usually 20c more than regular (93 octane baby!) and the one nearest me has a free air pump...

To the best of my knowledge, if you are in a state that sells 93 premium, the only gas station you will find 91 at is 7-11. They tend to carry the whole range, 87,88,89,91,93

You can cycle between regular and premium if you like.. I do it sometimes, but the lack of responsiveness, real or perceived tends to bother me..

 

http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/r...-19750/?page=3

 

To put my two cents worth in:
Here in the Ottawa Valley we have mixtures of fuels some are pure petroleum product other are a mixture with ethanol – alcohol. The companies that supply the fuel cannot meet the mandated requirements of the ethanol blend by Ontario as the pipeline the supplies more than one name brand comes from the same refinery in Québec. So the higher level of octane rating with some of the retail out lets is selling pure petroleum gasoline. Sure, there are anti knock compounds added and detergent agents. What was discovered and reported locally was that some of the cheaper fuels had water in the fuel in more than one location, which suggests a refinery issue. However, I do not know if the water was in an alcohol mix. We sell here a high level of alcohol blend gasoline called by some gasohol smart people shun this product. Our diesel friends avoid the biodiesel, they tell me is goes sticky – gummy. From my days in aviation and racing always, buy the best fuel you can get in automotive environment use the highest octane. Last year with some alcohol fuels that I had to buy as that was all there was, it had a water content and froze in the carburetor in a another car. Not my Volvo of course I have yet to go through a winter with it. Putting a heater beside the carburetor thawed it out so it would start. From my racing days after every race, the winners had, their fuel tested stock fuels from the normal retail system allowed no racing fuels allowed. Comments worthwhile for this discussion buy fuel from a place that has a lot of through put, you get a fresher fuel and usually cleaner. If you are not going to use your vehicle for a while put in a stabilizing additive they work that high-octane fuel looses is power when setting in your tank too long, what is worse is the cheep fuels which I have used in the past and have had trouble with. I now use the best fuel I can get and the highest octane also for all my gasoline run engines, to avoid the problems with today’s reformulated fuels. Each province and state or county has various fuel regulations and mixtures so conditions vary. I was interested in the sulfur content of fuel here in the Ottawa market but did not get any results.

 

Keep in mind that some water in the gas may have happened right at the gas station. The underground tanks will be subject to condensation, and that condensation will find it's way to the very bottom of the tank as water is heavier than gasoline.

So two things to keep in mind.

Probably better to not buy gas right after the filling truck has refilled the tanks. With all that sloushing going on the water may mix up a little with the gasoline. If you see the truck there I would wait at least 4 hours before going back. Of course, you may also pull up to the station just after the truck had left and therefore not even know.

As well, probably not a good idea to buy gas at a station that has a habit of letting the tanks run very low before refilling. You may be getting close to the water at the bottom as I believe the float pulls gas off the top. If you go to a gas station and the fuel is pumping very slowly, that may be an indication that the tank is running low.

I must admit that I too share the opinion that there is really no difference between gasolines based upon where you purchase. Most places in North America have access to perhaps one or two refineries. If the refinery in your area is owned by Shell, then you are likely getting Shell gas no matter what station you are going to. Your local stations will get their supply from whomever is cheapest, so hauling the gasoline another 100 miles to get it from your companies refinery is out of the question. The only difference perhaps is the additive package, as other oil companies may have a tank or two at the refinery and blend in their additives themselves.

Yesterday I read a thread where people were asking where Costco in the Toronto area was getting their gasoline from. A guy posted that he asked the attendent, and the attendent said from whomever will sell it and ship it to us the cheapest. Toronto apparently has close enough access to two or three refineries. He went on to say that the Costco attendent told him that today's gas is from Shell. Kind of reminds me of Five Guys Burgers and Fries, where they have a sign when you go in that says "Today's Potatos are from Somewhere, Idaho".