Luxury cars require premium gasoline to operate with greater fuel efficiency and to maximize speed and performance. While you could use regular gasoline in a luxury car, using it for the long term will cause additional wear and tear on your engine and could void the warranty. This doesn't mean that some luxury cars don't require premium gasoline. Many high-performance vehicles are equipped with high-compression engines, and because normal gas can become unstable when under pressure and high temperatures, it may ignite.
This will result in an audible noise that is often referred to as a “ping”. So can normal gas damage an engine that needs high-octane fuel? The answer is yes and no. If you're away from home and need to refuel, but the nearest gas station only offers regular octane fuel, you can manage until you find premium gasoline elsewhere. You shouldn't do this often and you should put premium fuel in the tank as soon as possible.
Does this mean that you should always use high-octane gas? Not necessarily. It really depends on the compression ratio of your engine. This is the ratio between the volume inside the cylinder when the piston is at its lowest point and the volume inside the cylinder when the piston is at its highest point. The higher the compression ratio, the more compressed the air-fuel mixture becomes and the more likely it will ignite before it is supposed to do so due to pressure alone.
Cars with a low compression ratio do not need premium gasoline because there is little danger of the air-fuel mixture igniting incorrectly. But high-performance engines, which have a high compression ratio, are more prone to pre-ignition and can truly benefit from premium fuel. This would include the engines of most luxury cars. It's understandable if premium gas prices versus regular gasoline prices are important considerations, but it's worth researching which luxury cars use regular gasoline.
Some experts claim that the loss in fuel efficiency from using regular gasoline in a luxury or high-performance car will be so great that it will actually negate the savings you get from buying cheaper low-octane gasoline. Most luxury car manufacturers require (or recommend) premium gasoline not because they try to be difficult, but because of the requirements of high-performance engines. BMW owners, Audi drivers, and others with luxury car registrations, most opt for premium gasoline at the pump. Used luxury Buicks that run smoothly on regular fuelGeneral Motors Buicks have many used luxury vehicles that use regular gasoline.
This premium luxury crossover is a favorite on the market, a stylish retro car with a 3.2-liter six-cylinder engine. So what kind of gasoline should you put in your luxury car? Let your vehicle's owner's manual make the last call. If your car is one of these examples, not only will you not gain any advantage from using premium fuel, but, in the long run, it can be detrimental to the car's engine. With luxury cars or high-performance vehicles, today, it runs on a high-compression engine.
