AFAIK there is no reason to use premium unless the ECU adjusts to produce more power, etc. I would save a buck and give it regular like it's designed to use. I doubt there is any benefit to spending more.

 

When I was a kid, my dad would put "high-test" or the higher octane in the car on weekends when we were planning to pull the boat to the lake. If we forgot to fill up with premium gas before towing the boat, you could hear the engine knocking (a slightly off-optimal timing of combustion) when going up a big hill. I don't think there is any need for it in the hybrid, since you won't be towing anything with it. I always fill up with Regular.


an interesting article, you can find many others that basically say the same thing:

https://www.truecar.com/blog/2011/03/03/premium-vs-regular-gas/

 

Your experience was probably back in the day before sophisticated electronic engine controls. Higher octane would suppress knocking under load. But in today's engines, the electronics and sensors eliminate knocking.

To the OP, there is absolutely no benefit to using Premium when Regular is recommended. Lots of information out there if you want to do a search. Either the other hybrid brand owners are ill informed or their brands recommend Premium. Some cars specify Regular as the minimum but recommend Premium and some specify Premium as the minimum.

 

Save your money, use 87 octane. Unless you have a high compression engine (you don't), there is absolutely no benefit to using 91 or 93 octane.

 

This is what car experts say. Only an engine tuned for higher octane can benefit from higher octane gas. Higher octane is a waste of money in the Pacifica's engine.

 

There is way too much false information about gasoline being strewn about, some of it holdover notions from the 40's and 50's! There is no quality difference between regular and premium. None. Period. The "premium" name was chosen for marketing purposes designed to extract wallet fill from the less informed who wish to coddle their lovely vehicles. The name for "premium" should be "extra spark retardant" or some such. A few high performance engines require it, and some benefit from it, but no engine put in any hybrid would be included in that list.

If you are really looking for a choice to protect your engine, always select fuel from a Top Tier source. This consortium of vehicle manufacturers were concerned that the government minimum standards for detergents were insufficient for modern engines. They licence fuel distributors to use the Top Tier logo when they meet the higher standard deemed appropriate. Most major brands and Costco are now Top Tier fuel distributors.

 

A few high performance engines require it, and some benefit from it, but no engine put in any hybrid would be included in that list.

Slight nitpick: the Gen 1 Chevy Volt PHEV requires premium gas.

Prior to the 2016 model year, the Volt required premium gasoline of (R+M)/2 octane rating[72] of 91 or higher because the higher octane permitted the 10.5:1 compression ratio engine to use more ignition timing advance to maximize fuel efficiency by 5 to 10% compared to regular gasoline.

 

This would be the absolute best way I could think of to ensure that one never sees an economic benefit due to driving a Hybrid...and it's a pretty close question when you use the cheap stuff to begin with.

 

I suppose there is always an exception.
Come to think of it, my Stanley Steamer specified Premium Coal.

Still, on the Pacifica, regular, good quality gas will do everything that premium gas will do.

 

Thanks for the great feedback everyone! You all confirmed my original thoughts-I will point my colleagues to review the info here! This forum is an incredible resource and was so valuable when searching for the right vehicle for our family, keep up the great work and thanks again.

 

I would challenge anyone out there to provide any account of a hybrid vehicle that had an issue related to stale gas, whether 87, 89, 91, or 93 octane gasoline, with or without Stabil. With or without ethanol.
Just one.

 

I agree. You’re not gonna get stale gas in the PacHy unless you don’t drive it for a year or something ridiculous like that. The PacHy’s onboard computer will force the gas to be used before it ever gets ‘stale’.

 

With so many Pachy owners stating that they go months without refueling, wouldn't it be better if Stabil was added to the fuel to prevent it from becoming stale (varnish)?
Yes the Pachy has a refresh mode but that just burns the old fuel in the injectors and puts the same old fuel back in them from the tank. Just a thought.

 

I don't know.
My question remains unanswered.
I grow mint in my garden to prevent an invasion of kangaroos.
It has always kept the kangaroos over 10,000 miles away.
It must be working, right?
Wouldn't it be better if we all did this?

 

Honestly, I’ve never had a problem with stale gas in any vehicle I’ve ever owned. And we have a convertible that gets driven very little through the winter. The only problems I’ve ever had are with my little 2-cycle garden tools...probably because they have such small orifices in the carburetor.

 

Bingo

 

In Europe the "regular" gas is 95 octane (there is no step below), the premium 98 or even 100. I fill always 95 octane. BUT I noted that with 98 octane gas the mileage was not so good as with 95' and could not feel significant difference in engine power or drive comfort.
Szabolcs

 

KSzab,
That is misleading.
In Europe, gas stations describe different grades of gasoline based on their RON rating. It is typical to have 100, 99, 98, 97 or 95 RON with prices varying accordingly. In the States the descriptions look a lot like RON, but they are not.
In the United States gas stations describe the grades of gasoline based on the Pump Octane Number (PON). That number is the average between RON and MON (RON + MON/2). This causes confusion.

If a fuel is 95 RON and 87 MON then it will be 91 PON -> 91 PUMP

 

Wow. That’s very informative and interesting. What do RON and MON stand for? Expansion???
I guess it’s something like the British used to ridicule American cars for their perceived fuel inefficiency when comparing miles per gallon. It turns out their gallon is much bigger than American gallon, and that accounts for a big part of the discrepancy.


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No, it has nothing to do with expansion. You would have to be a petroleum engineer to understand it in totality, but a good explanation as you will find is on Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
Bottom line:
Premium and Regular are names given by marketing people to different fuels with different octanes.
Nothing more.
Octane is a measure of pre-igniition resistance.
Nothing more.
Premium is not a longer lasting fuel, it does not indicate how long it will stay "fresh" (whatever that means)
Premium only means that the fuel resists Pre-ignition (knock, or ping) in higher compression engines.
Some fuels ARE better than others (top tier for example), but you cannot tell which ones they are by whether they are called premium or regular.
Most engines actually run better and more efficiently on regular than they do 91 or 93 octane.
High compression engines need higher octane. The Pacifica's Pentastar V6 is not one of them.

 

No, it has nothing to do with expansion. You would have to be a petroleum engineer to understand it in totality, but a good explanation as you will find is on Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
Bottom line:
Premium and Regular are names given by marketing people to different fuels with different octanes.
Nothing more.
Octane is a measure of pre-igniition resistance.
Nothing more.
Premium is not a longer lasting fuel, it does not indicate how long it will stay "fresh" (whatever that means)
Premium only means that the fuel resists Pre-ignition (knock, or ping) in higher compression engines.
Some fuels ARE better than others (top tier for example), but you cannot tell which ones they are by whether they are called premium or regular.
Most engines actually run better and more efficiently on regular than they do 91 or 93 octane.
High compression engines need higher octane. The Pacifica's Pentastar V6 is not one of them.

I spent 32 years in R&D for a major oil company--much of it in fuel research. I would agree with pretty much everything you say, but I have never seen evidence that engines run better and more efficiently on regular. Also, regular and premium are more than marketing labels, they refer to octane rating, and are industry standard designations. Finally, you can see which retailers offer Top Tier gasoline at the link below.


https://www.consumerreports.org/car-maintenance/study-shows-top-tier-gasoline-worth-extra-price/

 

Thanks Lipster, that's a new and useful info for me. I did not noted that before
And I feel not alone with that

 

No, the Pacifica Pentastar engine is not Direct Injected (DI).
It was designed in, but that technology is still on the shelf.
The compression ratios are different on the gas v hybrid engines, but no DI.
Also, even with a compression ratio of 12.5:1, it is still engineered for 87 octane.

 

I also read somewhere about Direct injection causing carbon buildup and expensive repairs. I really don’t care if Pacifica is direct injection vs port injection. As long as it doesn’t break down, I’m fine with it. Yes, use regular gas.


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I also read somewhere about Direct injection causing carbon buildup and expensive repairs.
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This is why many mfrs have resisted using DI.
Same with cylinder deactivation.
One would have to save a whole lot of fuel to pay for pulling a head.

 

the gas door has a picture of the manual. The manual says 87 with up to 15% ethanol.

 

somewhere in reviews I read about a technical description about how chrysler hybrid engine does not need premium even the compression ratio is 12.5:1, does anyone have that info? thank you.