Premium gas vs. regular: What's really better for your car? (CBC Marketplace)

[Music] this week on marketplace getting posed at the pumps nearly chest are we being misled into spending millions we don't have to which gas is better for my car okay wasting money on gas most of our cars don't need oil companies are misleading drivers absolutely we put premium gas to the test and you won't believe what we find it's actually hurting the environment why are they selling people a kind of gas that they don't need we're cruising along the back roads of southwestern Ontario it's the marketplace cash challenge premium versus regular which one will come out on top stay tuned for the lowdown on high-octane [Applause] no matter what you put in your tank the price across the country is high too and for premium well you pay a premium as much as fifteen cents more per litre than regular we're at a gas station in Toronto's East End how you doing good asking couple questions gauging your gas buying habits what do you know about premium gas supposed to make it run better right brake cleaner supposed to be better for your car in terms of I know some additives or something that they put as like this seem to drive that home shell v-power our most advanced fuel ever making the pitch that premiums better for your car nitrogen enriched for optimum performance maximum protection now it's true that some car makers recommend putting premium fuel in their high-end models but what about most of us who drive regular cars do you ever buy premium gas sometimes a car did what snowball I do like to because they say it's better for the car who says yeah I don't know I guess just other people have worked at the gas stations and stuff have told me over the years it's better function this would be sane did it require premium you're correct I mean it's supposed to be better for the part it's a treat I get extra money I think will help with the premium today treating body and mind with care is at the center of coruña Brandis life she teaches yoga out of her home in East End Toronto a believer in the holistic approach even when it comes to buying gas as we learn when we first meet here at the pumps putting higher octane gas into her Honda Civic on the higher on the higher octane what what have you heard about premium gas I'm a yogi eco person so in my mind I don't know if it's true or not but in my mind I believe it's true that if I buy earth if I buy the higher grade gas it burns cleaner is she right we want to find out if premium gas really does all those wonderful things so we're doing three tests with a regular car does it run better go farther for a cleaner with premium the choice for our first experiment is shells premium v-power we're using this 2013 Chevrolet Cruze one of the best-selling passenger cars in Canada and our lab if you like is the Canadian automotive and trucking Institute in Cambridge Ontario party Stan fel is running our tests he's been an instructor here for more than 20 years how'd I do that's great thanks hey Marty Tom Harrington hey Tom how are you thanks for helping us out today we're and welcome ok let's see we're testing premium versus regular gas that's right what will this machine do what this machine is gonna do is we're going to measure the performance of the car by measuring the horsepower and the torque and see if there's any difference between regular fuel and premium fuel so what do you need me to do I'm going to strap down the car and then I need you to do 50 kilometres an hour okay and put it on the cruise control and we'll get some numbers here great let's do that our first test is looking at performance does the engine run better on premium we start by running the chevy cruze on regular gas what is this telling us about how the engine is performing on regular gas was telling us right now is that his taking this amount of horsepower to make these wheels turn and using up that much fuel we have our reading with the regular time to switch over now to the premium fuel yeah I was gonna say you fill er up they kept it empty it good point done that before so we drained the regular gas and put in the shell v-power premium we have premium gas in the car now so you expect any of those numbers to change I'm thinking this number here is gonna drop I'm not too sure about this number but I'm thinking this number here is gonna come in at a lower number and if it's a lower number that means what that means that the engines running more proficiently and doesn't need as much power to make it run the same speed okay because of the high test fuel what are we seeing we've seen the same numbers as before that's very interesting what do you make of it shouldn't the premium be lower number you would think what does that tell you I think what's happening here with the premium fuel running through here the computer of the car is compensating for that and it's going to give you the same numbers because that's what that engine was designed to do so proficiency and efficiency of the car by putting in premium or its desired regular octane it's negligible you won't see a difference that's right our test shows our regular car does not run better on premium car talk has been mark Winton second language since he was a boy today he's an automotive teacher and writes a blog on the car industry Mark's also an expert witness on car cases in Ontario Superior Court what's your recommendation to people about what gas to use railer always one of the things about premium is that it makes your engine perform better true or false no it's that's false how many would even notice the difference between the two nobody I mean you could blindfold me I couldn't tell the difference we asked mark to put his mileage where his mouth is he gets the keys to the Chevy Cruze for our second time we want to see if our car gets better mileage on premium this time we're using esos supreme set trip to zero resetting gas and off we go [Music] I expect the results to be very very close within a half a liter 400 Colossus [Music] and stop five liters is that 1.8 liters tell me about the results in basically what you're seeing I don't see any difference at all any variance you would get would be due to just a testing variance just at between the the equipment itself it's tolerances the car itself its tolerances that's it you're not seeing any real-world difference is there any benefit at all to putting premium in a regular car no and then whatsoever I don't know how to put it even plainer than that that mark doesn't just talk the talk he drives the drive remember that muscle car he likes to take for a spin on a nice day well GM may recommend premium but mark puts regular in the tank if I was gonna go to say a racetrack or something definitely I would pre me in the car but just driving around to and fro don't need it not required they talk about the idea of the engine knocks if you're not putting in the right kind of gas - have you ever noticed I didn't like that one with your bed no modern cars have a lot of engine management technology that Tunes a car while you drive and so if you put in a regular grade fuel and the engine does not before you hear it the engine will change the timing and get rid of the Nok how much money have you saved do you think dobo Timbuk Safilo mark isn't a lone wolf on this none other than the US government agrees with it the Federal Trade Commission the FTC says using a higher octane gas than your owner's manual recommends won't make your car perform better go faster get better mileage or run cleaner and unless your engine is knocking is a waste of money back at the gas station how will car owners react so it shouldn't be 15 cents more leader right now that's that are getting this with the thinking that it's better for our cars and really do you think gas stations or companies are misleading drivers about premium gas I think so oh yeah absolutely in the u.s. the FTC says the same thing it's gone after some companies for misleading advertising esos parent company Exxon agreed to run new commercials after giving drivers in the u.s. the wrong impression about premium [Music] so what's the sales pitch here we're taking our hidden cameras to gas stations across Canada and find out there's a premium on accuracy 91% pain we're pulling up to the pumps and putting claims about premium gas to the test the American government and many experts are warning drivers not to waste their money on premium so we take our hidden cameras to gas stations and Halifax Toronto and Vancouver will they make the pitch for premium and a regular car what would you recommend should I get the premium or their regular some seem to give the correct advice but others say premium is king should I get regular or premium premiums better which gas is better for my car [Applause] okay and one of the reasons they're telling us to go with premium over regular better mileage in a car that doesn't need it and a claim experts say is simply not true the oil companies pump up another claim about premium clean can mean all kinds of things Esso scientists have engineered gasoline on the molecular level to help clean up intake valves and help deliver better fuel economy but to the oil companies clean is all about the detergents they put in their gas and they sell it like other people sell laundry soap better petro Canada goes so far as to call its gas regular clean and super clean our expert mark Winton says time to come clean on this one I've noticed that they're making everybody think their engines are dirty and they need to be cleaned and then if you clean them you'll get better performance and things you know ideas today stay pretty clean I mean it's a bit of a fallacy to think always we have you know hundreds of thousands engines running around they're all gunked up that need cleaning I mean it's simply not the case and all the other gases their regular gases have detergents as well as mandated by law the FTC agrees on that one to high octane gasoline does not outperform regular octane in preventing edge and deposits from forming and removing them or in cleaning your car's engine in fact the US Environmental Protection Agency requires that all octane grades of all brands of gasoline contain engine cleaning detergent additives we have the same rules for Canadian guests there's another premium promise that you hear from the oil companies that premium gas is kinder and gentler for the environment this is the yield remember our yoga instructor Karuna brandy believes in tending to and protecting the earth so even though Honda recommends regular Karuna puts in premium gas because she believes it causes less pollution time to clear the air our third and final test is on emissions we're back at the Canadian automotive and trucking Institute where Marty stanfeld gets a reading with regular gas parts per million of hydrocarbons that's a very clean car the overall tells us what this tells us is this a very clean running gas with the clean running part now out with the regular and in with shell v-power premium and the difference to be expected again I'm hoping to see lower numbers here not because the premium fuel is both be a cleaner burning fuel I step on the gas and what did the readings say this time hazal carbons are up a little bit which means is unburnt fuel coming out of the tailpipe because we're compensating and the premium feels not getting used up like it should in a premie fuel car so therefore it's actually hurting the environment whether or not you're cleaning your valves and cleaning the inside of the engine I I couldn't say that's true but I think you are hurting more the environment now by running the premium fuel in a regular fuel cart we show the test results to Karuna what'd you think of that I'm speechless why I think I'm doing this is because of the opposite of that thinking that I'm being cleaner as a driver and then I have a question because why are the oil companies making these different grades of gas and is it an education for us as consumers and who do we trust time to find out we're taking our test car to each of the big three gas stations will they tell us to put in premium and we ask the companies why so much fiction at the pump companies are not putting these millions of dollars into research just for the fun of it it is well to try to make money our marketplace gas challenge shows when we put premium gas into our Chevy Cruze it does not perform better does not get better mileage and does not reduce emissions in fact it creates more so we decide to take our test car to each of the three big gas station chains to see if they'll recommend premium or regular first up shell we put in regular yeah this attendant gives us the correct advice and when we ask about the premium v-power no no yes this car don't need to be power okay up next its Essos turn which would you recommend premium or irregular but these guys I can't put that maybe on so it's it's worth it the extra money put me if I think the motherhood supreme what was it - that's like you can write like more mileage on that it's gonna clean they all you take so clean it good so in goes the more expensive supreme into a car that doesn't need it finally we take our test car to petrol Canada what would you recommend we put in what kind of gas but it costs so much more we ask petrol Canada s oh and shell for on-camera interviews they decline our offer we bring our test car to Montreal to meet the man who represents the oil companies right yes Tom Harrington from are very pleased to meet you Carol Montoya is vice president of the Canadian Fuels Association wanna start with a simple question yes should people put premium gas in a regular car well it's a very good question one has to look at the drivers manual it's very clearly spelled out if you need or not a premium at premium fuel do the companies that you represent like shale petrol Canada s so husky do they tell people to put premium in their cars absolutely not absolutely not we took this Chevy Cruze to three different gas station chains and we basically asked that question I show him video of our test would you make of it well I mean it stresses the importance as a driver to make your homework and understand what your car needs the first attendant offered regular but why are they selling people a kind of gas that they don't need well again I mean what you say it doesn't need it the basic requirement for the car is indeed to put regular gasoline companies spend millions of dollars in research to find the best additive what we call detergents we put in gasoline to keep cars running cleaner if you do try these higher premium gasoline and you feel that your carpet is performing better you might choose to stay with that premium gasoline in a regular car that even in a regular car absolutely we took this car for a test it did not perform any better it did not burn cleaner it did not get better mileage putting Rick premium gas in that car yeah so I'd explain that well it's a matter of time as well in terms of an engine becoming dirty with deposits in cylinders are in valve it will not be a matter of days or weeks this would be over a long period of many months over many years that you will as a user decide if this new premium gasoline you're putting in your car is indeed giving you a better performance but I'm surprised to hear you suggest that running premium gas in a regular car that doesn't need it will enhance its performance because there are experts around the world as tons of research out there that says the opposite well the problem is that again you cannot look at it only from our octane point of view but more with respect to the additive which are detergents right now but every gasoline has detergents in it putting more in only means there's more detergent yeah but then then it's up to you as a user you know like companies are not putting these millions of dollars into research to find this best new additive to put any premium formula of gasoline just to for the fun of it it is I should really make money yeah I mean it is because obviously it's not the same formula and what this research on our side is telling us is that it will keep your engine cleaner with desire formulation of high-value additives seems much of that research is hard to find we do come across a couple of petrol canada studies claiming it's premium gas cleans your engine better than regular but neither study measures super clean against petrol Canada's own regular gas which already has extra detergents in fact one study compares super-clean to a gas with no detergents at all no wonder they're super clean comes out on top how can we make a decision when the information is ostensibly skewed because it fits their agenda yeah like I'm I'm not privy to this to this research I even look at the research on the I Ivan look at the details of the numbers that have come out of the research but I think at the end of the day it's not the research that should decide it's the consumer with the performance they're getting with their car again no one is forcing anyone to buy this premium gasoline but if they're being misled into thinking it's doing things that can't do then yeah they yeah then you have to try it been there done that says Karuna brandy no I'm driving my car knowing it has premium gas in it wondering if my emissions are higher than if I was driving my car with regular gas after our test results she's seen the light could you fill it with regular shoes one driver making peace with the world now I have this like awakened consciousness about what kind of gas to buy so the next time you visit the premium pump you might ask yourself are you doing your car a favor or the oil companies [Music] [Applause]

Channel: CBC News

Views: 5,748,142

Rating: 4.3634162 out of 5

Keywords: CBC News, CBCNews, CBC broadcasting media, public broadcasting news, Canadian News, Canadian Broadcasting Corportation (TV network), CBC News Network, cars, automotive, automobiles, gas, fuel, petrol, premium gas, premium fuel, regular gas, performance, Gasoline (Fuel), Automobile (TV Genre), Marketplace (Award-Winning Work), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (TV Network), Television (Invention), Engine

Id: FPPkPAbzwbU

Length: 21min 28sec (1288 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 28 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/Loudsound07]

The guy at 6:00 with the dyno is an idiot. Why would running a higher octane require less horsepower? The 6hp is was reading was the power required to overcome the resistive forces (friction, centripetal acceleration, etc.) and wouldn't change unless you changed the gearing, tires, wheels, etc. I don't know how that guy is in charge of that institution.

As others said, octane is a rating for detonation resistance. Cars running high compression, or forced induction (turbo/supercharged) MUST run high octane. "Knock" is when the fuel/air detonates prematurely, and can be catastrophic to an engine. Yes, you engine MAY be able to adjust the timing in order to compensate for this, but at the expense of major power loss. However, if your running high boost, or high compression, timing can only do so much.

The only truth in this video is this, a car rated to run 87((R+D)/2) you will not benefit from running higher octane fuel, in fact in can lower performance as it is MORE RESISTANT to detonation. If your owners manual advised you to run premium, you should always run premium.

These "experiments" they are running are completely flawed, and the dyno had zero scientific principle. The only thing it measured was the power required to turn the wheels, which has NO BEARING on the performance of the engine/fuel. If you put a 1500hp engine on there, an electric engine, or even a huge engine that was only firing on 2 of 8 cylinders (running like shit), and all the resistive forces were equal it would have read 6hp every time.

This bullshittery really gets my goat.

[u/Baykey123]

Premium gas in a non-turbo Honda Civic? -face palm-

[u/LittleKarl]

Its about detonation resistance not all cars can run the cheap stuff. If you have a higher performing turbo charged car for example, and fill up continuously with 89...well then your an idiot. I can't stand generic car advice videos like this.

[u/[deleted]]

There are so many stupid people in the video I had to stop watching. The presenters, the narration, drivers, attendants, dyno guy... Holy fucking fuck. What the fuck. Why kind of gas should you put in your car? Here's how you find out: Get behind the wheel of your car. Lean over to your right and open the glove box. There should be a book in there - I know, I know... Books are scary but follow me - that book is called your owners manual. Open it up and do what it fucking tells you.

I can't stand the conspiracy that is put forth in this video. That gas stations and oil companies are tricking us into buying premium gas. If you're being tricked into buying premium you must be among the most gullible people on earth. Please sell your car and walk off a cliff.

[u/calexil]

turbo car driver=no choice... ;_;

[u/Lokr]

I bet if I put AV-gas in a corvette,, it'll change the performance.

[u/lowlife9]

I run premium gas with octane booster in my stock civic when I street race,it gives me like 20 extra horsepower.