Premium Gasoline (or, I Know 8 Things About Cars & This is One of Them)

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.

I accidently put premium gasoline in my car, and now I'm poor.

Not really. But I sure will miss that ten dollars.

My car is actually an SUV: a Hyundai Tucson, which requires unleaded gasoline with a Pump Octane Rating of 87 or higher. It isn't problematic that I put premium in my car, but cars that require premium gas cannot use regular for reasons that I might tell you later. I recently took a motorcycle maintenance glass in order to not pay some sweaty, prepubescent mechanic way too much money to change my oil, and in the course of taking this class, learned the difference between premium and regular gasoline.

The most interesting thing I learned is that, if your car, like mine, requires regular gas (the 87 on the gas pump, which happens to be the cheapest option), then premium gas isn't any better for the engine. *gasp*

I found this interesting because I once dated a man who was adamant that premium was better, even though his car didn't require it. In his small reptile brain, expensive is synonymous with quality. It is a frustrating thing to be a woman who knows a total of 5 facts about automobiles, and perhaps 7 facts about motorcycles, and not because I should know more…