Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Any Min Cooper drivers here?

If a car was designed to use high octane, it will almost definately compromise some of your power and driveability if you try regular gasoline in it. I'm not a mechanic, by any means, but I would suspect that continued use of regular fuel in an engine designed to run on higher octane ratings would eventually damage the motor, and void any warranty(if the manufacturer knew).

I don't own a Mini, but I've *almost* bought one twice. On both occasions the reason for not buying came down to a disagreement with the dealer on price. They are tremendously fun little cars - especially the S models with the manual. So long as you're ok with little cars. I am, but some people think they're too claustrophobic. I have read of a few maintenance horror stories with Mini's, but nothing outside of what one can realistically expect from a European car - they're generally fairly pricey to get worked upon.

Regarding octane... Yes, it is a myth that putting 91+ octane in engine designed for 87 results in more power. Your lawn mower isn't going to make any more power on super premium. But, it is NOT a myth when the engine is designed for higher octane gas. If an engine's management system is designed to take advantage of the higher compression ratios possible with higher-octane gas, then you will get more power when running higher octane.

In many cases, even in 'higher octane recommended' cars, you can get away with using lower octane gas because the ECU will adjust engine parameters (timing, ignition, turbo boost/wastegate, etc) to prevent knocking. But you will get less power and possibly less MPG when it does this. See the owners manual to be sure though, as there are a few very high-performance cars out there that 'REQUIRE' premium gas. I doubt a Cooper or CooperS fall into that category.

The last several cars I've owned have all been "premium 90+ octane recommended" cars. So I'm used to the premium (literally, ha!). The price difference between 87 octane 'regular' and 91-93+ 'premium' is almost always $.20/gallon. Whether gas is $2.50/gallon or $5.00/gallon. Which means it costs $2-$3 per tank extra for premium. IMHO, if your budget can't handle the extra couple of bucks per fillup, then you're probably not looking at the right car for you.

That's accurate as I understand it, Murph. But to extend it, if your car is designed for 91, 94 won't help, either.

Correct!

In my experience, cars that want 'premium' actually want 90 or 91. Cars that want 'super premium' want 93+. The only car I've ever been around that had that requirement was a Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

In my area, the common grade choices are 87, 89, and 93. Sometimes 92, very rarely 94. Thus, most of the time I go with 93. Not because 93 is better than 91, but because it's the only choice for my cars.

Oh, and one more thing.... if you're perusing forums about European cars and octane, and people are talking about gas grades of 93,95,98+, they're talking about European octane ratings. Euro gas doesn't have a higher octane content than US gas, it's just rated differently. RON vs. R/M, or something like that.... I believe that Euro '98' = US '93'

Hey Murph,

How is your new mountain bike? We've had beautiful weather here for the past couple weeks, which would be perfect for riding; hope you're getting the same, my friend.

As a side note, Teri informed me today that her friend is riding to Brazil. Yes, you heard me right, riding a bicycle to Brazil. He has the year to do it.

Now that would be an amazing ride!

You may already know this (in any case, others may not), but if your car requires 91 octane, and all you have to choose between is 89 and 93, you can mix grades: half a fill of 89 and half of 93, and the mix will be 91. Could save you a little $.

Thanks for all the confirmations folks.

And Cam, the Opus is by far the best bike I have ever owned. I have always owned cheap, heavier, 250 dollar type brands and had to constantly adjust the derailleurs and often had to choose between the highest gear working or the lowest as I couldn't stretch out both. This thing is light and gearing runs smooth and silent, almost in a relative stealth mode.

I've been putting a lot of time in on our "Confederation Trial." This trail was great for getting my bad knee back in shape because it is all from reclaimed railway lines so there is never more than a few degrees of grade. You can basically go 400km tip to tip of the Island without ever doing a hill.

Now that my knee is exercised again, road hills are no problem but I won't be playing on the alpine trails in Brookvale any time soon.

Thanks for asking Cam.

Wow, Brazil. I'd love to bike through Brazil but I have no ambition to get there on one. Sounds like a VERY long hot ride but I'm sure it will be a wonderful adventure. Please let us know if he sets up a travel blog.