We've all heard it before: you have to use Premium Gasoline in your car if the owner's manual says to do so. If you don't, you'll ruin the engine. Well, this used to be true. However, since 1990, cars have been designed much differently. Fuel usage in cars built after 1990 is completely controlled by computers (well, in most cars). That means that regardless of what octane you put in your car, your car's computer will automatically adjust itself to work with that fuel. All that you'll miss from not using higher octane fuel is a bit of acceleration. However, if you're looking for ways to save on fuel, you don't want to be accelerating quickly anyway. Sound a bit fishy to you? Well, Edmunds.com and cartalk.com both say that you don't necessarily need to use premium fuel for cars made after 1990. Both sites say that you can usually get away with using mid or lower octane fuel in lieu of premium. However, a word of warning that you shouldn't try this out unless your car is indeed a post-1990 model. Also, just try to fill up your take with a little bit of the lower octane fuel first. If your car knocks (feels sort of like your engine is kicking), you should quickly switch back to premium fuel. By using this trick, cartalk.com estimates that you can save as much as $200 per year on gas. Best of luck on this one!
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