hey all, i hope i don't get flamed for this, but would i be stupid to use regular gas instead of premium gas in attempts to save some $$$ in gas? when i bought this car, i had all my numbers figured into my budget, most all pretty close to my estimates, EXCEPT my gas usage estimates!! I was WAAAAAAAY off! As you guys already know, and from what I've already seen, everyone else is having horrible mileage and not even close to what they state it should be. I've estimated my tank at about 225 miles per fill, and around 12.5/mpg in the city. i just got a great new job in california and will start next month, and my reward was this car, but i'm scared once i move to cali i'm gonna pay dearly in the gas department!! any californians will know what i'm talking about when it comes to commuting.

i bought my car with 4,000 miles only on it, in awesome conditon and the guy even made all kinds of nifty mods to it, including an installed amp and speakers. it made me wonder why in the world would a guy take care of his car so well, add all these things to it, and get rid of it only after 4,000 miles. i think i have a feeling now why he did. he probably coudn't afford it after he learned how much he was spending in gas!!

dont' get me wrong. i love my car and will not get rid of it purely becasue of its gas consumption. but damn, if there's anythign that would put this thing over my budge it just might be the gas. never before did i ever think gas would be the difference in a car that i could afford and not afford, but this is damn close. i'm about to add about $2,000 into things like a spoiler, fog lights, another amp and woofer, security, etc., and this gas is lingering in the back of my mind. i spend abotu 28 bucks for permium every trip, probably close to once a week probably more when i get to cali. this is a pretty scary thought!

any thoughts, comments?

 

use the mid-grade gas...seems to be fine. Some people have had problems with the 87 octane, never used it myself.

 

I've been using regular almost from day 1. I get into a lot of stop and go during my daily commute, so I figure no amount of increase in performance from using high octane fuel will get me there any faster. Haven't had any engine knock or pinging.
I'm only going to keep the car for 3 yrs, so if there are long-term durability issues, I shouldn't be affected. Good luck.

 

I use 87 (cant afford the more expensive stuff), but I get about 18-20mpg mostly city.

 

hey mtl broker, that was my thinking EXACTLY. i figured i would keep this car maybe 3 years 5 years TOPS. so if the engine lasts 8 years instead of 10, i figure it won't make a difference to me. just as long as it doesn't noticeably cause problems, i don't see why not.

i was just curiouis as to what technically premiuum does for my engine over regular? what kiind of problems may happen from using the worst gas quality?

 

225 miles per tank is closer to 15 miles per gallon than 12. as the tank is 15.6 gallons.. and probaly even closer to 17 or 18.. unless you are absolutely running out of gas every time you fuel up.

and I still think it isn't that serious. Not to flame or anything.

I just get the impression that people continue to complain about mileage just because somebody a long time ago brought up the issue, and everybody else started counting their miles and panicking.

I frequent quite a lot of car forums.. And I know 350Z's don't get any better mileage than (non-defective) rx-8's... and WRX get barely better than rx-8 mileage... and nobody over there complains.

I'm not sure why this place is so different.

Just thinking out loud.

And really I just don't think the extra $20 in gas a month is something that I would be fixated on..

It is such a small factor of the total cost of ownership.

even if I got 10 miles per gallon, it would only increase my total cost of ownership from my "fuel sipping" WRX by about ~12%

your mileage may vary, but I put about 1,000 miles a month on my car (approx 50 gallons ($100) for the impreza, it would be about 25 gallons for a prius ($50), and approximately... 55 gallons for the rx8? 60? 65? ($130).

The extra 30 bucks is worth it... hell the extra 80 bucks is worth it over the fun factor of the prius. I spend that much in a night out with the guys.

And 80 bucks is nothing when your insurance/car payment come to something near 600 bucks.

I hope I make sense in a non-confrontational way.

 

Get another car something 500-3000 Dollars (that Runs) and use the Rx8 on the weekends. Like a used GeoMetro, 49-50 miles to the Gallon. There, problem solved. With Multiple cars you will save on your insurance also. My Rx8 insured alone I was paying $166. Adding the 79 RX7 it dropped to $128

 

Don't be cheap people. Treat your RX8 like your kid.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/octane-requirements-41170/
https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/regular-87-octane-fuel-usage-42326/

I use 89 or 92 myself.

 

14k+ miles on Shell 87 octane - no fuel related issues or pinging to report. I don't drive it like I stole it - if I did, I think I'd use 89 or 91 octane.

 

Mazda only SUGGESTS you use Premium to fill up the RX-8, it doesn't really mean you have to though. Mid-Grade is fine. Still, I use Premium.

 

Use water.. It works just as well..

I dream that one day, I can logon to this site and not see 50 bajillion threads about mileage..

 

It won't happen until Mazda resolves the problem and all the defective cars are fixed or destroyed (sorry, I just watched an episode of Monster Garage where the failure was returned to its basic elements).

 

I dream that one day people like you stop reading threads that they're not interested in, then take the time to post stupid replies about how they don't care about the threads topic instead of finding a thread that they are interested in. Are you that bored? .