The pros and cons of premium gas

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – With pump prices on the rise, do you still pony up for premium?

One mechanic advises if you really care about your ride, the cheap stuff doesn’t always cut it. While it may be tempting to go with the least-expensive option, you will notice a big difference in performance if you do.

“Upon acceleration or a heavy load, the vehicle may ping and run rough; it will burn the fuel faster than you would burn premium,” says Brandon Zimmerman, the owner of Haney Automotive in Maple Ridge.

Premium is also recommended if your car has a lot of clicks on the odometer.

“[At that point], most components are starting to wear out. If you’re lucky enough to get to that many kilometres on your vehicle and you plan to hang on to it, switch to synthetics; switch to higher-grade gasoline,” explains Zimmerman.

On the flip-side, if your ride is a domestic that you don’t plan to keep longer than a few years, low-price fuel will do just fine.

“Unless you’re investing in a high-end Japanese import vehicle, you’re not hanging on to it. Domestic brand vehicles, people are hanging on to them for four or five years max.”

Zimmerman recently put cheap gas in his performance vehicle and the results weren’t pretty.

“[My] Mini Cooper S is supercharged and calls for premium and I put regular gasoline in it, trying to penny-pinch and it runs terribly,” he admits. “It doesn’t run good; it pings when I put my foot on the gas. I just have to drive it lightly now until I get through this tank of gas.”

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