[Johnny Mullet]

I use premium fuel in my car because for some reason, Christine hates regular. When I run regular, the car pings going under load and feels weak. I thought I had a timing issue at first and messed with the timing like 27,000 times and found no difference unless I went way out of specs, but this caused idle issues and other problems. I decided to run premium for the hell of it and within 10 miles, I noticed better throttle response and that damn pinging (valve clatter, fuel knock) went away. I have been running it ever since and stick with one gas station when possible.

I heard all the bull from techs about 1996 and newer cars only need regular because the PCM controls the timing, blah, blah, blah. I believe that to a point, but this does not go for all cars in my opinion.

I also figure this. Premium is usually 20 cents higher than regular per gallon. My car takes 10 gallons from empty and that would equal $2.00 on a fill. I would pay that extra so the car is not subjected to any harm. As far as fuel mileage increase goes, I did not notice a change myself when I switched, but feel more confident about what's running my engine.

If your car runs fine on regular, then save the $ and use it.