by Richard Jesel

Created on: February 28, 2009

Premium fuel is always better than regular. First, it burns hotter. This creates more power and more fuel efficiency for your vehicle. Since it burns hotter there is no unburnt fuel (also known as hydrocarbons, which are a major pollutant) leftover after the power stroke of that cylinder. Any leftover hydrocarbons are usually being dumped into your catalytic converter during the exhaust stroke. If enough unburnt fuel enters the converter, given enough time, that three hundred dollar converter on your car (if your lucky enough to only have one) will be irrevocably damaged, causing you to fail emission tests and spend even more money on repairs.

And who doesn't want a little more power out of their vehicle? Whether you drive a Geo Metro, a Chevy Blazer or the increasingly popular Toyota Prius Hybrid, everyone wants a little more *bang* out of their buck. More power simply translates in today's vehicles as better gas mileage. The hotter flame produces a more powerful stroke downward upon the piston. It's like riding a bike. Picture two people both riding ten speeds. One person is an average middle-aged man, nice suite, shiny shoes, gold watch-you get the picture- and the other is a hulking muscle bound weight lifter in a tank-top and riding shorts with legs the size of your torso. On the fist pedal stroke (power stroke) it is obvious that the weight lifter will have greater acceleration and distance than the office executive. He has pressed down with more power and therefore does not have to work as hard to reach and maintain proper speed limits while the suit has to sweat his way over every hill and dale.

In my previous years working at the gas station I have talked to a few Prius owners and some have admitted to getting three to four miles-per-gallon more out of using premium gas. And now many gas stations are using fuel additives to their premium gas to help clean your intake valves as you drive. A filthy intake valve has the tendency to not close all the way and stick, causing bad compression and resulting in very low fuel efficiency, high hydrocarbons and a load of other potential disasters. It's better than having to go to a parts shop to buy the additive yourself and you never have to worry about valve problems.

With today's cars, you don't have to worry about pre-ignition, knock, ping, or further damaging your pistons using high octane gas since the octane level is still far below leaded gasoline levels. Many cars are actually made to run on higher octane fuel because the compression ratio (the distance between the piston and the valve) has been made smaller to accommodate higher octane fuel. The higher the compression ratio in a vehicle, the more power it will have under the hood. This is because fuel has less of a chance to hide within the compression chamber and if it can't hide it burns.

And, with so many computer components and sensors in vehicle's now, there is no chance that premium can ever cause your vehicle to go crazy. The computer will make all the nessassary automatic adjustments to create a nice even, powerful flow from your pedal to the engine.

If you ever have any doubts, ask the mechanic who works on the emission systems of today's vehicles. They have them in every shop across the country. He'll tell you the same.

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