Thursday, May 26, 2016

The energy message from Donald Trump is no different than any other Republican. I've heard it all before. No complexity, all rhetoric, all cronies and the one place he plans for more jobs for decades.

Donald Trump is compromising his self-funding ideology by mimicking past Republican candidates who were bought and sold by Wall Street. There is nothing innovative in his speech. It is disappointing and lacks real revolution.

Times have changed. Vehicles without exception are mechanically different and primarily dependent on computer to operate it's fuel system. Even diesel engines are different following the EPA ruling under former Secretary Christi Whitman.

In the past if a car regularly used premium gasoline there would be 'engine knock' if lower octane. There are dearly few cars on the American road that actually have engines requiring such high octane.

Edmunds (click here) has a miles per gallon calculator for every passenger vehicle on the road.

Fuel costs are still important to Americans. There are a few V8 engines on the market for 2016, but, they are found in high end cars and trucks. The American car and truck manufacturers have had a 'can do' philosophy to find good answers for fuel efficiency.

May 26, 2016
By Gene Peterson

Premium gas sounds (click here) like it’s something special, but it actually translates into paying extra for a higher octane without a performance or fuel economy benefit for many cars.
That's what we found after running tests at our 327-acre track.
While some cars require premium gas, many others simply carry a recommendation to use it. We wanted to see whether you can save money by using regular gas in cars that merely carry the recommended premium fuel label....
...So it's okay to use regular even if the manufacturer recommends using premium gas. But check your car owner’s manual before making the switch, and remember that some automakers say premium is required.
Wondering about the long-term effects of switching to regular fuel? Here's what we know: In conversations with manufacturers, never was there a connection made with using premium fuel for reliability reasons. The manufacturers only talk about higher octane in terms of performance.
What's more, in the Acura owner's manual, Acura only recommends using "top-tier detergent gasoline"—which can be of any octane grade, regular or premium—for performance and reliability reasons. But there is nothing in the manual that equates premium gas with improved reliability.
That said, if you make the switch and think your car is performing sluggishly, or you hear knocking or pinging, go back to premium fuel.
Beyond these test findings, it is key to note our car reliability data consistently show that the most dependable cars tend to be those running on regular fuel....