How to Choose the Right Fuel for Your Car

Article provided by wikihow the wikihow manual.

Drivers who are shopping around for the best kind of gasoline should know a little about conventional industry standards and why it's important to use the right grade of fuel for a specific vehicle. If you're still not settled on what kind of gas you should buy and how to choose the right fuel for your car, some tips from industry professionals and others will help you make the decision on what to put in the gas tank.

Steps

1. 1
   Look at manufacturer recommendations. Often, the clearest and most direct advice on what grade of gasoline to use is clearly written in the vehicle's owner's manual.

   
   

   • For additional information on vehicle gasoline standards and much more, simply call the customer service line of your vehicle's manufacturer. Attendants are on hand to answer any questions you might have about the vehicle and its performance.
2. 2
   Evaluate diesel or unleaded fuel options. Most vehicles on the market accept either diesel fuel or conventional unleaded gasoline. What's tricky is that some consumer vehicles, including compact cars and sedans from the Volkswagen brand, take diesel fuel. Understand which one your vehicle runs on before filling up, since making the wrong choice can be dangerous.
3. 3
   Understand the need for specialty or high-performance cars. Most vehicles simply take the lowest grade and lowest octane gasoline at the pumps, the 87 octane. The exceptions are usually either specialty cars with high-class construction and engines, or high-performance cars that need a higher octane fuel to help resist engine knocking because of a hotter combustion chamber. Figure out your car or truck's engineering, and you'll know which type of gas it should use.
4. 4
   Consider the age and condition of your vehicle. Mechanics will sometimes recommend that the drivers of older, ailing vehicles switch to higher octane as a possible way to keep the car running longer. This is not a general recommendation, and it only applies in specific cases, so don't do it unless you have solid evidence that it will improve how your engine runs.

   
   

Tips

• Understand how hybrid cars use less gasoline. Buying one of the hybrid cars that are now increasingly on the used car market can help you save money at the pump. And it may allow you to afford higher octane gas for a vehicle that has a more sophisticated engine.
• Evaluate diesel versus unleaded gasoline for a vehicle purchase. In many cases, diesel fuel simply lasts longer and provides more miles per gallon. This may be a way to change your fuel consumption if you're in the market for another vehicle.
• Research a switch to bio-diesel for a diesel vehicle. Some owners of diesel vehicles are considering using vegetable oil mixes or other bio-diesel formulas to cut down fuel costs. While this kind of fuel is probably not optimal for the average diesel engine, in some cases it can bring down overall costs for a driver without harming the vehicle.

• Article provided by wikihow the wikihow manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Choose the Right Fuel for Your Car. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.