In The News

#10: Use the correct motor oil

Using the correct viscosity oil is important because higher viscosity oils
have greater resistance to the moving parts of the engine, and therefore
use more gas.

With gas prices still high enough to sting, many fleets are looking for
ways to save money on fuel costs, such as buying no-name gas instead
of brand-name gas, or filling SUVs with regular grade instead of
premium. For many fleets, this move can make sense — but not for all
of them. "We always advise, and we advise it strenuously, motorists
should always adhere to the recommendations of their car owner's
manual," said Chris Kelly, a spokesman with the American Petroleum
Institute in Washington, D.C.

In other words, if your owner's manual recommends regular grade fuel,
you gain no advantage by paying more for premium. "We call it the super
unleaded myth," said Paul Moreno, a spokesman with the California State
Automobile Association in San Francisco. "Too many consumers feel that
premium fuel is going to give them more power, better fuel economy and a
cleaner engine." That won't happen, Moreno said. But will it hurt your car
or SUV to use regular if the owner's manual recommends premium? A
mistaken tank here and there probably will do no harm. But continuous
pinging from insufficient octane eventually can damage interior engine
parts, according to Brad Bergholdt, an automotive technology instructor at
Evergreen Valley College in San Jose, Calif.

Vehicles which require premium fuel will suffer from reduced fuel
economy, poorer performance and knocking when regular is used. It's
important to remember that octane requirements are directly related to
engines, not vehicles. For instance, the six-cylinder Chevrolet Camaro
uses regular while the V-8 version requires premium. What about noname
gas? Will switching from a brand name to no-name fuel hurt your
vehicles? In a word, no. All gasoline has to meet stringent quality
standards, and in fact, independent stations typically buy their gas from
a refinery owned by a big-name company, according to Moreno.

"10 ways to Cut Your Fuel Cost”, Business Fleet, March/April 2001.