The only car I've ever owned that seemed to need the good stuff was my '88 Jeep Cherokee. My other cars (one Integra, two 240's, and my del Sol) all respond just fine to regular.
And I always try a few tanks of each in the begning, just to find out.
Speaking of the Cherokee though (how much do I miss
that car after the snowy weekend we just had in the Northeast?) (psst - it's a lot). Anyway, it had a switch on the dash where you could select "Power" or "Comfort" modes for the automatic transmission.
In "Power", the car forgot everything it had learned about the driver, and adjusted all the shift points for maximum acceleration. In "Comfort", the car would actually learn your driving style, and the automatic transmission would adapt itself to shift when it felt you probably wanted it to. Thus, offering a more comortable ride than the former mode would offer.
Well, I am pleased to report than when I bought the car, it went 0-60 in fifteen seconds in "Comfort" and in twelve seconds in "Power". Before you bash
either of those times, how about a race in it? I know this great mountain in the area. Yeah, thought so. =)
Anyway, the cool part: when I sold the car, in "Power" it still did 0-60 in it's pre-programmed twelve seconds, but "Comfort" would do it in eleven. Hehe. Apparently, it
did learn something about me. I thought that ruled.
But, back on topic. I use 87 octane from Mobil, Shell, Exxon or any place that can afford a TV campaign. There's no way that U-Save shit with a burned out light in the "a" is goin' anywhere near my car. =)
(Edited by JeffNJ at 2<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':0'>0 pm on Jan. 21, 2002)