Copyright 2008, Susan DeLay
Every once in awhile, I think I’ll be kind to my car’s engine and feed it with premium gas. Advertisers would have us believe it keeps the engine clean and helps prevent knocking. But as prices at the pumps rose (on an hourly basis), I stuck with the cheap, lower-octane gas, cheap being a relative term.
A few months ago, when sticker shock at the pump gave me gas, I stopped filling up. When the digital reader hit $50, I stopped. Somehow pumping $80 into my car seemed wrong. Oh sure, it made no difference in the amount gas I used up over the course of a week, and it certainly added time to my day considering I doubled my visits, but psychologically it allowed me to handle the trauma. Denial can be therapeutic.
Gas in U.S. Is Cheap?
Don’t think I haven’t heard that gas in America ranks among the world’s lowest. I don’t care that in most of Europe, drivers pay over $8 a gallon. The U.S. may be the 45th least expensive gas in the world, but $4 per gallon seems high, especially when fuel costs approximately the same to produce no matter where it’s made. Apparently it’s all about g overnmental subsidies. That explains why motorists in Aruba shell out over $12 a gallon, while 15 miles away in Venezuela, they pay a paltry 12 cents. Well, it sort of explains it.
This morning, I passed the local gas emporium, where they know me by name because I’m there so often, and I discovered that something amazing has happened. Prices have gone down. And they continue to decline because this evening, they’d gone down another 11 cents.
So here I am excited about the fact that I spent only $2.29 for a gallon of unleaded. Of course it was regular unleaded. The gas with a mere 87% octane rating.
Anti-Knock Index
Now I hear I have misunderstood that octane rating thing. It definitely figures into the AKI or Anti-Knock Index, and it has nothing to do with knock-knock jokes.
People who pour premium into their tanks don’t experience that annoying knocking that goes on during pre-ignition. If your engine has ever gone knocking, you know it sounds like someone tossed a few pebbles into a Maxwell House coffee can and planted it under the hood.
Meet Mr. White
My mechanic is Mr. White. I know, I know. Most people think mechanics should have their first names stitched on an oval badge and sewn above the breast pocket of their shirts. But cons idering how important a good mechanic is, I want to bestow as much respect as possible, so I call him Mr. I also take him cookies on occasion. Not mine, of course, but cookies fresh from the bakery. I want to honor him, not poison him.
All these years, I have labored under the mistaken notion that putting premium gas with a 93 percent octane rating was one of the nicer things I could do for my aging auto. Excessive knocking puts stress on certain engine parts and that can cause damage to the engine. Gas with a higher octane rating burns more slowly than my regular unleaded, thus preventing the knocking. But Mr. White explained that I needed premium only if my owner’s manual suggested it. Since he explained it like I was a two-year-old, I didn’t dare pretend I had no clue what he was talking about. I just nodded and said, “Ohhhh” like I understood. I figured if I really wanted to know more about the finer points of the AKI, I’d look it up later.
A Budget Saver
The most valuable piece of information I gathered was that I could save money by using the least expensive gas because to pay extra for premium was like buying a pricey cut of meat, then letting it turn green in the fridge and throwing it out. It’s a big, fat waste of money.
Now, if I lived in Venezuela, I could afford to waste a few cents on premium gas. But if I lived in Sierra Leone, where people pay over $18 a gallon, I’d not be buying any gasoline at all. I’d be riding a mountain bike. And that’s no joke.
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