Quote:
Originally Posted by d18mike
Here's the official/unofficial word from a Porsche engineer on non-premium fuels (USA Today, 2003)
... All Porsche engines are designed for premium, but it's not available everywhere. "Our cars must be able to drive all over the world, and so we are able to run on regular," says Jakob Neusser, director of powertrain development at Porsche's research and development center in Weissach, Germany. "You don't have to feel that a mechanical problem or anything else will happen" using standard octane gas, even in the highest-performance, regular-production Porsches.
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Yup, that's typical of all manufacturers. Most cars today are equipped with knock sensors that can retard spark timing to protect the engine from damage if the gasoline isn't of expected octane rating. There's a power penalty and some argue that the lower octane fuels don't clean the engine as well because of the formulation.