hey all! just thought Id introduce myself as my girlfriend and I just picked up an 02 supercharged xterra last night up in denver. The car is actually hers but Im pretty sure I just fell in love with it as much as she did. We live up in the mountains (woodland park) in CO so it was a two hour drive to go check it out. definitely worth the time and the drive. Its already started to snow up here in the mountains so that 4wd will be getting put to work a little earlier than expected. So thats a little bit of an intro.
I guess I should also ask while im at it... the car calls for premium gas, and the previous owner claims to have fed it with premium since day one. How bad would it be for her to switch to mid grade? or even regular?

Welcome to CX!

Welcome to CX!

I would advise against running anything but premium. Lesser grades can lead to valve clicking which in turn COULD trip the knock sensor which will put the supercharger in bypass mode (basically it shuts the supercharger down). You'll get horrible gas mileage and even less horsepower if this happens. It's not a definite that this will occur but I've read many reports of this happening and it seems to be the most probable culprit.

welcome

hey all! just thought Id introduce myself as my girlfriend and I just picked up an 02 supercharged xterra last night up in denver. The car is actually hers but Im pretty sure I just fell in love with it as much as she did. We live up in the mountains (woodland park) in CO so it was a two hour drive to go check it out. definitely worth the time and the drive. Its already started to snow up here in the mountains so that 4wd will be getting put to work a little earlier than expected. So thats a little bit of an intro.
I guess I should also ask while im at it... the car calls for premium gas, and the previous owner claims to have fed it with premium since day one. How bad would it be for her to switch to mid grade? or even regular?

higher octane fuels are for detonation resistance. The higher the octane the more resistance to detonation. That is all the octane rating is. You can research this to verify.

When do you need detonation resistance? When ambient temps are high, when running high static compression ratio's or when running high pressure rations (boost), when the engine is under extremely heavy load - racing or pulling a trailer - or a combination of the above.

That said I run 87 octane in my 02 s/c xterra most of the time down here in Chicago with no ill effect's. The ecu will pull timing and cause the gas mileage to go down if you encounter one of the above described situations but I have not seen a difference in gas mileage between 87 and 93 octane when the ambient temps are ~80*f or below. An OEM mfgr like Nissan has to build in so much head room on everything to make sure the vehicle works in all conditions, for all uses, and will take years of abuse. The truck is not tuned to any fine edge that would put it on the verge of destruction without premium fuel.

Being that you are up at elevation, and the ambients will be low over the winter is to save your money and run 87 or 89 octane. You will have no problems. And do the timing belt.

Welcome

higher octane fuels are for detonation resistance. The higher the octane the more resistance to detonation. That is all the octane rating is. You can research this to verify.

When do you need detonation resistance? When ambient temps are high, when running high static compression ratio's or when running high pressure rations (boost), when the engine is under extremely heavy load - racing or pulling a trailer - or a combination of the above.

That said I run 87 octane in my 02 s/c xterra most of the time down here in Chicago with no ill effect's. The ecu will pull timing and cause the gas mileage to go down if you encounter one of the above described situations but I have not seen a difference in gas mileage between 87 and 93 octane when the ambient temps are ~80*f or below. An OEM mfgr like Nissan has to build in so much head room on everything to make sure the vehicle works in all conditions, for all uses, and will take years of abuse. The truck is not tuned to any fine edge that would put it on the verge of destruction without premium fuel.

Being that you are up at elevation, and the ambients will be low over the winter is to save your money and run 87 or 89 octane. You will have no problems. And do the timing belt.

right on, i think we'll give mid grade a try for a while and then see if she notices any difference. Sure would be nice to save the extra gas money, but not at the expense of hurting the car. Sounds like that wont be a problem though.

Thank you everyone!

I would definitely heed Mac's advice over mine because I can only go by hearsay and experiences with ASSUMED causes.

Good call Mac!

Welcome to the club.


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Online since 2000.

welcome

fuel- continue to ues the good stuff, most modern cars with computers you can run the bad stuff in a pinch ie no other option or if the filling station gets it wrong. but dont make a habit out of it the x will run like crap and have no power dont try to get on it w bad gas as well damage could occour.

woodland park- that brings back some memories. one of my collage friends grew up out there we spent a good deal of time down there. last time I was around there was summer of 2003. i helped the fam do some packing and move a couple loads to some of there friends in the springs area. was in school in denver.