ORIGINAL: tskatz
I did something odd. I read the owners manual to my car yesterday. The owners manual recomends 89 octane for the automatic and 91 for the 6 speed cars. The dealer never mentioned this and nothing is indicated in the fueling area as to what the required fuel (octane) should be. Frankly I have been running regular with no noticeable pinging. What are you six speed owners putting in your tank?
The manual has a slightly higher output hence the higher octane recommendation. You don't have to put premium in if you want to save the money; however, the output will be lower and remember with this, you are depending on electronics to work flawlessly for you. I tend not to trust electronics and use the recommended grade in my car especially after I can tell a difference between using regular and mid-grade in both the performance and operation of the engine.
Albeeno, in the St. Louis area, there are several stations that feature 93. I believe it depends a lot on which gas station and brand it is. Mobil always seemed to feature 93 down here. QT tends to only have 91. I cannot remember what Shell has. Phillips 66 has it sometimes. I can't remember what BP has. Gateway F/S has 93 octane. MFA Oil only has 91.
Kevin, I've never heard of that happening before, where were you getting your gas from?