Premium Fuel
 

With gas prices being what they are, does anyone have thoughts about using premium fuel and whether it is necessary?

Sorry break the bad news to you, but yes it's necessary. If you look in the owners' manual it tells you the minimum octane rating your engine is designed for. The good news is that I've personally noticed a slight improvement in mileage when I fill it with premium as opposed to mid-grade. It probably about evens out.

Land Rovers are famous for many things, but fuel economy is not one of them.

Thank you!

In the week to 10 days after Hurricane Sandy struck, the only option was to buy regular gas. They weren't trucking in any premium.

Over that week or so, I did not notice any engine knock or anything adverse/rough, however the fuel economy was noticeably poor. As has been mentioned, it all evens out.

Same here, also had to use reg after storm, with no effect. Also there was an add in bulletin from Land rover stating the you may use reg in our LR2 and that it would not effect warrenty at all. Just that you may get some engine knock.

If you actually do the math using premium over regular add's about $5 to the total price of the tank of gas, I bet you spend more than that on coffee everyday.
Yes you can use regular for short periods of time with no problem, but extended use should be avoided.

Yeah, funny how math can put things in perspective.

20gallons/week * .20/gallon over regular = $4.

Figure $4/week * 52 weeks = $208/year

Now, I'm as frugal as they come, to the point of pissing off SWMBO. (I buy my Polo shirts at the Goodwill resale store, which are $1 more than non-Polo brand shirts and I wait until the 50% off days - like today - to get them for $3.50!). Even I spring for the premium without hesitation since it costs so little to avoid any downside.

However...
For the purposes of this discussion, let's assume you get an extra 1/2 mile per gallon by using premium gasoline. National average for gas right now is $3.746, in the USA according to AAA. Thus:

20 gallons/week * 1/2 mile further per gallon = 10 extra miles

Land Rovers average somewhere around 15 mpg, so ten miles is equivalent to 2/3 of a gallon

$3.746 * .666 = $2.494, multiply by 52 weeks = $129.68

Subtract the difference, $208 - $129.68, and you're actually spending $78.32 per year. (By going 10 miles further on the same amount of gas.)

*Actual mileage may vary, price of gasoline will, in fact, vary greatly by location and is subject to the whims of oil future speculators, results not valid in Canada or Hackensack, New Jersey.

Actually, it's $156.64 because we own two of them! Thanks for the insight guys! It all makes sense.