Unfortunately, my car requires premium. Not too long ago, premium was 20 cents more expensive than regular. Then, it was 30 cents, and now, there seems to be no standard price difference between different grades. I filled up today, and regular was $3.33, and premium, $3.99. Worse yet, gas stations are more apt to list only regular and diesel prices on the sign.
Out west I would see 85 octane priced equal or slightly more than 89.
"Ah doan wunt no Gawldamm Ethnowl in mah gas!"
That seems very strange. Here in OK, for the last 15 years, it's always been about 20 cents more.
yes.. here in NJ it is generally that 89 is 10 cents more than 87 and that 93 is 10 cents more than 89.. if you can find Sunoco's 94.. it is another 10 cents over 93 for some reason
seeing $0.20 to $0.30 here in Louisiana
0.40 here in central Illinois.
30 - 40¢ more here
the last couple years it's been bouncing all over in Michigan.
30-40 in Michigan. Florida and back saw large differences in TN and Kentucky, small towns worse than larger cities. Florida had a full Dollar in some places!
Yeah, for a long time here in the Chicago area it was a $0.10 difference between grades or 87, 89, & 93 unless you buy premium at Speedway where then sell 92 for the same price all the big name brands sell 93 for. Now I see anywhere from $0.15 to $0.25 boost per grade.
Now that I sold my DD that required premium and bought a diesel I usually end up paying the same price for diesel fuel as I did for premium. The good thing about this is that I now get 40+ MPG vrs 26-32 MPG! And I drive faster on the highway now as well! In warm weather I got 48 mpg at 65-70 mph.
It's been a couple years, but before I sold my 350Z in 2010 it regularly varied between 20 and 40 cents in OH/KY.
I've stopped, swiped my card, and looked across the street to see that the next station is selling premium for 20 cents less than I'm about to pay even though regular was the same price at both places.
Up this way, Premium goes for anywhere between 10 cents to 18 cents a litre more than 87. In US gallons that works out to 38 cents to 68 cents.
$.20- $.40 difference in my area, depending on the station. One of our BP stations sells 110 octane and it's usually a dollar or so more than premium.
Around here, I've been noticing that some stations will have regular priced at $3.09, with premium usually running about $3.89 
Last week I paid 3.99 for regular in Boca Raton. Yesterday I paid 3.32 in Ft. Lauderdale. I don't like Boca.
cwh wrote: Last week I paid 3.99 for regular in Boca Raton. Yesterday I paid 3.32 in Ft. Lauderdale. I don't like Boca.
Me and Mom came up with a good name for a book.
"Pan-handling in Boca" We have no idea what it would be about but we thought it would be a great title.
I'm glad I don't have a vehicle that runs on Premium, but feel bad for those who do. I expect around here to see a 50 cent difference.
There is one station on my drive to work that has 87 listed at 3.29/gal, premium for like 3.55, and 89 for 3.69 with diesel at 4.55!
Everywhere else it is a 20-24 cent spread from regular to premium.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I'm glad I don't have a vehicle that runs on Premium, but feel bad for those who do. I expect around here to see a 50 cent difference.
With my Golf, which "required" 87 octane, I noted better fuel economy on 92 enough that it was cheaper to run on the expensive fuel over a certain point.
Fuel is around $3.20 right now, the break even point would be roughly $3.70 for premium. How many people bother to experiment and do the math?
BTW - If your car is perfectly happy running on 87, you can also try dumping some cetane enhancer in the tank, which enhances combustability at the expense of octane. I tried it on my current car and fuel economy did improve, but not enough to pay for the cetane enhancer. I suspect that anything with EGR would show a net benefit.
I found the same with my cars. Premium fuel kept the knocksensors happy enough to advance the timing, allowing for more power and better economy.
When I had my Hyundai Tiburon, the kids all called BS on premium.. but I saw a good 4 mpg difference between 87 and 93. Using Premium I consistently ran about 32mpg in that car where the kids were lucky to get 26 or 27 on the 87.
The 318ti I always ran premium on and the Disco requires it.. at 16mpg 
Hook up an OBDII scanner to your car and see if it makes a difference in terms of spark and fuel consumption under different conditions. I found that premium makes no difference in my car during normal driving, I still use it on the track.
93 octane is usually 30¢-35¢ more expensive than 87 octane in MA. Some places like Sunoco carry both 91 and 93 octane.
I've been using regular in the Mustang mostly, but my last fill-up was with 93 octane. I plan on experimenting and seeing if premium is worth the, well, premium for my fuel mileage. The Alfa Romeo requires premium.
I usually just hang up the pump, look at the total, say "berkeley," then roast the tires on the way out. At least you don't have state income tax!!!
Sheetz Station, Frederick, MD
87 - $3.36
89 - $3.42
93 - $3.56
Diesel - $3.81
Which is why I will probably never have a diesel powered vehicle. These price variances are what we see around here all the time.
It was 3.19/3.34/3.49 for 87/89/92 at the station today... and 3.99 for diesel. That price spread is entirely normal, they gouge you for the baby puke juice.
Basically, fark diesel.
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