The e-zine Winding Road had an article on this, for which they interviewed engineers from various manufacturers. The bottom line is essentially some engines are too finely tuned to be able to pull sufficient timing when running lower octane (leading to potential detonation), but that most engines will run fine (albeit with lower mileage and less power). Depending on the price differential between premium and regular, it might pay to switch to the lower grade on rigs like ours. (Run a tank of regular and determine how much worse your mileage is. Convert to a percentage. Calculate the percent price difference between gasoline grades. Choose. But keep in mind that cheaper brands of gas may run cheaper/fewer/less detergents - an expensive proposition in the long run.)
From Issue 37 - download/read here: http://www.nextautos.com/Winding-Road-Magazine/
From Issue 37 - download/read here: http://www.nextautos.com/Winding-Road-Magazine/
