Does higher-octane gasoline make my car run more efficiently?

Does higher-octane gasoline make my car run more efficiently?

Terry Tamminen (Author & Environmental Policy Advisor) gives expert video advice on: Why do gas stations have three different grades of gas?; Does higher-octane gasoline make my car run more efficiently?; What are "benzene", "toluene", "ethylbenzene" and "xylene" (BTEX compounds)? and more...

Higher-octane fuel will not make your car run more efficiently if it isn't designed for it, and it's really only the high-compression, 12-cylinder, high-performance sports cars that are designed to do it. In fact, it's really very harmful, and it's not the same thing as buying a $50 necktie when a $5 necktie would do just as well. It's not just an impact on your wallet; it's an impact on the environment. According to the American Petroleum Institute, it takes as much as three runs through the refinery to make a high-octane fuel as compared to an ordinary-octane fuel, and so you're creating more pollution each time you refine that product. Similarly, when you burn it in your car it doesn't burn completely, so you're putting more pollution into the atmosphere. The octane materials that are in the gasoline deposit in your engine make your engine run less efficiently, and as a result your car is generating more pollution.