What happens if i put 87 in my car?

Question

i have a neon and it says that i should put 91 what will happen if i put 87 in it all the time

Answer 1

Full throttle on a hot day and it could do some damage.  But for the most part the ECU will just pull timing.  I guess if things are so tight that $2 a tank will make difference then you have to do what you have to do.  I my self don't want to risk being thousands in debt with a broken car I can't afford to fix just to save a couple bucks a tank.  If ill with what the car was tuned to run on.

Answer 2

The 87 RON fuel will have a greater tendency to detonate/explode and will not just burn rapidly as it should, causing potential engine damage.

Having said that, your engine management has a knock sensor whereby it is capable of modulating the ignition timing to prevent excessive detonation. However your detonating 87 fuel is made worse by heat and the engine is not able to modulate this aspect of combustion on your car.

The bottom line, use what the manufacturer recommends. It's a false economy to do other wise

Answer 3

I don't think it will damage your car.  You probably have less horsepower since it isn't high quality fuel.

Answer 4

if it is the neon srt-4 you should never put any fuel with an octane lower than 91.  If you do you run the risk of detonation which can destroy very expensive engine parts(piston rings, turbochargers, and in extreme cases rods and piston skirts).  The reason why you need a higher octane rated fuel is because of its flash point.  Higher compression engines (both air to fuel ratio and force inducted { turbocharged + supercharged}) require higher octane fuel to prevent the premature ignition of the fuel.  To break it down for you:  the engine works off of tiny explosions.  The engine is electronically AND mechanically programed to ignite the fuel when the piston is near the top of the combustion chamber which assists its travel back down, then it rotates up again and this process is repeated.  If you have a lower grade fuel the fuel will ignite when the piston is still trying to make its way up.  When you have these two very powerful forces opposing each other its like a car accident inside your engine.  Chances are your motor can handle this a few times, but when your engine idles at around 1000 rotations per minute that is A LOT of little explosions going off at the wrong time.  If you cant afford to run the fuel your car is engineered to run off of, you need to sell your car and get one that doesnt require a higher octane fuel.

Answer 5

If you have an SRT-4 and do this you will have issues and it should NOT be ran regularly with 87 octane. If you have an R/T model with the 2.0 4cylinder then you can use 87 octane as in that engine 91 is recommended but not requred as it is in the SRT. So SRT you have to use 91 or higher, R/T which is what I'm guessing you have is 87 if you want but 91 or higher for the best performance. Using 87 in an R/T will NOT damage the engine. If it were me either way I would use 91 or higher its not that much different in price for the increased performance to me. I also like the added detergent packages that most premium offer. Add a bottle of Techron by Chevron about every 10k miles to keep your fuel system clean and use a Top Tier gasoline and you should be fine if its an R/T.

Answer 6

Nothing.