Hey fellow "X" drivers. I just bought a 2002 Xterra bout 2 weeks ago and loving it since. I have been liking the Xterra since they came out. I have been driving a 97 Saturn SC. I am 6'2" and have been regreating buying that damn car. Just wanted to say hey and had a quick question. I want to keep this car running as long as i can. The manual says to use 91 grade gas. Well where i live there is no 91 just 87, 89 ,and 93. Well to get to my question, which gas do you use and which is the best to use?

WELCOME!!

I use the premium stuff myself but I am sure you could get by with mid-grade.

If you don't have a supercharger, you can even use regular...,

...if you have the supercharger, then the 93 would be the next closest to meet or exceed, but the 89 might work fine anyway if you drive into mountain areas, etc.

In low lying areas, the standard octane available is sometimes a bit higher than average, just like at higher altitudes, the average octane is a bit lower, etc...so in MD, you might need the 93 for example for the supercharged X.

Congrtats on getting rid of the Saturn! That probably made you happier than getting an Xterra.

Welcome aboard...

outta curiousity, since u visted an xterra forum, have u been on any saturn forums? i frequent a few even though i got rid of mine...

Welcome!

Welcome, enjoy your X!

Thanks for the welcome. I did make me happy to get rid of that damn saturn. To answer your qusetion jparf I never did think to look for forums for my saturn. After getting my X someone had mentioned to look for clubs and came accross this forum. I may check it out to see whats up.

Hey I just bought my xterra a week ago.. and I had a saturn SC1 and I'm 5'10" and i felt cramped in that little thing.. so i dunno how you drove one! It was a good little car... but i'm not gonna miss it!

hi, igot my x 04 couple of months ago traded my quest 04. love driving the x even the family also, and the kidslove the solar yellow.

Howdy

Welcome

i use 94% and it works fine....

If you don't have a supercharger you are wasting your money on anything above regular. The 91 octane requirement is for the supercharger models only (reread the manual), all others only require and do fine on 87 (85 at altitude) octane.

The manual does say " for optimum performance use 91 octane"... I use 87 in average town driving, but my X likes 89 at high speed and gets 18-19 mpg at 70-75 mph. I wouldn't call higher octane a waste for long trips at high speed.

Stupid Question.
But How do I know if I have a supercharger? I got mine used, and it did not have the manual. it is a 2002 4X4 SE

And before (to the saturn drivers) I drove a 97 ford escort for 6 years (with a family of 4) before buying my Xterra, have no Idea how i lived without it for so long.

Rusty, what part of Maryland are you from?

Thanks

The easiest way is to check the back of your X. If it doesn't say "Supercharged" under the Xterra SE logo (like this ), you don't have a supercharger. On the off chance the logo fell off or was removed, a look under the hood should tell you all you need to know.

Before my first X, I drove a Saturn SL2 for 6 years and 93,000 miles. I'm 6'2" and it was comfortable enough, but the X was a welcome change to say the least.

Odd but useless fact about those 93,000 Saturn miles...that car left the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex exactly once, and that was to drive my daughter to school down near Houston. Other than that, it was all DFW.

I dont see how any of you ever bought the saturn or even let the thought enter your mind.

Pop the hood. If you see one of these badboys, then get ready to supercharge--your credit card! Premium octane only baby!



On the freeway, when accelerating, you should hear an unmistakable whining sound from your engine, unless it's just you whining about paying for premium gas for poor gas mileage...