# Bad Gas?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-gas/395383
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 10, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-gas/395383 "2007-03-10T16:15:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@dynamitedave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dynamitedave)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2007, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-gas/395383/21 "2007-03-13T09:58:20Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords]
Here, 91 is the highest you can normally find.
[/QUOTE]
Here in New Zealand, 91 and 95 are at every gas station and a very few have 98. Dad’s car (2000 Nissan Maxima) runs best on 95 (pinks on 91)
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-gas/395383/22 "2007-03-13T15:06:18Z")
How many kilometers does your car have on it? I have seen coils go bad, but usually these are high mileage cars.
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### Author:  [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-gas/395383/23 "2007-03-13T15:31:13Z")
Octane ratings given in the United States are not defined in the same way as those in most of the rest of the world - this is likely the reason for the higher numbers seen in the OP’s post, and in New Zealand.
There are two commonly accepted ratings - the Research Octane Number (RON) and the Motor Octane Number (MON) - details [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating). They are obtained in different ways, and for typical modern automotive fuels produce different numbers: the MON is usually 8-10 points lower than the RON.
In the US, the quoted “octane ratings” for pump fuels is the average of the two: (RON+MON)/2. In most of the rest of the world, the RON by itself is used. So the very same gasoline would have a posted octane rating 4-5 points lower in the US than it would elsewhere in the world - simply due to differing definitions.
Here in the Los Angeles area, the most common (RON+MON)/2 octane ratings seen at gas stations are 87, 89, and 91.
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-gas/395383/24 "2007-03-13T16:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=Rick]
How many kilometers does your car have on it? I have seen coils go bad, but usually these are high mileage cars.
[/QUOTE]
As a matter of fact I just checked today. 265,000 KM, a 2002 model as I said. It was previously used a compound shuttle.
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