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Anon
By AA | Moderator | 844 Posts | 20 January 2011 at 3:57pm

I purchased a Ford Focus Ghia last year. It is a Jap import so did not come with a manual.

I was told by Ford that as it was a European car the engine was designed to take premium fuel.

Do you agree with this or do you think that I could change to Regular without any "pinking" occuring?

Linda

From the "Ask Jack" archives - 18 September 2008

jbiddle
By jbiddle | Community Member | 1657 Posts | 20 January 2011 at 4:47pm

I tend to agree with the Ford dealer to be honest.

The way to be absolutely sure is to find out the engines compression ratio.

If it is over 10:1 (air fuel ratio) then 95 is definitely the right fuel and the lower octane should not be used.

I suspect is it a high compression engine but with imports you can never be sure.

I'm sure manufactures recommend the higher octane as it is the safe option and will not cause any long term harm.