91 Octane

Since acquiring the latest beater, a high mileage but lovely BMW, I had been using 89 Octane mid-grade fuel, typically from 7-11. With a new membership to Costco, however, I noted that their 91 Octane fuel was about the same price per gallon as the swill at 7-11. So, about four tanks later the car is getting 1 additional mile per gallon, up to 23-24, during mixed driving of 80% freeway and 20% stop and go in-town traffic. Further, throttle response certainly seems stronger and the availability of torque between 60-80 mph is noticeably better.

Though I'm in to the car about $8000 at this point, it costs very little to insure and register due to its age (1998 vintage), and I can foresee hitting the 200,000 mile mark with not much further effort. However, and it's a big however, the suspension will need a going over some time between now (145K) and then, which would run probably $3,000 if I did the lot with a good Koni or Bilstein setup. That's still only $11K for a fun car that I can likely get close to 100,000 miles of use from. With a standard new car going for $30K plus much higher insurance and registration, I think the math will work out in my favor in the longer run.