Have you ever wondered what is meant by the different gas types and the different numbers on the pumps? Wonder no more, gentle person, because I am here to educate you on the IMPORTANT things in life, aka gas.

So first of all, the numbers indicate the octane level of the gas. To explain, I will tell you the super basics because honestly I am not really a science person and this is Super Sciencey, so we’ll stick to the easy stuff. So, gasoline contains certain molecules called hydrocarbons, which are left over from the oil whence the gasoline came. One of these hydrocarbons is called isooctane, which we shorten to octane. Generally, hydrocarbons combust pretty spontaneously and under the slightest pressure, but isooctane is much better at holding itself together and taking a bit more of a push to combust, which makes it perfect for use in car engines. The thing about the regular hydrocarbons is that if they combust TOO early, they’ll make a knocking sound in your engine that’s really annoying.

You might be thinking, “wait, why have I not been using the higher octane gas this whole time?” The answer to that is simple – you probably don’t need to. If you drive a regular, run of the mill vehicle (like a Sentra or an Altima or similar) you don’t need to put in that higher octane stuff because your engine will handle the regular juice just fine – it’s made to do so, in fact. The only case when you’ll need to get higher octane fuel is if your vehicle has a super high-performance engine and specifies either on the dashboard near the gas gauge or in the owner’s manual that you need to put in higher octane fuel. You can totally put the high-test stuff into your regular vehicle, but all it’ll do is cost you more money. It won’t magically make your engine into a Formula One type thing. Sorry.

I’ll throw in another little tidbit as well – you know the term “unleaded” that you see at the pumps? Well, of course, all gasoline now is unleaded, but until the ‘90s it wasn’t that way. People started putting lead in fuel in the 1920s when the knock I mentioned earlier was a big problem. Of course, nobody wants to spend more money on stuff, so scientists figured out that putting tetraethyl lead into gasoline increased the octane level at pretty much no cost. Of course, it would kill you, but like… you’d save some green? They totally knew that this lead was super poisonous and would kill people over time, but it honestly did take 70-something years for the lead to be outlawed. If you were around in the 70s and 80s, you remember how bad the smog was in cities like New York and Los Angeles. That was in part due to under regulation of these emissions, and the persistent presence of lead in fuel. Now the smog level is SO much lower – and it’s because we’re cracking down on emissions by vehicles, lead has been outlawed as a fuel additive, and people are being more conscientious about buying hybrid and electric vehicles. So if you want to bypass the pump entirely, check out the new 2018 Leaf! It’s awesome, it’s electric, and it’ll save you the hassle of getting gas. Oh, and it’s good for the environment, too. Just a thought!