2011 cruze eco requires premium gas, otherwise runs like garbage

My 2012 was always like this, even midgrade ran poorly. I just got used to always running premium so it would always preform as expected. Mine was like this brand new and after 95,000 miles when i traded it.

What is the octane rating of your regular (87?) and how hot is it? The hotter it gets, the more the car will like a higher octane rating. It won't hurt itself on low octane ratings, but you'll notice the acceleration isn't as good as it has to retard the spark to avoid knock.

Do you know if your car had the emissions recall done on it? That might help. The 2014 and later seems to be happier with the lower octane gas then the older models.

ChevyGuy said:

Do you know if your car had the emissions recall done on it? That might help. The 2014 and later seems to be happier with the lower octane gas then the older models.

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My 2015 sonic sure does run better on 87 octane, however the emissions recall did nothing for my 2012 cruze need for premium. Car ran smoother after the recall, but still ran poorly on regular 87 octane.

I believe the reason the newer models run better on regular is GM redesigned the head to run better on lower octane(they lowered compression slightly). If you have an early 1.4T and have cracked pistons typically GM also typically put on the newly designed head. The reason? so the failure doesn't happen again as it can/will with the old head design.

I've never had an issue on 87 octane in my '11. I've ran premium (92 octane), premium 100% gas (no ethanol) (92 octane) and other than seeing imo an insignificant increase in mileage for the $, no difference worth bothering with.

Therefore, you might have a different problem. It could be something related to an injector, or O2 sensor, maybe a bad spark plug, wire, or related? Others on here would probably be able to help narrow it down a bit more.

Look at the list of codes in your glovebox. I suspect you'll see "KRD". KRD is the code for 91 octane, which is what the 2011 Cruze really wants. The ECU protects the engine on lower octane by detuning the cylinder ignition sequences, effectively throwing away power. Yes, my 2012 ECO MT runs like crap on 87 octane.

Also note Handles' response above. His response is indicative of a different driving environment where the extra load isn't routinely put on the engine. The recommendation here is to give each octane level two full tanks and then find the octane rating that keeps you as the driver happy with the performance and cost.