Quote:
Originally Posted by AudiTech
That is because it does do better on 87. A lot of people don't understand octane ratings. They think the higher the octane the higher the price and if it costs more it has to be better. Octane is basically a just a measure of how hard it is to ignite the fuel. The higher the octane rating less explosive, slower burning, and harder to ignite the fuel is. There is no benefit to running a higher octane they you need, the best power and performance is from running the lowest octane you can without getting preignition. Higher octane fuel becomes beneficial when you're running higher compression ratios or forced induction. If your force feeding it air (via supercharger or turbo) the pressures in the cylinder on the compression stroke can get high enough that it will cause lower octane fuel to start to ignite on it's own instead of when the spark plug fires, thats where the harder to ignite higher octane comes in.
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What he said ......
I think the problem began when the petroleum industry rather cleverly applied the moniker "Premium Fuel" to the higher octane stuff. People naturally think: "If it's premium, it must be better, right?" So, the gas stations sell more of it, to uneducated drivers.
There are some vehicles that need 89 or 91, but the Runner isn't one of them.
87 octane is BETTER for our trucks.
I used to put higher octane in the tank when towing a heavy load, mistakenly thinking that the engine could use the extra help. I was wrong - if anything, I was making it harder for the engine to do its job properly.