4RunnerTrail
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Is everyone running 87 Octane in 2010 4Runner?
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Is everyone running 87 Octane in 2010 4Runner?
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clemson4rnr
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I am... would be interested to see if anyone is doing otherwise
westwind77
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SR54RUNNER10
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I am using 89 in the 4r but i used 93 in the x-runner.
Titanpat57
Senior Member
I'm using 93 and found that average milage actually climbed vs. going down. So based on that, the added 20 cents a gallon is a wash....and the improved performance is plus(and noticeable)...so I'm going to give it another month or so and see how it works.
I figure for the amount I drive a month, it'll cost me about 16$ more.....I can live with that.
Pat
I figure for the amount I drive a month, it'll cost me about 16$ more.....I can live with that.
Pat
bradj
New member
The only reason to ever us premium is if the engine requires it. The reason you would use a higher octane gas is to prevent autoignition(knock) in a high compression engine that requires premium. Since the 4runner doesn't require high octane gas you will get the same, possibly less MPG using premium for a couple of reasons.... One being the manufacturing process of some higher octane gases which utilizes a higher amount of ethanol which provides less energy by volume than petroleum based gasoline.
If high octane gas makes you warm and fuzzy then keep using it... but I would save your money for other things.
On a side note..... Don't use off brand gas. The gas from 7/11 and other discount retailers is a nasty concoction of gasoline. The way they normally get there gas is actually from the main gasoline manufactures exxon/mobile/chevron etc.... But the gas that those brands sell the discounts stores was from batches of gas that didn't match their quality or yeild specifications. So you may be pumping exxon gas into your tank at that travel stop but its exxon gas that barely meets the federal/local standard for gas and isn't up to par of exxons/etc brand quality.
If high octane gas makes you warm and fuzzy then keep using it... but I would save your money for other things.
On a side note..... Don't use off brand gas. The gas from 7/11 and other discount retailers is a nasty concoction of gasoline. The way they normally get there gas is actually from the main gasoline manufactures exxon/mobile/chevron etc.... But the gas that those brands sell the discounts stores was from batches of gas that didn't match their quality or yeild specifications. So you may be pumping exxon gas into your tank at that travel stop but its exxon gas that barely meets the federal/local standard for gas and isn't up to par of exxons/etc brand quality.
4Funnr
New member
Running a higher octane gas than required can also contribute to the build up of engine deposits from incomplete detonation that will eventually gunk up your motor and rob it of power, performance, and efficiency.
I generally point, laugh, and shake my head at folks who use an improperly high octane on their vehicle. They are throwing money away in more ways than one.
Incidentally, when I filled up in Flagstaff, AZ, their regular unleaded was an ultra-low octane of 85. I was concerned about this until I learned that lower octanes are required when your automobile is operating at higher altitudes. Less O2 at altitude means less risk of detonation and less need for higher octane. You learn something new everyday.
I generally point, laugh, and shake my head at folks who use an improperly high octane on their vehicle. They are throwing money away in more ways than one.
Incidentally, when I filled up in Flagstaff, AZ, their regular unleaded was an ultra-low octane of 85. I was concerned about this until I learned that lower octanes are required when your automobile is operating at higher altitudes. Less O2 at altitude means less risk of detonation and less need for higher octane. You learn something new everyday.
McGruder
New member
Higher octane has a higher flashpoint and is gennerally used to avoid detonation, which can do harm to your engine. Cars with aggressive timing and high compression pistons often require the higher octane. Unless you experience pinging / knocking / detonation there is no reason to introduce higher octane than the 87 recommended by Toyota. I've experienced no signs of detonation using 87 octane.
Ryan_S
New member
jreiter
New member
Agreed. I have an old 1999 Tacoma, and it still runs perfectly on 87 octane just like it was meant to from the factory. However, I will admit that when the temperature outside gets hot (90+ degrees), then I definitely feel a bit more power when I use 89 octane instead. The hot temps tend to cause the computer to back off the timing a bit, so running 89 compensates a bit and allows it to advance the timing back to where it was. I also tried 91 octane during the heatwave, but it showed no advantage of the 89. I have verified this with an OBD-II tool, if anyone is curious. Timings were no different between 89 and 91 octane on hot days, so running 91 would've been a waste.
When the temperature cools down, though, I'm right back to 87. Running 91 or higher in a vehicle rated for 87 octane would be a joke, honestly, unless something was wrong with the engine that necessitated the increased octane. This can certainly happen, but it means you should fix the engine rather than just running higher octane.
I would be very surprised if the new 4runners actually showed increased power with 91 octane vs 89 or even 87. Maybe in very hot weather the 89 octane could help over 87, but 91 octane should be totally unnecessary.
Snowfox
New member
The manual say you can use 87 or Higher. Higher octane will burn cleaner less deposit, benefit in a long run, just like oil, regular oil meet all requirements, good enough but syntactic oil is better if you can afford it
Any data to back up "burns cleaner less deposit"?
I don't think it is anything like oil. The primary function of oil is to lubricate. The primary function of gas is to combust. The higher octane fuel controls when the gas will combust in relation to how much the air is compressed, not how complete the cumbustion is... that is all based on the air fuel mixing, mixing ratio, and spark timing. If your fuel is free of deposits, as long as you burn all of it, octane shouldn't matter as far as deposits. JMHO.
Coming from a turbocharged 4cyl, I ran 93 octane in it because it is a high compression engine when you are on the boost. I run 87 octane because I'm happy with the performance of the engine and it doesn't knock or anything at higher RPMs. I'd wager that quality of fuel is more important than octane in an engine like the 1GR-FE.
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