Premium Fuel (91/93 Oct) in your V8?

[JG1911]

I've read posts in the past about putting "Premium" into ones 4Runner and if it was worth it or not. Does anyone here actually stick to using Premium fuel?

I removed my charcoal filter a couple of weeks ago and my computer is all of a sudden displaying the correct mpg (I disconnected/reconnected the battery after the mod), I even verified this using a calculator at fill-up.

So, i went to fill up the other day and w/o a thought pumped in 93oct (I own a 2nd car, it's a sports car)... In the last 200mi my truck appears to have better performance and the displayed MPG has shot up from 15.6 (15.4 by calc) to 18.7! My computer has never read over 17mpg through daily driving and I've always gotten 15.5-16.5 using the calc at the pump. I always fill up at the same Shell station, but has anyone ever experienced results like this?

Hopefully the calculator will back this up next fill-up.

Mine a 2003 V8, no vvti... and I drove for weeks w/o the charcoal filter, so the gains cannot be from that (I honestly noticed very little, if any difference w/ it removed, other than the airbox being a bit louder.)

 

[FourEyedWilly]

I run mid grade but I will say this, Shell gasoline nets me better MPG.

 

[spyne]

I've tracked my mileage and octane in a spreadsheet since the day I bought my 4Runner new. I feel a definite seat of the pants difference in performance when using higher octane gasoline. However, for me, there's no difference in MPG's.:crybaby:

I wish higher octane related to better mileage, then I could more easily accept the extra cost for the more expensive gas.

 

[JG1911]

I run mid grade but I will say this, Shell gasoline nets me better MPG.

I use Shell... Unfortunately in 2008 (when gas prices went up) the Shell station I have used for 10yrs was getting bad gas (as was pretty much every other station in town) and I was getting 275mi to a tank :repuke: . I took it to Toyota and they ran it through the computer, cleaned the injectors and TB, still the same thing. They said they had had lots of complaints during that period. I tried other stations and got the same results, no good, and never an explanation.

Ethanol has definitely nicked about 30mi off my tank, I used to get 360-370 out of my tank before the switch to 10% eth, now I get about 330 w/ maybe 1.5gal left in the tank at fill-up.

 

[12guns]

I ran 93 octane in my late Tacoma for many many years. At that time I though it "burned cleaner". I've since learned that may be a myth, however I still burn 93 octane, normally from Shell, in my V8 4runner. Main reason is that it's one of the few stations nearby that has ethanol free premium fuel. I filled up w/ premium at other stations and noticed my MPG does drop slightly. Another cool thing that my Shell station does, is honor Kroger cards. For every 100 bucks I spend, it's 10 cents of per gal. Makes me happy to run premium, even if it's not proven to help by just being a higher octane.

 

[nmsail]

I've experienced a little power gain also when switching from 87-93 octane. I usually fill with midgrade, but one additional perk that I noticed with the higher grade was that I experienced less sulfer odor when driving with the rear window down.

This was good for the summer when it was nice to have the window down. I have experienced more power in the pedal when using the 93 and I would think you should get a little mpg boost too. When I drove my old car (2000 v6 chevy malibu) on long road trips (> 1000 mi) I logged my mpg's between fill ups and noticed that I would get ~24.5 mpg with regular and ~26 with premium. I've done lots of long trips from WI to FL and back so there were a good number of trials.

With the 4runner on my last road trip I used 93 and was getting ~18.5 calculating by hand at fill-up doing avg 70-75mph.