What octane of gas do you use?

[JoeT4R]

I've stopped using ARCO for over a year. With our hondas it didn't really matter too much which gas we used. they got great mileage no matter what. I did notice a bit more power with the 91 octane but not enough for it to be worth the price tag. We live on top of a mountain and the only gas station up here is Chevron. Down the hill is only 7 miles and we use the 76 down there. The cheapest gas is the Safeway (Vons down south) and Valero is a close second for cheap gas. I think that Toyota makes a great vehicle and it won't matter too much, mechanically at least, as to where you buy gas.

We keep track of all our gas purchases in a "gas book". I write down the ODO reading, trip (reset every FULL tank), quantity of gas put in , and the cost of gas put in along with the date and where I filled up. My father got me in this habit and my wife's father always did it as well. It helps to track how the vehicle is performing somewhat. That's how we calculated MPG before the fancy trip computers =) It's also how I notice when certain stations are ripping people off. It has to do with private ownership and not the corporation but it still bothers me enough to not use those stations anymore.

If you want I have an email from my father-in-law that has some other helpful hints for fueling up more efficiently. PM me and I'll forward

So at the end of that, for the sake of the health and performance of the engine, do you truly believe that it matters WHICH brand/station you fill up with?

 

[LMR]

I use 91 but only because it's Supercharged otherwise it would be 87.

 

[good_ol_boy]

87, with a nice fuel treatment every 3000-5000k miles.

 

[Bob J]

Super for me.... Much better response out of my V8 with Super....

 

[Swimmerboy2112]

93 octane for me! The supercharger wants what she wants.

 

[OrdnanceMarine]

87 for normal driving and 91 when I'm going to be towing up grades. I don't have a way with my 4Runner (like I did with my '08 Civic Si) to datalog and examine the results to see if the ECU has to retard the ignition under heavy loads for extended periods in order to keep knock at bay but for 20 cents more I've decided to do it until I can come up with evidence one way or another.

Does anyone know if the ECU is smart enough in the 4th gen runner to advance timing with better than 87 octane to give a little more torque? My Odyssey does as do a number of other vehicles.

 

[91'4bee]

I run 89 octane because of my mild ignition tune. Do what ya gotta do...

 

[Frontier719]

1998 4Runner 200,000 miles

I drive across the country a lot (between DC and Colorado) and for some odd reason, I notice that my 4Runner runs better, and has more pep when I run 87 in it. I would run a couple tanks of 87, then a couple tanks of 91 and it always seemed to do better on 87. the difference it made was not significant but certainly noticeable

 

[TCMach]

C16 only :evil:

But really, 91. I ran 87 on the way to moab and 91 on the way back just to see the difference. At the top of vail pass I decided to run 91 from that time on

 

[AudiTech]

I drive across the country a lot (between DC and Colorado) and for some odd reason, I notice that my 4Runner runs better, and has more pep when I run 87 in it. I would run a couple tanks of 87, then a couple tanks of 91 and it always seemed to do better on 87. the difference it made was not significant but certainly noticeable

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 measurement of how hard it is to ignite the fuel. The higher the octane rating, the less explosive, slower burning, and harder to ignite the fuel is. There is no benefit to running a higher octane then 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 the engine air (via supercharger or turbo) or running a high compression ratio the pressures in the cylinder on the compression stroke can get high enough that it will cause the more volatile 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 fuels comes in.

 

[AudiTech]

I run 85 octane

 

[Raven]

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.

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.

 

[mvp2765]

Well Said AudiTech!

 

[smyrna4run]

I've heard that anything above 87 makes no difference in these engines. I haven't tried higher octane but no problems with 87.

 

[snopro514]

I burn 87 but when I am towing my sleds I tow with ethanol free 91.

 

[brockvond]

5th gen 87 octane. 91 in my old 4th gen v6

 

[lumanderthon]

85 at altitude

I live in Colorado and have always run the lowest octane but that's 85 octane out here. I do lots of mountain driving up from 7 to 12 thousand feet. I do have a k@n CAI and a custom exhaust though so I think 87 could perhaps make a difference. Will report back with results or next tank.

 

[deerhunter]

I tried 89 for the first fill up and switched to 87. The engine is quiet on 87, I will stick to it, unless I hear cold spark knock under the hood.

 

[Jabberjaw]

Switched out to a flux capacitor that accepts garbage as fuel. Wen't back to 1986 to watch Weird Science in the theaters again.

 

[hrantvarozian]

This thread is pretty old so I'm going to re-ignite it (pardon the pun).

I used to driver a Lexus IS250 which was required to use 91 octane.

I just bought a 2016 4Runner and the dealer told me 87 octane is fine. I want to be one of those 250,000 mile toyota owners. Will is be better for the long term life of the car to fill 91?

Also, I read an article that said the high quality additive gasolines can cause additive buildup in the engine. So now I fill up at ARCO about 3 times a month, then Shell or Chevron once a month in order to not over-do it with the additives.

Any input? Thanks in advance.