87 Unleaded V.S 91/93 premium GAS

Been driving for years and all i have ever filled up for all my cars nothing but
87 Unleaded gas. Today some how i decided to top off my taco's gas tank with
93 Premium gas. The different between 87 ($3.39/gls) vs 93($3.61/gls) is $6.40 for 20 gallons. 15 miles down the road i can felt the differences in performance, engine run alot smoother. Then when i pulled into the parking lot at work got out the truck, spend a few minutes listen to the engine. It seem to run alot quieter, the engine tick/ping noises are totally not there. is it just my head or the octance level in gas does make a differences. What do you guys think ?.

 

Well you opened up a can of worms here. There are numerous threads on this so you can look for yourself. You will get many different opinions but I personally only run Shell V-Power 93 in my truck. I would post the review that Fifth Gear did again but it seems to sway no one so you can find it on you tube if you like. There is a marked difference in performance between "cheap" gas and the good shit. JMO




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Depending on the vehicle it can make a difference. I have three Toyotas. A 4runner 4x4, a Corolla, and a Tacoma 4x4.
The corolla is rated at 41 MPG HWY with pure gas (non ethanol). If I use the regular it calls for I get around 44 to 45 MPG HWY. If I use the middle grade I get around 46 to 47 HWY and with premium I have gotten 49.3 HWY. So as long as the price jump is no more than .10 per gallon per each upgrade it all balances out.

In my 4runner I do not keep up with as it is just a fishing vehicle to pull my boat and get me in and out of mud holes.
My Tacoma is new, only about 300 miles on it, and I am planning a trip so I will check out the different grades to see the difference. One thing for sure you are not hurting the engine with the higher grade and if you can validate that you get better performance or MPG all the better. By the way I try to stick to the major brands.

 

damn dude, what kind of corolla do you have?

 

2007 standard shift. By the way I am VERY conservative in my driving. My first tank in the Tacoma I got 19.3 with a standard shift. I also have a 1996 ford ranger that has over 400,000 miles on it and it does not use any oil between oil changes. I say that just to show I do not rod my vehicles.

Toyota changed the engine HP and vehicle weight in the Corolla after 2007 and they no longer get that kind of MPG. Today they are rated at around 35 or so. My guess is they had to do that because they could not sell the hybrids and all electrics when they had an all gas vehicle that got the same or better MPG at half the price.

 

The corolla prius haha

 

Yes and much cheaper.

 

part one is pretty interesting but the main point you would be interested in is in part two

 

I got 93 in MA. After I got my truck brand new was filling it up with 87. (MA has 87-89-93) or some variation of that but the lowest is 87 and the highest is 93. At about 10k miles And after reading a few articles on the debate of high and low octane fuels and their uses and effects, I decided to start using 93. I don't remember feeling any changes im sure if I went back to 87 I might feel something different, but I do remember getting more total miles out of a tank of gas after changing to 93. And I never changed my driving habits. I know this is a can of worms topic in the forums but that's my two cents. Have a nice day.

 

The only real difference you'll feel is your wallet getting heavier if you go to 87 octane.

 

Where did you read this? Octane ratings are regulated by the government so to say that cheap gas has lower octane vs your so called "quality" station is wrong.

Cheap gas is the same as the most expensive gas. The only DIFFERENCE is additives ( and I use that term loosely) , which have ZERO effect on MPG. Base fuel is the same at Shell, XOM or that no name station around the corner. The cheapo stations get the cheapest fuel of the day, they buy it off the rack, either it be from COP/Marathon etc. At the end of the day, gas stations get their gas from the SAME locations. Is Shell gas really worth upwards of 30cents a gallon more than the no name, a resounding HELL NO.

 

Crude oil is refined here, from wells also here, to produce gasoline.
There are no signs at the refinery that say "Shell tanker trucks fill up here for the good stuff", and " cheapo gas tanker trucks fill up here".

 

Your engine was tuned for 87, use 87.

If you want the best performance use a fuel cleaner every 10k miles or so and only use quality gas from quality gas stations.

Chevron, Shell, 76 and Mobil.. all quality gas.. the rest.. not so much.

Arco AM/PM, 7/11 and valero being the ones I would never use.

 

In canada all coop shell and esso 91 octane and higher are ethanol free which will proly increase your gas mileage some but are also .10 litre more so not any saving. Also the top tier gas which includes coop shell esso costco and tempo have a higher content of deposit control detergent added. Take that with a grain of salt.Many US companys also have the ethanol free premium gas availa ble

 

Octane above 87 shouldn't make a difference all things being equal.

Amount of ethanol will make a difference.

Depending on the location and vendor higher octane fuels may contain less or no ethanol at all while the 87 may contain significant ethanol.

So, statement one of "all things being equal" may not be true at all when moving from 87 to 93 octane at a given station. You might see a performance or MPG difference not because of the octane rating but because of a different amount of ethanol.

 

Costco gas is all I try to use since it's 2 minutes away from home. Wife averages 21.6 mpg in the 02 tacoma prerunner 2.7 liter.

 

For 2 bucks difference on a tank I do premium. I think it performs more smoothly with premium gas. I can feel a difference myself.

 

I get better mpg with 87 and honestly it takes 3-4 tanks of 91 to see any change but 91 burns differently in my 3.4 engine.

Tried stepping to 89 = no change stepping to 91 = less mpg over a few tankfulls and the performance was identical.

So 87 is fine for me.

My Acura TSX requires 91 and if I use less than 91 it suffers and is bad on the engine if done for long periods of time.

N/A Tacoma engine - 87
Super changed Tacoma Engine - 91

 

I've tried both, noticed less pinging with 93 vs 87. Otherwise everything else was exactly the same.

 

the 2nd gens do definitely take advantage of higher octane gas. They can using more timing advance to get a little more power.

That stated, i have always ran 87 in mine.... not worth the extra .20 to .30 cents a gallon to go to premium, as i would get no where close to that 10-15% increase in mpg's