87 Octane Gas: Minimum vs. Recommended, & Benefits (if any) of Higher Octane Gas

For 2nd and 3rd Gen Tacomas, is 87 the minimum octane rating or the actual recommended rating? I had been assuming it means the minimum until I learned recently that some newer engines are factory tuned to a specific octane.
BMW's new B58 I6 is tuned specifically for 91 octane gas and buyers are warned that anything lower or higher can result in poor performance and/or excessive gas consumption.
So, when I see the 87 octane advisement in the Tacoma's manual and on the gas cap, it has me wondering whether that's the actual octane of fuel with which the engine was tuned, or whether it's simply a baseline. I'm also wondering what others' thoughts are on "super fuels" like Shell's new Nitro+ (additives include detergents and lube preventing gunk) or BP's premium line with its Invigorate detergents and additives. There seems to be an awful lot of debate about oil, but I've been learning that quality of gas may play as big or bigger part in the well being of the engine.

 

I get pinging in my 2014 driving uphill with 87 (unless I go heavy on the pedal and force a downshift). When I use premium I don't have the pinging. FYI.

 

I use Top Tier gas since I found out about it, 87 octane.

I've tried 93 octane on a trip across the mountains, started with 93 octane and filled up once, got 21.5 mpg on the trip out. Filled up on the way back with 87 octane, got 21.7 mpg. So no measurable difference in mpg and I noticed no difference in performance. My conclusion is Tacomas are designed for 87 octane (unless supercharged) and 93 octane offers no benefits.

 

I did a similar test. Ran on pure 91 octane for 2 weeks which was roughly 2 full tanks of gas. Didn't see any measurable increase in MPG.

Not worth the additional cost IMO.

 

Higher octane then listed per manufacturing for obtaining the best results will gain you no increase in performance. If Toyota says optimal performance is used with 91, then going higher then 91 will net you nothing. If Toyota says 87 will net optimal performance then higher then that will net you nothing.

 

What exactly are you learning? You think by running anything higher then 87 your engine will last longer, or that running that fancy gas (marketing ploy as all gas sold in the US must meet specs) will make your engine last longer?

Unless your engine is pinging you are just wasting your money with premium. Im sure guys will come in and say their trucks turn into race cars or that they get 30% better gas mileage with premium, well if they believe that I have a piece of the moon I can sell them.

 

Minimum specs defined by the government are deficient in additives. See http://www.toptiergas.com/ Toptier gas costs no more than other gas here. Toyota recommends Toptier gas.

Remember the Titanic met all government regulations for lifeboats.

 

Top Tier doesnt mean running higher octane does it? That isnt the point of this topic.


Ive been running 93 in mine for 40K miles (since I got it). Shrug. Just never wanted to try any different I guess.

 

You're the first I've heard say that quality of gas doesn't matter. Gunk and carbon build-up caused by convenience store gas wrecks engines or at least reduces the life of engines. The research out there in the ether seems rather overwhelming.

 

Correct. In fact, some independent research and of course Shell itself believes that the company's new Nitro+ fuel is the highest quality gas made for general consumption, and that's only 91 octane. Plenty of stuff out there concerning American octane rating vs. Research Octane Number (RON) etc...

 

Shit analogy but Ill bite. Let me know what modern day"regulated" cruise ship today would be able to take a hit from an iceberg the size of a small building... want to know the answer?

 

Quality and octane have nothing to do with eachother, you should know that with all your 'research'. I couldnt give a shit less what you put in your truck.

 

The 4.0 is tuned for 89 octane. I do not care what anyone tells you, you can read it in your owner's manual and ask shop techs about it. mine pings and runs like shit on 87 so i only run 89 in the summer and 93 in the winter (for even less ethanol)

 

Octane may not make a difference, but ethanol free does... about 8% better mileage in my truck. (Measured comparison over many months) So I just check to see if the price of ethanol free (which comes in 91 octane) is more or less that 8% over standard.

 

Octane is a knock resistance rating. That's all it stand for.

 

If this is true then run 89 octane. Unless your pinging on 89 don't go higher.

 

its my money.


PLUS the Owners manual states that the truck makes 4-5hp more on 91-93 octane....

 

My owners manual states to use 87 octane.

 

because 2012+ 2nd gens suck

 

My manual states "87 (research Octane Number 91) or higher"