I know 93 octane post. But, hear me out.

I ran nothing but 93 in my truck for about a month. Well, I was making a road trip down to farm an it was on E. I didn't want to pump in a tank full at $3.30 a gallon. So, I put 87 in it. I did notice it did not run like it was an it was labor knocking a little when you get on gas. It stopped labor knocking after little while. So, I'm going to start mixing in 93 again.

 

I also have run 93 octane most of the time and I will get more miles per gallon and the truck runs better also.

 

For what they charge for 93 octane my friggin truck should drive itself.

 

Higher octane will allow the truck ecu to add a little or pull less timing(aka hp) and usually there are more detergents in it too so it’s possible itclears the injectors up ect. so you’re not crazy.
Every motor has it’s slight quirks and driving style adds to that.
If a higher octane fits your driving style it certainly won’t hurt to stick to it. If you ecu is use to high octane and you switch to lower octane expect a relearn period where you’re having all sorts of timing pulled under load

 

I know there are folks who will say run 87 octane only, but I have been running ethanol free 93 octane and use 89 octane ethanol free sometimes because not all stations offer the 93 and secondly the cost has gone up. Truck got 21.7 mpg on FLA trip pulling a loaded utility trailer. Mpg is never below 20 no matter the situation. Never get pinging so will continue this practice. Yes, it is the V6.

 

I just drove from FL to MO. I always run 89. But got to a gas station with 87 or 93. Put in 93 (which I have run on long trips before) Definelty and surprising got a good change in MPG.

 

Guys it's a Lexus engine. It was originally designed to work with 91+ and then redesigned for the commoner folk.


Now, the reason why you see the better performance is due to the Crank Position Sensor being faulty. Better performance on higher Octane is one of the dead giveaways.

Mine actually lagged on 87, ran good on 91 and lagged on 93.

Go dig up the cps thread, it's kinda surprising.

 

I would be tickled pink if I could pay 3.30 a gallon for 87. We don't get 93 here in commiefornia and I sure as shit don't run 91 so I think you'll be ok

 

For those choosing a higher octane based on better MPG results ..................

Can you provide some math that shows what is the fuel cost/mile difference between the 87 and 93?

Interested in seeing if the extra cost is worth extra MPG

 

There is no way it makes sense financially.

Here in RI, 93 costs about 20% more than 87.
You will not get 20% more mpg on 93.

An 18gal fill of 93 costs about $11 more than 87.
Running 93 is just burning your money.

 

I usually feed 87 to my exotic utilitarian SR 4x4... I don't want it to develop any delusions of grandeur.

 

My truck runs like poo on 87. 89 is the stable. She will get 93 when I dump some seafoam in her. It's not so much the cost for me. Is how much cleaner it burns compared to 87.

 

I suspect the 87 has ethanol and the 93 doesn't. (And thus the increase in MPG.)

Am I wrong?

SB

 

hate to burst your bubble.....but 93 doesnt burn any cleaner than 87 does

 

If 93 gives more power and mpg you should try 110 octane. Makes my 4.0 feel like a big cubic inch v8

 

in my neck of the woods e-free is pretty hard to find. it's around, but the stations that serve it are of suspect quality and is more targeted to small motors. 93 does run better in these engines in my experience. there is a slight miss feeling that is prevalent for me on 87 and I get more floor and pedal vibrations running lower octane. its not in your head

as stated before, it was originally a lexus engine... this post from a couple months ago does a good job explaining:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/better-mpg-on-87-vs-89-gas.546382/page-2#post-17713449

 

that post was essentially a bloated way of saying the Lexus has a more aggressive tune and requires higher octane to prevent knocking.....and the toyota has a less aggressive tune, and only requires 87.

you can load it with 93...just daily driving you wont see a difference...

if youre towing a heavy load on a hot day....then maybe fill it with 93 and youll see a bit of a boost over 87.

 

I've never seen the need to run anything over 87 on my rig, but have on occasion run 89 and 91 with no apparent difference in mileage or performance. Just got this off a website showing gas prices, for cranston RI.

Regular
$2.79
OSRI16
15 hours ago
Midgrade
$2.99
usatour
1 day ago
Premium
$3.19
usatour
1 day ago
Diesel
$3.09
If these are correct, I'm not seeing how premium is 20% more than regular?

Re ethanol, if its in one grade usually its in all of them, here in CA its that way. Not sure what the rest of you see in your neck of the woods.


I'd love to see those kind of prices tho!
Same site shows this for my part of Norcal,
Regular
$3.29
bubblehead601
7 hours ago
Midgrade
$3.53
bubblehead601
7 hours ago
Premium
$3.63
Yesterday in Houston I paid 2.52 for regular. The peoples republic of cali is a scam!

 

This is what is typical when comparing prices at a reputable station.

 

It most likely doesn't make sense considering the difference in cost. I haven't done the math but I'm sure you would have to get quite a bit better mpgs to justify the cost difference. I just started using 93 a couple of weeks ago just out of curiosity, and could immediately tell a difference in how much better the engine seems to run , mpgs went up about 1mpg so it certainly doesn't justify the cost. What it does do for me is give me some peace of mind that it does make a difference in performance. One thing is for certain though, I won't be buying 93 all the time, it just cost too much.