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

All our higher octane fuels here are E0.
The station I go to all fuel is E0 and they advertise as such.
Kwik Trip also serves up a E0 as RV fuel.
Some Toyotas and others now put a warning on the filler cap not to use any fuel higher than E10.

 

Surprised that any state in the corn belt allows E0. In the Texas metro areas ethanol is required for pollution control because it burns cleaner. I wish we had E0 in 93 octane. With the intro of ethanol I lost 200 rpms at top end on my boat.

 

I've heard the propaganda, but I lose mpg burning corn. So I have to burn more fuel to go the same distance as pure gas. Doesn't seem to be cleaner to me.

 

Don't forget about the fuel that's burned to plant and harvest that corn. Ethanol is a tough sell for me. It still generates CO2 emissions just like burning gas, but they claim there's a net benefit to the environment by planting and harvesting plants rather than using fossil fuels. But the idea of burning fuel produced from food seems a bit wonky to me.

Ethanol is not a solution to environmental or foreign oil market unrest, but it keeps a lot of corn producers in business. I'd rather opt for a top-tier E0 and drive 10% less than put a plant-based fuel into my tank.

 

Stop all this 0e talk. Just turbo charge and go e85 like in my 400+whp DSM. 180 miles to the tank!!

 

The only time I've got over 400 miles on a tank (4x now) was running 85 octane fuel at altitude. Put that in your premium fuel pipe and smoke it

 

I do 89 octane or mid level. I tried the 87 but would get alot of ping and rattles. Tried mid grade and problem solved

 

Mine was pinging like hell with 87 or 93 octane in the tank until I got the TSB done for the updated software on spark knock and barely pings at all with 87 in it now.

 

Interesting. In my patriot i run 87 most of the time. Only times I deviate are going up the mountain . I always refuel right before the mountains start after I have driven about 130 miles, and use premium. Around there, grades are 87, 89,91 or 93. I will choose the highest and it blends with my left over 87 to form usually around 90 or so. I have zero pings in that vehicle. Still breaking in taco and plan on taking her up the mountain once I dump the factory oil in about 200 miles. Shes a garage queen currently so that may be a month. You better believe tho, she will get 91 or 93 on that mountain trip. I am a firm believer in higher octane means more power. No matter how much more, I will take it for a 6 mile 3500 rpm mountain climb burn.

 

1. Stop buying premium gas. You are only making the oil companies richer and yourself poorer
2. Stop listening to people on the web who give your personal or anecdotal stories about what you should do.
3. There has been a lot of information concerning octane vs performance recently, here is are two:
https://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/to-save-money-on-gas-stop-buying-premium.html https://www.kbb.com/car-news/should-you-use-premium-gas-/2100006472/
4. If you still want to waste your money on premium, its your call

 

buy premium if you NEED it. Do we taco owners need it? Usually no. BUT if you are working your engine hard like towing or offroad then use it- it cannot hurt and will only help. Even if that help is small.

my 2007 xterra 4x4 pinged lightly on 87 when brand new. it's "normal". I didn't like it so i ran 89 and ping went away. i put a tune on it 9 years ago. that tune would let truck ping on 89. 91 stops the ping. I have used nothing but 91/93 in that vehicle since then and it runs flawlessly. i know if i had used 87 or 89(with the tune and the ping), i would probably have problems 140k miles later (now). Just my opinion and my experiences.

 

So I've been buying gas from a Sinclair and all their Octanes are ethonal free. I use 87 octane too. Since I've been using it I've seen an increase of 2mpg and a couple times I've gotten 20mpg. Before I switched I was lucky if i was getting 16mpg and now on a regular basis I get 18mpg.

 

Interesting thread. I am in the mountains at 7,000ft and only use 85 fuel. I've been suggested to switch to 87 (mid grade here) especially if getting the OVTune, which I will be soon. I drive up mountains every day almost at 10,000ft and am thinking of switching to 87 to see how it does getting up the hills.