Trying different grades of fuel on 4th gen

Has anyone noticed and benefits of using higher octane fuel in their 4th gen Tacoma? I know the owner’s manual states a minimum of 87 just curious to see if anyone has had any real world results of different grades.

 

Oh u just opened a can of worms … here we go again … on octane…

 

What the door say?

 

I started using 93 and gained about 15hp

 

You realize that a 4th gen with a turbo motor is likely to respond well to higher octane, right? They don't want to advertise them as needing high octane because it could deter buyers, so they tune it for 87. Doesn't mean it won't be better on higher octane, and this is a turbo motor so that is very likely.

 

It should be in the manual, but it is amazing these modern tunes.

Wife's car has a turbo. The manual clearly says that the rated horsepower is only achieved on >91 octane, but that it is perfectly fine to run on anything above 86.

 

I have run through tanks of 87 and tanks of 93. 93 the truck gets better mileage on for me it was ~1.5mpg better overall for my mostly city driving.

 

It's weird, most manufacturers do put that in the manual for the cars shipping with turbos. I specifically looked for that and Toyota mentions nothing, but I would guess that it's still the same concept, where it will run fine on 87 and above but probably will perform better with higher octane. I know for sure that Ford puts that in their manuals.

 

What methods or instrumentation were able to report that?

Seeing @tacoscott24 I'm guessing it is not a hybrid. My big curiosity here for not yet decided on what we'll buy is how the hybrid powertrain does with lower octane. That's a turnoff for me, and sure is a surprise that it is not for my wife's interest in the Land Cruiser.

Our German car with turbo doesn't require high octane and most all the time it is just not worth it to pay the extra amount.

 

And how does that work on on a cost per mile with the price delta of the 87 vs 93?

 

I can't say for sure about the 24 Tacoma, but generally speaking a higher octane gas should pick up a little more HP, and run cooler with turbo engines. I can't see why Toyota should be any different. You won't see any better fuel mileage so a little more power will cost you more at the pump.

Ford has been putting turbo engines in their trucks since 2011. For normal driving they claim they are fine with 87 octane but require 91 octane if you're towing. Some of the problems with Ford's engine overheating can be traced back to guys trying to tow with 87 octane fuel in them.

 

I did find in the owners manual 87 or higher. My truck is a non hybrid btw and the thing that made me think of this was the simple fact that it’s turbocharged with a 11:1 compression ratio so would there be any benefit from the higher octane fuel. Hence towing or “spirited” driving as Toyota calls it.

 

a dyno

 

Mine seems to show a higher miles to empty after a fillup with 89 octane.

I tried 93 a few times but there doesnt seem to be any benefit, neither MPG or seat of the pants.

I wasn't very scientific about it, but if there was a benefit to 93 octane I needed it to be so obvious that it would be worth the $$$

 

Your truck has no idea what the octane rating is in the tank. That distance figure is dependent on the mileage you got with the last tank.

 

Well maybe it should!

I've heard that as well

Still, if its dependent on the mileage of the last tank and 89 is what I've been using, would that mean I'm getting better mpg with 89?

Highest I've got that miles to empty to show is 300 miles. Usually 296 or 297 but I've seen 300 twice!

Highest MPG that computer has shown me was 23.1

I'm all for putting better fuel in it if it either performs better or is more efficient

 

My truck knows nothing. I am approaching 2k miles, and it has never shown more than 280 miles to empty after fill up. I know there’s another thread on this. I don’t drive for the mpgs, but I haven’t been flooring it too much either.

 

I'll try premium the next few tanks. It will likely take a few trips for the ECU to recognize the increase in octane. I track mpg per trip, and have a long commute, so I have a good feel as to what I should be getting. I did switch to midgrade after the first couple tanks, and the motor did seem to quiet down, I think I was hearing very slight knocking on occasion. Obviously 87 is fine, but I will give premium a shot for a bit.

 

I’m using 87 in the summer because I burn 2 tanks or more a month.

I use 93 in the winter because I use 1 tank every 2 months and in the province of New Brunswick, the 87 has up to 10% corn in it which has a 1 month shelf life.

Small engines will never taste corn.

 

Yep. The only non-87 octane fuel I buy is the 91 octane non-ethanol premium I can get at the pump. I use it exclusively for my small lawn / fun toys. I'll never put ethanol blends in those things again.