Do you use premium gas?

Take this as you want.

I’ve been filling with 91 octane for the last 3 weeks. Immediately I noticed my range inch up from 278 to 296 with each fill up. No driving behavior differences, same highway and local roads and driving behavior. It seems to burn more efficiently? I’ve also noticed the nice pulling sensation from 2.5-3k rpm’s has hung around longer in the gear and feels more powerful.

That’s what I’ve noticed so far and obviously paying more at the pump lol. For me the biggest plus is the increased range given the size of the tank anyway. I’m now back to my range when I had the stock tires on before I through on my current 33” KO3s. Average trip MPG difference appears to be 1-3mpg improved on my work commutes.

I’ll keep filling with 91 and watching the range. Gas is sky high in Washington anyway so the $10-15 spread with the higher grade is worth it so far…

 

Local Costco is currently 2.88 & 3.60 respectively.
Let's assume 87 octane gets you 19.5mpg avg.
You'd have to meet or beat 24.4mpg under premium to offset the cost difference. And no one is doing +5mpg.

I laugh at obsession on HP since such a also percentage of users would even get close to tapping those ceiling for all but the smallest moment of time. And if uniformed about it likely wouldn't even notice the difference.

To each their own, but it's certainly not a financial benefit decision.

 

“Not a financial benefit decision” of a cleaner burn on other important engine components………….?

“tripping over dollars to save pennies” is the saying……..

$0.72 per gallon X 45 gallons (3 fillups per month). = $32 or $1 a day………theres your “financial”

 

Are you suggesting higher octane fuel has more/better detergents?

'cuz the Top Tier FAQ suggests otherwise.

Now if you're not buying from a Top Tier retailer, well who know what you're really getting with any of the grades.

 

I have a TRD supercharger ( low boost ) on my 3RZ 4cyl and runs very well on 93 octane . Even my 72 Camaro which I've owned for 26 years I use 93 octane . The engine that's in the Camaro right now is a 600hp Shafiroff racing 427sbc with 10.7:1 compression

 

You have said some interesting things in this thread, and it makes me wonder if there are some people who have misconceptions about octane present.

Just for the sake of science, Octane is not equal to quality. Its actually the opposite - Octane is an additive that delays ignition. The low octane fuel, believe it or not, is actually more energy dense than the high octane fuel.

However, the higher octane fuel allows for a higher compression of the fuel mix in the cylinder, which in turn can sometimes allow for a more efficient bang. Cars that are tuned for high octane like to pack in a bit more air on the intake so that it runs a higher compression...which in turn allows for a bigger expansion on the spark. Introduce a low octane fuel into a high octane tune, and it predetonates. Ping city. Introduce a high octane fuel into a low octane tune, and at the worst case nothing happens. In the best case the timing gets delayed, the engine inhales a bit more with each stroke and squeezes the cylinder a little more. In reality, some low-tuned cars take advantage of octane, some don't. Most natural-aspirated engines dont, few do. That rule is visa-versa for factory-installed turbos - most turbos enjoy a bit more octane, few don't. It all depends on the ECU's ability to control both the spark and the valve timing, as well as how much volume the hardware can pack in if asked to do so.

 

You have no objective or lab proof of these statements, there are pure hypothesis on your part - versus the hundreds and thousands of hours the manufacturer subjects these parts to in order to come to their determinations. You're opting to pay an additional $1/dy for your personal mental insurance, not for any sound measurable financial benefit.

It's been said over and over - there is nothing "premium" about premium gas. It's pure marketing. The gas from a given manufacturer is all the same quality. It simply has different combustion points. higher octane simply means harder to ignite. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Invest that $1 a day and you'll have nearly $6400 in ten years.

How Much Money Will You End Up With if You Invest $1 a Day?

 

That’s a crazy spread between reg and premium. Ours is $4.02 vs $4.30 today.

 

New England here, currently $3.07 87 octane, $4.05 91 octane.

 

California wins yet again

 

In other words, saving $1/day amounts to nothing

 

If $6400 is "nothing" to you, please venmo that amount on over. I have some truck parts I want to buy.

 

Placebo. And, marketing. I have said it before. I try to stay out of these conversations as a person who worked for over 30 years in petroleum refineries, talked with the techs on the lab octane test motor, the additive sourcing person(s) and salespeople, and QC people. (Disclaimer. I sold and serviced water and process treatment chemicals, with only a single additive to finished products in my product list --lubricity additives for diesel). Two things. First, as a number of people have indicated, modern engines run on the variety of gasoline grades available in your locality, elevation, temperatures, and air quality environment. Two, I get better performance immediately after I wash my truck. I can feel and hear it. Performance perceptions are placebo effects.

 

It’s not thats it’s nothing……….after 10 years, it’s NOT something…………plus, in the example, $6400 assumes zero inflation………and that is fantasy…….

I’ll spend $1 a day and run Premium in my truck

 

Saving $1 a day to run regular has NOTHING to do “sound financial advice”………….and most of what a manufacturer does is with an eye towards marketing, with a sign off from Legal department…….ie: a Tacoma can run on regular…………

 

Just a point of chemistry clarification. "Octane" is not an independent component of gasoline. Octane in modern fuels is a measurement of when a particular gasoline will produce knocking --pre ignition issues -- in a laboratory test rig, backed up by engine maker tuning characteristics. Octane ratings themselves are the result of blending components containing aromatics (like benzene, toluene, and xylene) produced through advanced refining methods (usually what are called alkylation units) and particularly today, propped up by ethanol addition. Modern refining, ethanol, and exhaust catalytic conversion helped replace the toxic tetraethyl lead previously used as an "octane booster" while improving air quality.

 

Huh? $6400 is NOT something? I know a lot of people to whom it would be a significant amount of money.

... and yes, when you factor inflation, that $1 a day today becomes more than $1 per day over time, increasing the resulting amount beyond the $6400 estimate.

I'll just keep on saving money for truck parts instead of wasting it on a placebo effect.

Almost half a million trouble-free miles across three Toyotas on regular.

 

I like the part where we pretend we will invest the difference.

 

It's an illustration of the time value of the money in question.

Some may just spend it elsewhere with more or less to show for it, and others do actually invest what they don't spend.

When I paid off my truck I kept making "payments" into an investment account. Same for when I've got extra cash after the bills are paid.