The minimum octane rating gasoline that should be used in my vehicle

Taken from the Toyota website

You can find the recommended fuel octane rating for your vehicle on the back cover of your Owner's Manual.

Our "current model" year vehicles have the following unleaded fuel octane rating recommendations:

MODEL OCTANE

4Runner - 87

Avalon - 87*

Camry
4 Cylinder/Hybrid - 87
V6 - 87

Corolla - 87

FJ Cruiser - 91

Highlander
V6/Hybrid - 87

Land Cruiser - 87

Matrix - 87

Prius - 87

RAV4
4 Cylinder - 87
V6 - 87

Sequoia - 87

Sienna - 87

Solara
4 Cylinder - 87
V6 - 87*

Tacoma
4 Cylinder - 87
V6 - 87

Tundra - 87

Yaris - 87

* For improved vehicle performance, the use of premium unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended.

 

Why would an FJ Cruiser require 91? It has the same 4.0L as the tacoma.

 

Here is that same question with some answers..
http://www.thecarconnection.com/answers/x100994025_fj-cruiser-takes-premium-gaswtf
and these guys are pretty split between the octanes...
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/toyota-fj-cruiser-polls/3355-what-grade-gas-do-you-run.html

from Toyota.com
FJ- 4.0-liter DOHC 24-valve SFI VVT-i V6; 239 hp @ 5200 rpm; 278 lb.-ft. @ 3700 rpm
Tacoma-4.0-liter DOHC EFI V6 with VVT-i; 236 hp @ 5200 rpm; 266 lb.-ft. @ 4000 rpm

I don't know what any of that means, so what is the difference??

 

EFI vs SFI electronice fuel injection vs sequential fuel injection. seems odd to me though, why use different fuel delivery for same motor. does seem to add a few hp and a couple pounds of tourque in the FJ's case.

 

Most engine computers will detune the engine to prevent knock. So there is a chance that you might see better performance or better mileage with higher octane gas. The question is, is the mileage gain more than the price difference? For my 6-cyls, I got 10% more mileage, so I bought mid-grade gas if it was not 10% over Regular in price.

 

i been using 89 in mine for 5 years now. what happens if i switch to 87 cuz gas is getting rediculous

 

I have to plead a whole lot of ignorance here.

What about any octane with ethanol? Do 1gr's like or care about ethanol?

TIA

 

Owner's manual for the 09s says it's not a problem. As a general rule, less ethanol preferred.

 

I was filling up at a place today that claimed to have 100% gasoline no ethanol. It mentioned all kinds of bad things, like it would cause water to be more of an issue with ethanol fuels, paint damage, etc... . I try to avoid anything more than E10.

Thanks

 

To clarify: Owner's manual says nothing E10 and less is a problem. I was assuming we weren't talking about substandard gas.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/36847-gas-octane.html

Here is a link to I think a lot of useful information on the Tacoma and gas in general.

 

ok about the fuel, what about the additives, like the BG products?

 

If you see a mileage boost with higher octane then a little math will suggest when to buy it. You need the price difference between regular and premium and the mpg difference between regular and premium. The better your mpg difference, the cheaper gas can be before it offsets. x= the price of regular. Here's the equation as ratios:

x/RegMPG = (x+priceDiff)/PremMPG

cross multiply yields:

PremMPGx = RegMPGx + RegMPG(priceDiff)

Now just plug in the numbers and do the math.

Here's three examples:

Let's assume premium gets you 1mpg more than regular and that your mpg is 17 with regular and 18 with premium.

Assume premium is $0.20 more per gallon, the equation is
18x = 17x + 17(0.20) ->multiply 17 * 0.20

18x = 17x + 3.40 -> subtract 17x from both sides

x = 3.40

So when regular gas hits $3.40 or more, it's cheaper to buy premium.

______________________________________________________________
Depending on your current gas mileage, that price will change so substitute your current mileage and what you would gain in mpg.

So if you averaged 20mpg on regular and 21 on premium, the price would be:

21x = 20x + 20(0.20) - > multiply 20 * 0.20
21x = 20x + 5 -> subtract 20x from both sides
x = 5
$5 /gallon as break even.

_______________________________________________________________
If you got a 2 mpg boost at 20 mpg regular:

22x = 20x + 20(0.20) -> multiply 20 * 0.20
22x = 20x + 5 -> subtract 20x from both sides
2x = 5 -> divide both sides by 2
x = $2.50

For a 2mpg boost at 20mpg regular, it's cheaper to buy premium when the price of regular is $2.50 or greater.

 

The gas here in WV is up to 10% Ethanol. Could this be the reason why I'm only getting 14.5 MPG with 89 octane gas? I've talked to other local people who drive the exact same truck and they are using 87 octane and getting 17-19 MPG.

 

MPG is also highly dependent on how you drive your Tacoma.
If you drive it like a little old lady = better MPG
Drive it like you stole it = better steal some gas cause ur MPG is going down!

 

84 will make the truck happy and live long

From the Bush down South

 

I know an Auto engineer(For Hyundai)He performed a test of fuel grades to fuel economy and found over a period of 2 years he saved money using mid-grade(89).This only works on modern vehicles of course.But if you live in abnormally cold climates the higher the octane number the more difficulty the vehicle will have starting.(higher number=lower the voletility).

 

From the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce:

"• If your engine runs well and does not knock or ping on low octane gasoline, there is no advantage in
switching to higher octane gasoline.
• If your engine knocks or pings, it does not necessarily mean something is wrong with the gasoline. It could
be a problem with the engine’s electronic control systems, ignition timing or exhaust gas recirculation. On a
high mileage engine, a carbon build-up in the cylinders can increase cylinder pressures and cause knock.• Almost all of today’s new cars have fuel-injected engines that need to use gasoline with a detergent additive.
They do not necessarily need high octane gasoline with a detergent additive. Generally, new automobiles
need high octane gasoline only if the manufacturer recommends it.
• Always follow the auto manufacturer’s octane recommendations in your owner’s manual.
Octane Myths
• High octane gasoline improves mileage.
In general, if your car is designed to run on 87 octane gasoline, high octane gasoline will not improve
mileage. If switching to high octane gasoline does improve mileage, you might find that your engine, or its
control systems, need repair.
• High octane gasoline gives quicker starting.
No, it doesn’t.
• High octane gasoline increases power.
If your car is designed to run on 87 octane gasoline, you shouldn’t notice any more power on high octane
gasoline. Again, if it does make a noticeable difference, your engine, or the engine’s electronic control
systems, may need repair.
• High octane gasoline has been refined more – it is just a better product.
Additional refining steps are used to increase the octane; however, these additional steps do not necessarily
make the gasoline a “better” product for all engines. They just yield a different blend of hydrocarbons that
burn more slowly. The additional steps also increase the price."

Disclaimer: this was written May, 2004. I don't imagine things have changed much, but... don't really know

FWIW I've owned and operated dozens of different vehicles since the 60's; have always followed manufacturer's recommendations for octane ratings and never experienced issues I could remotely relate to not using gasoline with a higher octane rating than recommended.

I have sometimes, in a pinch had to use lower octane gas and with one exception have had no problems as long as I don't try to accelerate to quickly.

The exception was a 1968 Fiat 850 Spyder. THAT tiny little engine needed the highest octane gas it could get.