Started using Premium gas for my 2006 SR5 Sport, 160K miles

I was distracted at the pump recently and pressed "premium" instead of regular unleaded. When I saw the total amount, I was shocked. Oh Lord! What have I done?!? Can I....return....the gas...? Oh no no no no. I was paying like $6 more than I needed to. What a calamity! Oh the humanity!

I drove away with my new overpriced, unnecessary gas. Pretty soon, I was on the highway.

So what happened, you wonder?

My truck drove like it's never drove before. I was absolutely blown away. It was supercharged. I am NEVER going back to regular. My mileage is undeniably better and worth the extra few bucks. More recently I made a reverse mistake and put in regular again, and immediately noticed the performance was weaker. The acceleration wasn't smooth. I had less power. The tank drained quicker.

I've now entered a golden age with my Taco. I've fallen back in love with it. Never, ever, ever, ever again will I use regular unleaded.

I know this has been a long disputed issue here, but I don't care. I KNOW exactly what I witness and feel. It's undeniable, at least in my experience.

Peace and Love,
TacoLoco59

 

Octane does not offer any better fuel mileage, increase engine horsepower, or make the engine start quicker. Higher octane only reduces the likelihood of engine knock or ping. ... Because higher octane gas burns slower, it is more resistant to knock when subjected to higher RPM and cylinder pressures
The above statement is based on science. If you like you can research this topic on the net or where ever and you’ll find it true and factual. High octane will increase performance and hp in high compression engines but not n our gen 2 taco engines. If you “believe” your Truck performance is improved using high octane gas then by all means go for it, spend the $$$.

 

^ This. Never noticed a difference for the Tacoma except in the wallet but my 98 TJ only uses premium to avoid pinging.

 

That must be why Toyota rates the 1GR-FE at 236/266 on 87 octane and 240/278 on 91?

 

Ahh the old butt dyno. It never lies.

 

While the first part is true, the second part isnt.

This is true, and that is because the way that our trucks deal with timing. With the higher octane gas and how the trucks dynamically change timing based on knock sensor feedback, they can in fact use the fact that the higher octane gas is less prone to detonation and subsequently can increase the timing across the board. Increase in timing means more HP and Torque.

 

The difference is night and day. It feels like a better truck. Like it's new. I know it's the X-Files over here, and you are Scully, telling me about "science," but you have to believe what I am experiencing. It's real. There may be more to the science than what you have determined and concluded.

Or it's frickin' magic.

I don't know, but it's worth every extra penny. Take my money.

 

Carbon fouling, pinging, and knocking are all results of shit gas. I always fill up at one of the big 3 (chevron, shell, 76) and use 91, if you are worried about the extra couple of dollars it cost then don't buy a big gulp, beef jerkey, and hostess cupcakes.

 

That sounds reasonable to me ... My field studies in my own 05 tell me that my truck drives "better" with 91 as opposed to 87. I have no idea how much "better" and can't measure HP and torque, but I definitely think it drives "better". Maybe I'm biased b/c I know what I put in the truck. I would guess that if I had someone fill it up and NOT tell me the octane I'd be guess correctly more often than not. I'd try this experiment, but with covid and my remote working the time between tanks is measured in weeks ... with all that $$$ I'm saving on gas I feel even better about the 91 lol ...

 

The way I understood it and I could be wrong, won't be the first time.... Higher octane burns slower. This slower burning mixture is going to expand longer, putiing pressure on the piston for a longer amount of time.

Let's say 87 octane gas burns up 1/2 way through the power stroke. That piston still has a way to go before it reaches the bottom of it's stroke. Whereas, 91 octane doesn't burn up completely until it's pushed the piston down 3/4 of the way.

These numbers are just too illustrate my understanding of how it works. It makes sense to me that if the fuel in the cylinder burns longer, it's going to generate more power.

 

I thought the supercharged 1GR's were supposed to use premium anyway? You were probably knocking with regular and had timing pulled, being FI

 

So I re-suurched on Google and found these 2. Basically yes higher octane performs better but the cost increase negates that.

The first is from Car and Driver and is a 2019 article on a practical test on 4 vehicles. Includes dyno and road tests.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a28565486/honda-cr-v-vs-bmw-m5-ford-f-150-dodge-charger/

Next is a YouTube dyno test on one 4 cylinder car that they split the feed of gas to. Kinda interesting to watch. It concludes higher is better but only a 4% gain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqvhaPLuTPI

Didn't delve in enough to see if I could find a Tacoma being tested.

 

I've been logging my fuel economy for years using 87 regular.

I'm going to have to try using 91 for the next few tanks to see what happens for myself.

If anything I will have solid data for the mileage numbers.
And feel with my butt dyno this magic feeling.

 

100 % waste of money.

 

The 1GR-FE in the Tacoma supposedly makes 236hp on 87 octane and 239hp on 91 octane.

 

It's called placebo effect.

 

Again, its not placebo. The ecu of the taco takes advantage of the less propensity for detonation of the premium gas and is able to advance timing further than it would on regular gas.

 

Where did you hear that? The owners manual only states to use 87 and have the performance numbers of 236hp.

 

Same here, run midgrade 89 from shell usually. Another thing not mentioned here is ethanol, different brands (and possibly grades) use different amounts up to 10%. Ethanol has less energy than gasoline so it has an effect on power and gas milage.

 

I have always run 91 octane in all my vehicles from rx-7s, miatas, to audis, and the taco. It gives me a piece of mind running higher octane and the difference in price is not to bad.