Premium Gas???

[krenshaw]

SHud know this, should I have been using premium gas for my 2004 V6 SLE, I've got 80K and never used 93 octane, only 89 Mid Grade, Have I been jipping the car for what it has needed?

[jimmm]

SHud know this, should I have been using premium gas for my 2004 V6 SLE, I've got 80K and never used 93 octane, only 89 Mid Grade, Have I been jipping the car for what it has needed?

Some say yes, and some say no. I tend to agree. jimmm

[99BlackSandv6]

Yeah definitely use one or the other.

[jimmm]

All kidding aside, there are two things I would consider
when buying gas for my car:

1. What is recommended by the car maker
2. The way the car runs in direct relation to the
presence or absence of said substance.

Side note: Toyota doesn't recommend or require preminum for
my 2004 SLE Solara, but when I first started running preminum
I thought I noticed an improvement in performance, so I continued
to use it. When I stopped using it, I didn't notice any decrease
in performance, so now I don't use it anymore. jimmm

[crispone]

I always burn premium in everything. I've found that the difference MAY be negligible, but on extended review of mileage with each (premium 93 -vs- regular 87) I have noticed a mile or so per gallon improvement. (measured) This translates into LESS than the dollar COST of the premium, but when coupled with SLIGHT performance increase (I NOTICE a degradation with 87 octane... particularly in responsiveness and under HARD driving) it's worth the extra couple bucks a tank for the "good stuff".

On a side note, I've run a very HIGH GRADE racing octane boost formulation (NO lead, etc...) and found a MARKED improvement with the 'lara... (it's NECESSARY in the turbo Supra to prevent detonation at higher than pump gas boost levels, and rewards substantially under boost!) wherein when I went back to a tank WITHOUT the octane treatment, it even felt SLUGGISH! (I thought it was a problem, but realized I'd run a tank of gas through to empty and "purged" the mix... so added MORE boost and recovered from the sluggishness!)

I know most boost additives may be hype, but at about a liter to 10~15 gallons, this is a more serious formulation (for racing and such) and does seem to work... albeit meant for VERY high compression or BOOSTED cars...

NOTE: The additive I'm using is COSTLY and NOT a regular add in the Solara! Just an experiment, and I don't recommend it... but I DO use it regularly in the Supra when I want a couple extra PSI (and about 50 more HP!) so it's worth the $5~$10/tank to mix. (STILL cheaper than straight out RACE FUEL... although it is NOT as high an octane... only a couple points or so instead of a DOZEN octane.)

...anyway... been awhile since I posted much... and I always like to mix it up in the fuel grade controversy as I have some staunch beliefs after my well over a million miles of driving with a lot of experimenting along the way. At the end of the day, unless your car "NEEDS" the detonation preventing higher octane, it's a "preference" thing... but for those that recommend or REQUIRE it (i.e.: Supra...) it doesn't make too much sense to "skimp" and risk it.


G/L!


-crisp

[jimmm]

Thanks, crispone. I love reading your posts, and I agree
completely with everything you wrote. I remember the old
days when "good" gas use to solve the pinging problems on
the old high compression engines. I think gas definitely makes
a difference even now, however. I have also noticed marked
performance differences in using the highest octane available
in my Solara as well as the differences in different brands of gas.
Texaco has been my favorite so far. jimmm

[Solarizona]

If you're not boosted, I say save the money. Vehicles routinely do hundreds of thousands of miles on regular with no problems.

[DriDed]

SHud know this, should I have been using premium gas for my 2004 V6 SLE, I've got 80K and never used 93 octane, only 89 Mid Grade, Have I been jipping the car for what it has needed?

You should use what your owner's manual recommend to make sure even though a lot of the newer Toyota engines are good with regular gas.

I think the new 5.7L Tundra uses regular gas, its incredible.

[System_Crash]

Me and anyone that has ever cleaned a throttle body can vouch, cheap gas = more problems down the road. Stay away from "shady" stations (you know the kind that still have the same bag of doritos for sale for 5 years) and stay FAR away from Murphy's (walmart) they have the highest concetration of ethonal (here in alabama anyways) ethonal = less MPH and alot more heat in the combustion chamber. (Yes I said HEAT look it up online...)

[DriDed]

The best gas station brands in FL in my opinion is either HESS or BP, Mobil doesn't even stand close to those two.

[NightRider]

Been using premium gas since I drove my celica GTS, I also used it on my 99 Prelude. Been using it since till this day.

[krenshaw]

Thanks for the advise on the Fuel Options, Appreciate it, Here was my 2004 when it was only 1 day out of the dealership, in Chicago:

Ive related to people this car is a CRUISER, with a 18.5 gallon fuel tank I have a range of just over 400 miles. Best Car I've owned:

[GzNutz]

If you're not boosted, I say save the money. Vehicles routinely do hundreds of thousands of miles on regular with no problems.

^x2
Unless you're running the risk of early detonation, your lara really doesn't need (won't utilize the properties of) higher octane fuel.
Cleanliness I would attribute to the brand.

[DriDed]

If you added regular gas and your car didn't like it, you would know about it.

But the recommendations in the owner's manual is all you need.

Unless your car is turbocharged or supercharged or the manual recommends premium gas, I wouldn't go with premium gas.

[crispone]

I won't argue with the arguments relegating high-octane use to vehicles that RECOMMEND or STIPULATE it... even if I use it anyway... but I DO strongly agree with the arguments recommending QUALITY GAS STATIONS and BRANDS... more the STATION than BRAND name... as many stations GET the SAME DELIVERY SERVICE for their gas. (Not always... but OFTEN.)

MOST important is TURNOVER of fuel in any given station, and quality of tanks. Low turnover = diminished octane, as it DEGRADES with TIME from initial pump. (Truest with ULTA-high octane race fuels... which lose points over time more rapidly than normal pump gas, as I've been told by a guy who MEASURES the ratings at pumps...)

Anyway... always an interesting discussion on fuels...



-crisp