What octane fuel do you use?

The old 'proofreading' is the new 'spell check', 88 is not mis-spelled, it is simply not a grade used in the US.

Once some random engineer typoed 88, no mere marketing guy or graphic artist is going to question the number.

Once some owners attract Toyota's attention (and I doubt that was in the first 1000 queries) some one in customer support has to get authority to ask a superior engineer to categorically override the original declaration of 88 Octane. I bet they searched high and low for an engineer who remembered 88 as a valid result.

Once Toyota realizes they have made an error, they get to refer it to lawyers: What is our liability if we admit you could really be using 87 octane all those months? I have no idea how long before the announcement was vetted by lawyers.

Now Toyota (one company) needs to inform every dealer (separate companies) of the change so that owners do not get conflicting information. (Recall that one owner found out from his dealer about the impending change to 10,000 mile oil changes months before Toyota went public)

It is not a marvel that it took months, it is a marvel that they ever try to fix the typos.

 

Have you read the manual? Toyota's manuals are so bad it's a wonder the bothered to ever fix the typo. One would think that a company with Toyota's resources could hire someone to write good manuals. Shoot, they could hire me. I couldn't do worse than their present work.

Tom

 

I don't find a difference. I use the least expensive gas. As long as the station changes the pump filter, the gas is the same. It all comes from the same refineries. That no name gas is a name brand but that brand is a secret. Ask the attendant. Sometimes they know which brand it is.

 

I use the minimum a car's manual says to. Using higher octane wastes money, it won't clean the engine out and it won't make it go faster.

 

Maybe, maybe not. Over here, we also have a small no-name refinery.

 

Since my 2010 was new I was using BP 89 octane. Ran fine. One day I filled up at a less reputable brand name and got 87. The car felt the same, but mpg dropped nearly 5 mpg. I do mostly city/suburban (low power) driving. So after driving 150 miles on this tank, I went to my BP station and got about 3 gal of 93 octane. MPG went right back up. So, I am not exactly sure if the loss in mpg was due to a cheaper brand of gas or the lesser octane, but I will try the 87 next time at my "better" station.

 

SP95 in Belgium.
The only difference with the SP98 is the COST !

 

Cheap 87 (Flying J) for the first 5K miles, just filled up with Shell 93 V-Power, allegedly it has the best fuel system cleaner package. Did not notice any change in mileage, performance, or driveability. I am planning on using a medium-strength fuel system cleaner (e.g., STP, Chevron Techron, etc.) every 10K miles or so, it worked very well with my 2003 Altima (now has 277K miles without any issue).:welcome:

 

I never really paid attention to where I got my fuel I the past. I no longer go to unknown names anymore. I got generic a few times and the car got worse gas mileage and started knocking. Seems like they had some water moisture in the gas, etc.

 

I recently finished a 3500 mile trip through the mountain states, I used 85 octane exclusively at higher altitudes (above 4000 feet). Works great, just like 87 does at lower altitudes. Trip included climbing some 12,000 ft + peaks at or near full throttle, no pinging or detonation

I originally had second thoughts about this, but after asking the question on this site and doing a little research I decided the theory was sound and gave it try. The air pressure entering the cylinder is less at higher altitudes, therefore the absolute pressure in the combustion chamber is less when the air is compressed. Less pressure permits the use of lower octane. This should work on all normally aspirated engines, I am not sure about turbocharged or supercharged engines

As I recall all of the gas stations that I used in the mountain states sold 85 octane as their regular, some have 87 which is called plus, premium is 89 or 91.

 

Settled on 89 Octane ethanol-free. No-name works great, but that station just closed, so the last tank was Sunoco.
Ethanol-free is the key to mileage, and getting hard to find.

 

I now use Shell 93 octane and average 53mpg driving on ECO mode the whole time. It helps alot on brisk acceleration and works great doing the P&G technique. Don't need to step on the gas as much than on 87. Used to average 49mpg on 87 octane. The car just feels sluggish on 87.