Hello there, I have been wanting to own a Prius. For many years, I could only turn my head for that sleek, quiet car. Finally, I traded in my gas guzzling 2003 Maxima (17 mpg city) for the silver 2015 Prius Two as a gift for my big 4-0 even though the 5th Gen is on the horizon. The car was a complete departure from the Maxima in terms of gas. I spent the whole week TRYING VERY HARD to burn all that fuel whereas I tried very hard to last a week for that old V6. On my first fill up, instead of using 87 regular, I accidentally went for 91 premium as I always do for my Maxima. Is that alright for the first time? No long-term consequence for this one-time error? Thanks for any thought. Jon San Diego, CA
should be fine...the only thing I've heard my Bentley maintenance guide for Gen2 says premium could be hard starting, but nobody has ever complained about. PS- Reg is 87 except at high altitude
The worst thing is that the higher fuel price caused a couple dollars to permanently vanish from your wallet. Compared to that, everything else is minor.
Why ??? unless that is cheaper in you corners There are numerous thread here not only explaining why it has no benefit, but also taking measurement to prove it. The engine designed to a max compression and that is what needs to be matched by the fuel properties.. in theory the atkinson engine could increase the compression from the working pre-set .. but it DOESN't (in the prius case) ... most modern engine adjust, but ONLY lower (avoid knocking) but not higher ... so it is no benefit to use a more compressible fuel. Just my two cents ... (oil companies must like you )
There was an interesting show on CBC's Market Place on this subject. It's a long neglected con game: when you roll into a typical gas station there are myriad grades available, and not-so-subtle hints that each up-step in octane is "superior" in some way. OTOH, the percentage of vehicles where the manufacturer recommends higher octane fuel, typically due to higher compression engines, is negligible.
In theory, they could, but the present Prius valve mechanism just doesn't have the needed adjustment range. This is where electric valve actuators could shine, if they ever reach the market. Completely abolish the camshafts and timing chain, and get a full range of valve adjustments and cylinder deactivation options in one fell swoop.
Our previous Civic Hybrid had dual cams lobes with different lift range. Normally the car used low-lift cam lobes, but under heavy load hydraulics shift over to the high-lift lobes. Climbing one overpass every morning, you could feel the kick-in-the-pants when it shifted.
In other words, valve timing controlled by software. That will happen as soon as somebody develops electric actuation that matches the reliability, cost, and energy consumption of mechanical actuation.
