Shell 91 V-power!!

Toyota does indicate that 87 octane should be used, as do all automakers. But that's for sea level up to roughly 3000' elevation. Above that 86 octane is the standard for regular gas, and is okay to use due to the thinner air. I don't know why the station near me is selling 86 octane E0, or where they are sourcing it from.

 

There are some engines, notably supercharged or turbocharged, that can compensate for higher octane and produce more horsepower. Take for example the new Mazda CX-9 that has a turbo 4. On 87 octane it makes about 228 hp. At 93 octane it makes 250 hp. It makes spending more for higher octane gas worthwhile.

The engines in our Tundras do not have the ability to take advantage of the higher octane. So no improvement in hp or fuel mileage.

Top tier gas is really about the detergents that are blended in and how well they keep the fuel system and engines clean.

Ethanol is hydroscopic like brake fluid. It wants to absorb water, so if you have ethanol gas that sits around (like my seldom used boat) it absorbs water from the atmosphere and can damage the fuel system and engine.

 

Exactly! But I know you meant to say ethanol absorbs water from the atmosphere, not gas!

 

No duel here......people are free to waste their money if they wish.

 

Agree. I would spend my money on 87 octane that has better detergents. Or I would spend my money on higher octane if my engine were designed to take advantage of it (my past Audi and BMW did). Or I would spend money on non-ethanol gas if I knew it would sit around a while like my boat. But I would not spend money on higher octane for the tundra.

 

Fixed. Thanks.

 

I use Shell a lot. Corn should be for human food/cattle feed only. Period.

 

To my understanding the only possible benefit of running higher octane gas in engine rated for regular is the below.

Typically w/ quality brand names like exxon,mobil,shell, or cheveron is that the higher octane gas usually contains more cleaning agents/detergents than their regular gas........so i can only see running a tank of 93+ every couple or weeks or months. Otherwise i will use fuel system cleaning additive.

 

Well, all the designated "top tier" gasolines have the same additives in all their grades. Those you named are all in that top tier group.
http://www.toptiergas.com/licensedbrands/

 

correct....top tier basically means they put more additive/cleanings agents in their mixtures than the gov. requires.Right?

From my understanding the higher octanes can contain more concentrated levels of detergents and other additives than the brands regular gas...it is still considered top tier if the brand is top tier.

 

I'm not an engineer, but my brother is a research scientist with a PHD in Chemical Engineering. He said that gas companies general put the same "additive package" into their gas regardless of what octane level gas they are producing. They may modify the "additive package" based on time of year (winter vs summer formulation), region and climate it is being shipped to, or specific regulations of each state. Therefore, top tier gas is top tier regardless of the octane level.

Maybe there is a member on this forum that is an engineer from the Oil & Gas industry that can verify.

 

Get all the info out of your brother possible and post it here!!! haha sadly i have to go off the internet and this one gas station owner i spoke with.

 

Sort of, but you should read the info in the website for the answer to your question. And from what I read there, they probably could use a little more additives in the higher grade if they wanted to, but based on what is indicated on the website, I don't know why any company would want to use any more additives in the higher octane. The standard for all grades is very high, according to them.

 

He gave me an education on gas and oil one day. I made it about 45 mins before things started flying way over my head.

 

I guess it is theoretically possible that you can put such an increased load on your engine to increase temps enough to cause knock. However, if your cooling system is functioning properly, I think the increase in temps in the range of 10- 20 degrees would not be enough to significantly affect knock. However, you're right, people should put whatever octane level they think is best for them as long as it is minimum of 87. My point is this...if I had to choose between spending 10 cents more for top tier 87 or 10 cents more for run of the mill 89, I would go for the top tier fuel. At least you would know that the fuel has a better additive package. Of course you can always go for higher octane top tier fuel and eliminate the doubt.

 

I agreed with this statement. I also read and watched the videos from Top Tier website to confirm this statement is true.

One time I spoke to the gas delivery tanker driver at the Shell station and he said that he got the tank filled with gas from THE SAME supplier but he delivers it to different gas stations of different brands. The only different is the additive packages.

 

I think that I recall an article or news report saying that the corn used for Ethanol production is so crap that it isn't even fed to cattle/hogs. Goats maybe, they'll eat anything, just about literally.

I thought that we had a member here that was in the petroleum industry, I just can't remember his handle. His avatar was b/w and kind of cartoony.

 

Yeah, Pedro but he's a chemist. @Cubanchem

 

YES, that's him. I'll bet that he still has a light he can shine on the debate though.

 

Hallelujah!!!! Idgaf how everybody else drives and the EXACT miles I get per gallon. I'll drive the way I want. Sometimes I feel like driving like fast n furious, sometimes I feel like driving miss daisy and if the gas that I put in my truck makes me feel the way I do, so be it...take my money. It's like putting on cosmetic mods, wtf for? Doesn't give u better mpg. Who the fu.k cares? It's not ur truck, let them do the fu.k they want.

 

PREACH!! but I will say this, taking off the chrome and debadging my truck gave me atleast 10mpg more then I had before DD

 

You got a 10 MPG increase ? I still have my chrome grill and cup holder surround so should i expect something around 9 MPG increase ?

 

Ya that's about right haha. once I get rid of the chrome rings around my air vents I'll be sitting at a solid 15mpg gain.

 

+1, made no difference on my Tacoma

 

Nope, ethanol free is preferred because most boat owners leave gas in tanks for a while. My Merc runs fine on gas with ethanol as long as it is fresh or treated. Fuel lines can be a problem unless you have replaced with ethanol resistant. I lost 200 rpms at WOT when they changed the formulas around here years ago but other than that no problems.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That's funny... I was born in NJ... now live in Oregon... I miss Wawa and Tastycake pies!

 

I had a 1993 F150 with a 5.0 V8 back in the day... the thing would knock all day on 87... no knocking on 91... but that was before the days of knock sensors and VVT... I run 87 all the time..