Es350 Ultra Gasoline Debate

[pj8708]

That is really interesting. Do you use it, and if so, do you like it?...any difference in mpg? (cool photo of Bogart)

Anyone else out there?

[SW03ES]

I just got back from a round trip to WV, about 340 miles each way, 80MPH average speeds and for the last 100 miles or so some steep highway upgrades and downgrades. My average was 30.2MPG. I am beyond delighted with that...

Steve,

What octane gas did you use?

I run Premium...93.

[K.C. Dia]

That is really interesting. Do you use it, and if so, do you like it?...any difference in mpg? (cool photo of Bogart)

Anyone else out there?

I now use 87 octane gas regular (10% ethanol) and am getting a little over 31 mpg. I have not noticed any decline in performance. My car is now about 14 mos old and has 40,000 plus miles on it. I drive a lot. My milage has actually improved as the vehicle gets older. When I first bought it, I got aroung 29 mpg using 89 octane. I have not used 91 octane for years. Vehicle is a 2010 ES 350 purchased new. I couldn't be more pleased. BTW, I had a similar poster of Bogart from Casablanca on my wall during my college years, a long long time ago.

[pj8708]

speeding tickets for 10mph over the limit are silly if you are otherwise driving safely

these tickets are likely encouraged to increase revenues

very frustrating!!!

Looks like Texas is way ahead of the game!!!!LOL

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/07/texas-house-approves-nations-fastest-speed-limit-at-85-mph/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Fautoblog+%28Autoblog%29

So much for gas mileage.

Paul

[jaki30]

Premium gas is about $0.30 more per gallon than regular. The wife's 2010 gets about 22 mpg around town.

That works out to about $0.014 per mile more to use the premium over the regular. Driving 12,000 miles

per year costs an extra $168.

[pj8708]

Premium gas is about $0.30 more per gallon than regular. The wife's 2010 gets about 22 mpg around town.

That works out to about $0.014 per mile more to use the premium over the regular. Driving 12,000 miles

per year costs an extra $168.

Which do you use, premium or regular? If premium, do you think it's worth the additional cost?

[babyduke]

Back to the subject on the octane, I just bought a 2009 ES350 and the sales guy said the required octane is 90. So say I put in half 87 and half 93, what is the guarantee that it'd be mixed properly to produce that exact 90?

I'm not sure if your pulling our leg or not, but this is a bad idea and no, it won't work. First of all, your sales person is wrong. The upper octane rating is 91. I suppose it may vary by region, but in my travels I have never come across a pump with 90 octane unleaded. Usually there are the standard three grades; 87-89-91 octane. Secondly, many of us use 89 or in the case of a 2010 ES, even 87 octane without engine knock or other problems.

Trying to mix two grades of gas to end up with a totally different grade is insane.

Paul

No, I don't think we're on the same page. Sales guy did say 90 is the most accurate grade for this car but I know 90 isn't available at any stations. Around here is 87-89-93. Orginal topic of this thread is about mixing 2 grades to make it 90 so all I was asking if I put in 50/50 of 87 & 93, will it mix properly and create that perfect 90.

[rob_es350]

I don't see why mixing is insane

50% of 89 and 50% of 93 should give you the performance of 91 I would thing

I know if you throw in a bit of racing fuel, you will definitely feel the difference

[pj8708]

I don't see why mixing is insane

50% of 89 and 50% of 93 should give you the performance of 91 I would thing

I know if you throw in a bit of racing fuel, you will definitely feel the difference

Go for it.

[SW03ES]

Mixing is crazy...just use 89...

[sdman]

For ethanol-free gas go to, pure-gas.org

sam

[sdman]

With an compression ratio of 10.8 to one,high octane gas should be used.(91 to 92)

The saving grace is that when the knock detectors detect knocking it retards the timing when using low octane gas.

When this happens it cuts down the efficiencies of the engine.

I'm of the Muscle Car era when we were running 10.5 to 11 compression ratios.

If we had used low octane gas (87) back then it would have ruined the engine.

We didn't have computers and knock sensors to adjust the timing back then.

In fact we would use avation gas if we could get it, with octanes of 95+.

The way I see it these engines were designed for higher octane gas.

Get a tank of high octane gas without the ethanol, get someone to time you with a stopwatch. check and see how long

it takes to go from 0 to 60. Then try it with some low octane with ethanol.

Or you can try it different distances, 1/8 to 1/4 mile

I think you will see a difference.

Sam

[rob_es350]

With an compression ratio of 10.8 to one,high octane gas should be used.(91 to 92)

The saving grace is that when the knock detectors detect knocking it retards the timing when using low octane gas.

When this happens it cuts down the efficiencies of the engine.

I'm of the Muscle Car era when we were running 10.5 to 11 compression ratios.

If we had used low octane gas (87) back then it would have ruined the engine.

We didn't have computers and knock sensors to adjust the timing back then.

In fact we would use avation gas if we could get it, with octanes of 95+.

The way I see it these engines were designed for higher octane gas.

Get a tank of high octane gas without the ethanol, get someone to time you with a stopwatch. check and see how long

it takes to go from 0 to 60. Then try it with some low octane with ethanol.

Or you can try it different distances, 1/8 to 1/4 mile

I think you will see a difference.

Sam

perhaps, but I suspect the difference would be marginal, and would not even be noticed in normal driving, even with fast accelerations

I have tried all the different octanes, and without doing a full out 0-60, but with significant acceleration, I could not feel the difference

[pj8708]

With an compression ratio of 10.8 to one,high octane gas should be used.(91 to 92)

The saving grace is that when the knock detectors detect knocking it retards the timing when using low octane gas.

When this happens it cuts down the efficiencies of the engine.

I'm of the Muscle Car era when we were running 10.5 to 11 compression ratios.

If we had used low octane gas (87) back then it would have ruined the engine.

We didn't have computers and knock sensors to adjust the timing back then.

In fact we would use avation gas if we could get it, with octanes of 95+.

The way I see it these engines were designed for higher octane gas.

Get a tank of high octane gas without the ethanol, get someone to time you with a stopwatch. check and see how long

it takes to go from 0 to 60. Then try it with some low octane with ethanol.

Or you can try it different distances, 1/8 to 1/4 mile

I think you will see a difference.

Sam

perhaps, but I suspect the difference would be marginal, and would not even be noticed in normal driving, even with fast accelerations

I have tried all the different octanes, and without doing a full out 0-60, but with significant acceleration, I could not feel the difference

Will we ever leave here and get back to Kansas??

[rob_es350]

With an compression ratio of 10.8 to one,high octane gas should be used.(91 to 92)

The saving grace is that when the knock detectors detect knocking it retards the timing when using low octane gas.

When this happens it cuts down the efficiencies of the engine.

I'm of the Muscle Car era when we were running 10.5 to 11 compression ratios.

If we had used low octane gas (87) back then it would have ruined the engine.

We didn't have computers and knock sensors to adjust the timing back then.

In fact we would use avation gas if we could get it, with octanes of 95+.

The way I see it these engines were designed for higher octane gas.

Get a tank of high octane gas without the ethanol, get someone to time you with a stopwatch. check and see how long

it takes to go from 0 to 60. Then try it with some low octane with ethanol.

Or you can try it different distances, 1/8 to 1/4 mile

I think you will see a difference.

Sam

perhaps, but I suspect the difference would be marginal, and would not even be noticed in normal driving, even with fast accelerations

I have tried all the different octanes, and without doing a full out 0-60, but with significant acceleration, I could not feel the difference

Will we ever leave here and get back to Kansas??

lol, strong point...guess we have exhausted this topic a bit

[LennyF]

In several places, there has been an ongoing debate about what octane we should be using in our ES350's. Mine is a 2008 ES350 ultra. I decided to look at the engine specs for my ES350 and compare them to the same year Camry engine specs.

My owners manual says that my ES350 should use 91 octane gasoline. But, the comparable Camry model with what seems to be the same engine says that they can use 87 octane gasoline. So here is my research:

Camry:

2011 Technical Specs

Standard Engine 3.5L V6

Standard Transmission 6 Speed Automatic

Cylinders 6

Horsepower @RPM 268@6200

Fuel Economy Cty/Hwy 19/27

Combined Fuel Economy 22

EPA Class Mid-Size

Number of Valves 24

Torque @RPM N/A

Fuel Type System Gas Engine / Sequential Electronic Fuel Injected,

Sequential Port Fuel Injected Sequential, Multi-Port Fuel Injected

Turbo (Yes/No) No

Overdrive Transmission Yes

Battery Output N/A

Compression 10.8:1

Displacement 3458/211

Bore X Stroke 3.70x3.27

5-speed ECT-i automatic transmission w/OD

Type: 6-speed automatic

Ratios: 3.30, 1.90, 1.42, 1.00, 0.71, 0.61

Final Drive: 3.69

ES350:

2008 Technical specs

Standard Engine 3.5L V6

Standard Transmission 6 Speed Automatic

Cylinders 6

Horsepower @RPM 272@6200

Fuel Economy Cty/Hwy 19/27

Combined Fuel Economy 22

EPA Class Mid-Size

Number of Valves 24

Torque @RPM N/A

Fuel Type System Gas Engine / Sequential Electronic Fuel Injected,

Sequential Port Fuel Injected Sequential, Multi-Port Fuel Injected

Turbo (Yes/No) No

Overdrive Transmission Yes

Battery Output N/A

Compression 10.8:1

Displacement 3441/210

Bore X Stroke 3.70x3.27

6-speed automatic electronically controlled transmission

w/intelligence (ECT-i)-inc: sequential-shift

Type: 6-speed automatic

Ratios: 3.30, 1.90, 1.42, 1.00, 0.71, 0.61

Final Drive: 3.69

The only difference seems to be in the displacement calculations. Please note that the compression ratio is identical. I have always thought that a 10.something compression ratio would require high octane gasoline.

I have Not decided to switch to regular (87 octane) yet, but I am mixing 1/2 tank of 87 Octane with 1/2 tank of 93 octane (=90 octane).

What are your thiughts and/or comments?????

Your post is several months old and gas prices change almost daily but what does your price per gallon average out to with that half & half mix? And how does it compare to the price of middle grade gas?