ayan Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Gas out here in CA, esp. here in the San Francisco bay area is getting soooo expensive. Does is really hurt to just use regular gasoline? I know I may be sacrificing some performance aspects by not using premium gas, but how often does the avg. user push their car to warrant the gas?
lexusonthelake Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Use of fuel has been discussed recently I believe. Do a search and you'll find discussions about your question. Good luck!
VMF Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 premium only, your engine was designed for it and using other types of fuel will shorten the life span of the engine and its components.
mejojo Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 VMF, It would be helpful to many if you could reference the information on which you have based your statement. I've seen car manufacturs state that they design their cars to operate in places where premium gas is simply not available, so if there is a quantifiable detrimental effect caused by using the lower grades, I'd be interested to read about it. Thanks, Joe
VMF Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 as far as i know the lower the fuel grage the lower the temp of combustion is thus creating less pressure in the cylinderand generating less heat. this might not be a big problem but requires timing adjustmentefficiency of the engine is going lower while the ECU was preprogrammed for the certain type of fuel and thiming and its pulse width for the injecters is based on the lookup table that was developed for the premium fuel will lead to generating more soot and less power thus putting more load on the engine and your catalytic converters which will lead to the shortening engine and catalytic converters life and might lead to the cat overheating.
mejojo Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Problem with that theory is that the ECU was not "programmed for a certain type of fuel". Modern cars sense the grade of fuel and adjust accordingly. That's why they can and do run so well with lower grades. Gone are the days of wild pinging when putting regular in a car designed for premium. That isn't to say that all pinging is gone (I know that many people here have stated that their LS pings when they use lower grades), just that it's a whole different world since smarter computers have gotten into the act. (There should be some links to this information in previous gasoline threads if the great wipeout didn't kill them.) Joe
VMF Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 i tried to put cheap premium gas from golf station once and my engine perfomance lowered drastically while the temp went slightly higher then the regular and rythm of the idliing engine was not as regular as well. how do they sense the fuel btw? as to timing adjustments i dont think its possible electronically since 1uzfe doesnt have an electronic timing. as far as i know tables in ecm were only for premium fule and to keep the emissions in the passing stage for only 100k miles on average. i'm sure it does adjust thats why the knock sensor is there but it does it only up to a certain level.
UCF3 Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Ayan: You can use Regular fuel, but I'd recommend using Octane Booster to increase the grade to 93 and above. Normally I agree with VMF and using 93 only--Manufacturer Specified Grade, but under the circumstances you might have to use it. I think you should buy an econobox or the new PRius, especially since you live in CA.
99lsguy Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 I don't think I've ever seen 93 octane......... Our premium unleaded in KC is 91 octane.
UCF3 Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 I don't think I've ever seen 93 octane.........Our premium unleaded in KC is 91 octane. yeah, somebody else from the Midwest mentioned 91 was the highest grade available. Do you guys have SUnocos out there? They offer a 94 grade, and am curious if it's available there. anything above 90 is considered primium fuel, so you're okay. You should think about moving to the east coast. you'll find 93+ here.
99lsguy Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 yeah, somebody else from the Midwest mentioned 91 was the highest grade available. Do you guys have SUnocos out there? They offer a 94 grade, and am curious if it's available there.anything above 90 is considered primium fuel, so you're okay. You should think about moving to the east coast. you'll find 93+ here. No, no Sunocos here. Texaco, Phillips 66, Amoco (now moving to BP) But most of us buy gas @ QUICKTRIP. I actually go to COSTCO ; usually 5-10 cents cheaper. Right now 91 premium is about 1.69/gal.. 93 would be nice :D
steviej Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Do you guys have SUnocos out there? They offer a 94 grade, and am curious if it's available there.anything above 90 is considered primium fuel, so you're okay. You should think about moving to the east coast. you'll find 93+ here. Sunoco used to offer 94 octane as there Ultra. Ultra is now their 93 Octane and their premium is 91 Octane. At least here in MA it is. All there stations have new banners exclaiming "same quality fuel with new ratings" steviej
VMF Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 in jesrey ultra on sunoco/bp is 95... this is what i unly use
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