Benefits of running premium... (1 Viewer)

[tomatopants]

...Gasoline?

Are there any?

The local Cruiser guru(Mudrak) told me that he's been running premium in his 80 since he's bought it, and he's had relatively few problems with it.

His 80 isn't 100% stock like mine, it's actually like, offroad capable, and I don't know what under the hood mods he has....


So should I be spending around 3 dollars on premium gas, or should I be spending 2.80 on 87 octane?

I know it is a luxury vehicle and all, but if I ever want to be able to do things with it, I'll need to have some money in the bank.

 

[corsair23]

IMO unless you get pinging running the lower octane then there isn't any reason to run premium. I use to get pinging running 87 octane gas in my non-Toyota daily driver when the engine was under load. Switching to premium got rid of the pinging. When I put on some JBA headers later I was able to switch back to 87 octane and not get pinging.

It wasn't so bad when 87 octane and 91 octane (premium around here) were only $.10/gal apart as it was only a couple more bucks per fillup. I've notice that the price difference seems to be going up though.

You could always do some testing and run 5-10 tank fulls of each and see what differences you note in how the 80 runs and what you mpg figures are. You never know, using premium might pay for itself if you can get a little better gas mileage

 

[Scamper]

A stock truck doesn't need premium, and as corsair says, unless you're using it to prevent detonation/pinging, you're wasting your money.

The only 80 series that need premium are those with forced induction.

 

[firetruck41]

No benefit, it is designed to run on 87. The only reason to use it would be to prevent pinging, but you shouldn't have pinging anyway, running the fuel it was designed for (regular).

 

[PACNW96]

Not to hijack, but don't MY98+ (100 series) Cruisers require premium? I know for us 80 owners 87 octane is fine.

 

[firetruck41]

Not to hijack, but don't MY98+ (100 series) Cruisers require premium? I know for us 80 owners 87 octane is fine.

Yeah, but I use mid-grade, unless on a trip to the mountains and fully loaded. No ill effects noted yet. I believe some of the later model years did not require it.

 

[Nay]

Are there any?

Sure. The best one is you don't think ExxonMobile is making enough money

 

[alia176]

Running anything other than the lowest ocatane rating isn't fruitful IMO. However, there is a difference between running detergent added gas (Chevron/shell/etc) vs the AM/PM variety!

 

[rlabair]

IMHO, You drive a premium vehicle, so put premium gas in it. My Lexus dealer suggested the failure of my catalytic converters might be attributed to lower octane gas the previous owner pumped into it. I run premium in all three of my vehicles. Afterall, what's another $2.50 per tankful. Shoot, gas additive cost more than that! The dealer cost for the dual lexus cats was about $2500. I saved $ replacing them myself but it still cost me some green. I hate paying at the pump as much if not more then anyone especially with the mpg the LX gets but my engines run smoother with premium.

 

[firetruck41]

IMHO, You drive a premium vehicle, so put premium gas in it. My Lexus dealer suggested the failure of my catalytic converters might be attributed to lower octane gas the previous owner pumped into it. I run premium in all three of my vehicles. Afterall, what's another $2.50 per tankful. Shoot, gas additive cost more than that! The dealer cost for the dual lexus cats was about $2500. I saved $ replacing them myself but it still cost me some green. I hate paying at the pump as much if not more then anyone especially with the mpg the LX gets but my engines run smoother with premium.

I think your dealer is wrong. If 87 octane cost more per gallon than 91, would you put it in your tank because you drive a premium vehicle? "Premium" gas is not premium, it just has a different octane, the different octane does not mean it is better, or worse gas. Higher octane will detonate later. Your owners manual for the LX450 say to use 87 octane, the engineers designed and built your engine to use 87 octane.

 

[alkaline747trio]

I run plus year round (89-90 octane) since I have my timing advanced, the benefit? More power...with the timing advanced I have more pep than with it at stock 7*, is it worth it? I think so, it only cost a little more than a buck to fill up with plus than it does regular and I can feel the difference of the timing advance.

 

[CJF]

My Lexus dealer suggested the failure of my catalytic converters might be attributed to lower octane gas the previous owner pumped into it.

Hooey!!!!

I agree with firetruck.

Sorry, but your post makes no sense. It is very, very, very well documented that higher octane gas is a waste of money in a vehicle that isn't pinging (as almost everyone in this thread has noted).

Curtis

 

[Lka1988]

I use 89 octane in mine, although it costs $2.29 instead of a buck.. I get pinging with 87 octane though, too.

 

[jeffro]

Hey Alkaline,

How did you advance your timing? I thought the timing, and everything else was controlled by the computer. I would be willing to advance my timing and run higher octane if I could get a little more power.

By the way. Here in Denver (elevation 5300') I run regular - lowest octane - 85 I think. Completely stock engine in my 96 FZJ80, and it runs fine.

The common misconception about premium gasoline is that it has more energy in it. Wrongo. Premium gasoline has the same amount of energy as mid grade or low grade. Higher octane gasolines merely burn, or explode, more uniformly. A more uniform explosion in the combusion chamber that starts in the center at the spark plug and spreads out uniformly at the same rate in all directions prevents torqueing the piston, and results in a "centered punch" on the top of the piston. The pinging noise that we hear if a car is pinging is either the piston being torqued, or a non-uniform "punch" on the piston as it is still travelling up to top dead center. If the timing is not too far advanced, and/or, the octane of the gas is correct, pinging doesn't happen.

Higher compression tends to cause lower octane gasolines to explode prematurely and non-uniformly, causing pinging. The low compression in a stock 4.5L does not require, and will not benefit from higher than necessary octane gases.

Again - if anyone has experience to share on how to advance the timing, please pass it along.

Thank you!

 

[IdahoDoug]

When I worked at Lexus, we did a study that determined premium gas has a better additive package and produced less cylinder deposits over a typical ownership cycle (3 years). So we opted to require premium fuel for all Lexus vehicles to reduce durability and reliability issues. Translation: Get the customer to use premium and you'll have fewer drivability complaints. Since this literally means my vehicle will benefit over a long life, I use premium frequently though I don't claim power advantages unless it's under heavy duress usage like towing on a hot day. So, don't buy it for power advantages but there's evidence your engine will benefit from the cleaner burn and fewer engine deposits of premium fuels. Personally, I think using 87 all the time but strictly from top shelf fuel brands like Chevron will provide similar benefits over always using crap 7-11 gas or grocery store gas.

DougM

 

[IdahoDoug]

Both of my trucks have advanced 7 degree timing and milled heads. The power increase is notable most on the 97 for some reason. The thing's a hot rod compared to other 80s.

DougM

 

[CJF]

Aw Doug...

What'd ya have to spoil the party for..

Point taken,

Curtis

 

[IdahoDoug]

Curtis,

What - that I own the fastest normally aspirated 4.5L 80 on the planet??

DougM

 

[CJF]

Nah...

My post was in response to post #15. So what's with the 1 message per minute post rate??

Cheers all,

Curtis

 

[IdahoDoug]

Better? I was hanging out all over the forum last night.

DougM