Regular Unleaded or Premium Unleaded?

[drsales]

I'm with SWUTAH, I use nothing but high test. This is my daily driver and I go through two to three tanks a week. My average fill is 15 gallons costing around $.10/gallon more, or $1.50 x 3= $4.50/week or $22/month. 3 good cigars kills that. Move on.

 

[justimaginejack]

Does anybody know what to do once you have had s***ty gas in there causing the pinging. My girlfriend takes the thing shopping and fills it with Sam's Club Premium 93 Gas and it comes home pinging like a japanese tv ping pong game. I have taken to the dealer who said they didn't know how to fix it other than put better gas in it. I took it to mobile for months and it died down dramatically, but then she did it agian and I haven't been ableto get rid of the pingning? I have used lucas fuel additive and that slow's it a bit but not for long. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[SWUtah]

Does anybody know what to do once you have had s***ty gas in there causing the pinging. My girlfriend takes the thing shopping and fills it with Sam's Club Premium 93 Gas and it comes home pinging like a japanese tv ping pong game. I have taken to the dealer who said they didn't know how to fix it other than put better gas in it. I took it to mobile for months and it died down dramatically, but then she did it agian and I haven't been ableto get rid of the pingning? I have used lucas fuel additive and that slow's it a bit but not for long. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Don't let her drive it anymore. Also you can by octane booster at auto parts store, and make your girlfriend pay for it, that might get her attention. It's the low octane rating that causes pinging (should be OK on sams club 93 octane. Also go to www.toptiergas.com which gives you the recommended gas stations that are recommended by Toyota.

 

[2003landcruiser]

started running premium in my 03 and gas mileage went up about 2mpg...

 

[9toys]

With only a few exceptions, I've been running regular from day one on my 99 with 118K miles. Engine is still as smooth as glass...considerably smoother than my 04 Tundra 4x4 DC. I've used premium a few times and only noticed that it cost me more. If the mileage was better, it wasn't enough to offset the price difference. I get from 15 to 17.5, depending on conditions.

 

[Jim_Chow]

started running premium in my 03 and gas mileage went up about 2mpg...

I get about 2 mpg better in my 03, too. IMHO, if you have to worry about that extra 20 cents/gal for premium, you shouldn't be driving a 100.

 

[aedgington]

I get about 2 mpg better in my 03, too. IMHO, if you have to worry about that extra 20 cents/gal for premium, you shouldn't be driving a 100.

QFT

Have to listen to the same discussions on BMW forums, for crying out loud. =/

 

[jonah]

I guess that i feel like high end stuff is the best is the way to go .
and at like seventy somthing bucks a tank whats a couple of coins? it could be in my head but i think the cruiser runs best on the good stuff.

 

[SC4Hundred]

I vote for premium.

 

[Dandon]

I'm using 98 Octane Shell Optimax. I used to use BP, but they had a refinery issue over in Western Australia and you couldnt buy their 98 octane here for ages. Then i switched to Mobil 8000.

Then i saw a segment about octane ratings on the British TV show, Fifth Gear. So i switched to Shell. I did notice a difference in performance and economy.

Below is the link for a case study using 3 different cars and different brands of petrol and different octane ratings.
http://fifthgear.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=601&featureid=143

Well worth the read.
cheers
peter

Interesting. Just for the record, "octan rating" is normally used in th US and is usually in the range from 87-93 octane. In Europe (and I guess in Australia) "research octane number" (RON) is the standard. We have only two types (not counting diesel), 95 and 98 RON. This doesn't mean it's better quality gas than the US, just that it's measured differently. Similar to the Fahrenheit / Celsius temperature scales.
My 100 says use 95 RON gas. Lower RON can be used with reduced performance (Some eastern european countries still have 92 RON gas)

Though there is no directo conversion between both values (they measure different properties), a rough equivalent is following:

Octane (US) / RON (Eur)
87 / 92
91 / 95
93 / 98

 

[Musky]

I haven't done enough testing to give you a 100% accurate statement but I have ran my 99 Landcruiser thru 3 tanks of gas. The first tank gave me 302 miles on regular gas and the next 2 tanks of premium gas has given me around 330 miles per tank.

I haven't noticed any difference in power but it seems to run a little smoother with premium. The extra miles per gallon seems to be worth the extra cost.
I'll do more thorough testing and see what happens.

 

[Topmounter]

Don't let her drive it anymore.

Definitely need to add that to the FAQ

 

[1loudLX]

my opinion?

 

[Topmounter]

my opinion?

Premium: Anything less would be unlexuslike

 

[cmfhsu]

Premium: Goes in the ES but not the camry. Go figure.

 

[SWUtah]

Premium: Goes in the ES but not the camry. Go figure.

I hear that MB wants me to put Premium in my CLS63 AMG

 

[cmfhsu]

If I lived with you, you'd hear it from me too. My biggest gripe with my parents is them putting regular into their 750 on a regular basis. Drives me insane because I know they would end up paying less putting premium, and it would give an extra 10 or so hp.

 

[RedEuro]

Does anybody know what to do once you have had ****ty gas in there causing the pinging. My girlfriend takes the thing shopping and fills it with Sam's Club Premium 93 Gas and it comes home pinging like a japanese tv ping pong game. I have taken to the dealer who said they didn't know how to fix it other than put better gas in it. I took it to mobile for months and it died down dramatically, but then she did it agian and I haven't been ableto get rid of the pingning? I have used lucas fuel additive and that slow's it a bit but not for long. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Fill up with some good gas and add a can of BG 44k. Alot of the clubs, sams/costco dont have the additives that you would find in cheveron/texaco/top tier gas.

That should take care of the issue.

BG Findashop

You should be able to find a local dealer via the link...if you can find any local, shoot me a PM and I can ship a can to you.

 

[staggrlee]

my opinion?

x2 It says that on the inside of my filler door, so that's what I use.

[Soapbox]
It's all about the compression ratio. Plus with the now year-round 10% ethanol up here it matters even more.

When the ECM (via the knock sensor) anticipates predetonation ("pinging") under high load due to low octane fuel, it retards the spark advance and essentially dumps fuel into the cylinders to cool them down. This creates a super-rich air/fuel ratio.

If it is happening often, this is a really good way to dissolve the CAT's guts. The unburnt fuel hits a hot CAT and is consumed there. In a element whose catalysts consist primarily of platinum/palladium -- both of which have relatively low melting points...??? Have fun with that.

To boot: Knocking is devastating to engine internals, and extreme damage can happen in seconds. If the knock sensor fails or gets its predictions wrong only a couple times...

Load your truck up with half-a-ton of armor and gear, running 33"/35" oversized tires, drop it into low range and then really have at it on that next climb with sub-par fuel.

Running the rated fuel is cheap insurance. [/Soapbox]

 

[1loudLX]

so does mine, but attendants miss that, so I made it apparent in plain sight.

x2 It says that on the inside of my filler door, so that's what I use.