Which type gas do you use...regular, plus, or supreme?

[sxypinay543]

I prefer to use supreme gas, I can actually feel a difference from regular to supreme. It also lasts longer too. What do guys prefer : Oh yeah....what gas station do you like to go to? I always go to 76, but my second choice is Chevron with Techron

[rbloedow]

Sorry dood, but the effect your feeling is psychosomatic - there are absolutly NO benifits for using premium when your car was designed to use the lower grade. Now, once some people figure out how to advance the timing of our cars, then premium fuel is a must. Until then, you're just foolishly wasting your money.

Gas is gas, almost all companies buy direct from the same distributors. the only real difference are the detergents and additives some offer, like Chevron.

Don't worry, it's a common misconception Why do you think they tack on words like 'super" and "plus" to the higher grades, yet cann the lowest "regular"? It's all about marketing - mentally it makes you think the more expensive one is better, when in reality you get nothing from it

[JDMxB]

Originally Posted by rbloedow

Sorry dood, but the effect your feeling is psychosomatic - there are absolutly NO benifits for using premium when your car was designed to use the lower grade. Now, once some people figure out how to advance the timing of our cars, then premium fuel is a must. Until then, you're just foolishly wasting your money.

Gas is gas, almost all companies buy direct from the same distributors. the only real difference are the detergents and additives some offer, like Chevron.

I was going to type the exact same thing--as I've been trying to convey this same message to people for years...but yet some (uneducated of course) refuse to listen, time and time again!

Keep on wasting your money folks--regular for my 108hp beast. Why would you differ from what it states in the manual that you get with your car man, would you try to assemble a kitchen table in your own way--or follow the directions?!

[Munch]

I use regular.

[iy0ga]

" WHAT YOU PAY FOR IS WHAT YOU GET " :twisted:

[izzles]

Regular there is no reason to jump to premium you are running stock so it doesnt change much....now with turbo and a blower then you may want to run high octane gas...

[sithscripter]

Sometimes it helps ... My last car really, really didn't like the winter "reformulated" gas we get in California. Switching to 89 octane for the winter months (winter in name alone) really made a difference.

[pmpnxb]

yah i see no point in spending the money on supreme when the car is made for 87...

[Dylan]

I did an unscientific experiment by putting in supreme in my 1997 Toyota Tercel and got 38 mpg instead of 36 mpg with similar driving patterns. Even if it isn't psychosomatic, paying for supreme rather than regular for 2 extra mpg ends up costing a lot more than it's worth. You're better off taking better care of your car in other ways like with regular oil changes, etc. :D

[Money]

I also use sapreme and beleive it or not in my experience its showd me a diffrence through time.

[rbloedow]

Originally Posted by Money

I also use sapreme and beleive it or not in my experience its showd me a diffrence through time.

I believe JDMxB's comment was meant for you: "but yet some (uneducated of course) refuse to listen"

[Pablo_xB]

It's not psychosomatic at all. It does make a different in my experience. If I punch the accelerator with cheap gas nothing happens for a while. With premium it responds alot faster. This has ben my experience, believe me I don't "like" to spend more money but I definitely don't like getting the least power that I can from my 93hp Tercel. This was my experience with my 2000 Echo too, so there ya go. :D

[scionMIX]

higher octane will make a difference in some instances. usually with older engine reduce pinging but since our engines our brand spanking new... there is no need to use higher octane. Save the $$ and get some parts

[jackmott]

Originally Posted by Dylan

I did an unscientific experiment by putting in supreme in my 1997 Toyota Tercel and got 38 mpg instead of 36 mpg with similar driving patterns. Even if it isn't psychosomatic, paying for supreme rather than regular for 2 extra mpg ends up costing a lot more than it's worth. You're better off taking better care of your car in other ways like with regular oil changes, etc. :D

2mpg is well within the standard deviation of that test.

try it like 3 times each way and see if its always better mpg with high octane

[jackmott]

Originally Posted by Pablo xB

It's not psychosomatic at all. It does make a different in my experience. If I punch the accelerator with cheap gas nothing happens for a while. With premium it responds alot faster. This has ben my experience, believe me I don't "like" to spend more money but I definitely don't like getting the least power that I can from my 93hp Tercel. This was my experience with my 2000 Echo too, so there ya go. :D

show me the dyno or the timeslips.

ive seen way too many people fooled by car mods in this way.

it *is* possible though. Someone posted that our engines have a knock sensor, many ECUs will occasionally bump up the timing a bit when no knock events have occured for a while, thereby taking advtange of whatever octane gas you run by adjusting the timing automatically.

[George]

Originally Posted by Pablo xB

It's not psychosomatic at all. It does make a different in my experience. If I punch the accelerator with cheap gas nothing happens for a while. With premium it responds alot faster. This has ben my experience, believe me I don't "like" to spend more money but I definitely don't like getting the least power that I can from my 93hp Tercel. This was my experience with my 2000 Echo too, so there ya go. :D

I spent a lot of time in engineering school studying various fuels, including detailed analysis and testing of fuels with a specialized testing engine.

The _only_ difference between the various octane numbers of fuel is resistance to pre-ignition. In simplest terms, this means that higher octane fuel actually is _more_ difficult to ignite than lower octane fuel. In commerically-available automotive fuels (octane range 85-93) this effect is actually rather small.

The only way that higher octane fuels can produce greater power or mileage is if the engine runs higher compression ratios that would make use of the greater resistance to preignition. If you simply switch from low octane fuel to high octane fuel in an engine designed for low octane fuel the only effect will be a lightening of your wallet.

There is _one_ way that higher octane fuels could produce the effect some seem to feel. In the case where the low-octane fuel produces the start of pre-ignition, the ECU will retard the spark timing to prevent knock. If you happen to get a bad batch of fuel, this protects the engine from damage, and does so so seamlessly that all the driver perceives is a slight loss of power. If you were to switch from the "bad" gas to premium, and were sensitive to any change, then you would probably see what you are looking for.

The only way to know for sure is to put the car on a dyno to test power, and to run the car for extended periods (as in thousands of miles) to establish any difference in mileage.

For the time being, my xB is happy on the cheapest regular I can find. If everyone bought fuel at the cheapest available station we wouldn't be looking at $2 per gallon gas here on the Left Coast.

George

[Dylan]

Originally Posted by jackmott

2mpg is well within the standard deviation of that test.

try it like 3 times each way and see if its always better mpg with high octane

At $1.89 for supreme and $1.69 for regular and filling up with 10 gallons, regular might get me 360 miles and supreme might get me 380 miles. If this is true, then regular will cost me about 4.7 cents per mile while supreme will cost 5.0 cents per mile. I think I'll stick with regular.

From what scionMIX said, my likely gains in mpg from using supreme were due to an older engine working slightly better with a higher octane formula of gas.

[Pablo_xB]

:D Hey I was just saying that this works for me. To each his own.

I'll stick withmy premium.

[bBted]

if the manual says 87...then go with 87.....
its not gonna make difference...in fact, u losing performance...my friend dyno'd his car using different octanes...

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/view...ight=grade+gas

[JDMxB]

Originally Posted by Pablo xB

:D Hey I was just saying that this works for me. To each his own.

I'll stick withmy premium.

Hey, you wanna buy some of this Snake Oil I have over here...PM me for a good deal.