Should I be using premium gas in my Tacoma?

Hate what you will.

Out and back twice, over 5500 miles each. Recording miles driven, confirmed by mapped distances, and dividing by gallons consumed is a pretty fair indicator of reason. One can begin to catch a trend. I used a small note book and a PENCIL!

Your profound misunderstanding is based on? Printed paper?

OK.

I guess you have done the same?

 

Premium in my area is more than 20% more expensive than regular. I'm not sure what the difference is in your area, but I have a hard time believing anyone is gaining 3-4 MPG by running premium.

Based on what you're saying, you took a 5500 mile road trip and used 87 octane. Then, you took the exact same route in similar (weather, cruising speed, etc) conditions using premium, and got significantly better fuel economy? I'm just curious.

 

Interesting.
https://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/heres-why-real-world-mpg-doesnt-match-epa-ratings.html

 

Can we just lock all new threads relating to gasoline so we don’t go in circles with the same arguments? There’s like 5 identical posts to this in the past month alone.

 

Won't hurt nothing but your wallet OP

 

In california it is still 10 percent ethanol. I buy non-ethanol in Oregon for lawn mower & trimmer. It is $5 a gallon.

 

Why the heck are there even 5 pages to a thread like this, typical internet crap I suppose

 

No. Some like reading the latest gas and oil news. And the lockdown requests are a bonus

 

If you put a 91 octane OV tune on the ECU, then yes you need to use premium. If you did not do so then you use the cheap stuff. And before you ask, no you don't need ethanol-free as it runs fine on up to 10% ethanol crap.

 

Owner's manual says 87

To me, that is the final word.

 

You are correct
https://www.toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

 

OP, should you regularly? Not necessarily.

I also tracked my MPG for years, using Excel. The biggest jump in mileage in my case was going from Regular to Midgrade. I did a bit better than breaking even after the price difference and increased mileage were accounted for.

Regular or Midgrade switch to Premium was a net loser. I use Premium only when fully loaded with the family, luggage, or towing a trailer. Premium allows for more compression and a bit more horsepower. Toyota uses 87 octane in testing. Lexus uses 91. Lexus gets higher horse power ratings for the same engines. Interesting, isn't it?

 

Food for thought, if your goal is better fuel economy/cost savings, you won't find it in higher octane fuel. Around me, Premium is about 18% more expensive than regular 87. That means in order to benefit from the added cost, you need an 18% improvement in fuel economy - so go from 19 mpg to 22.4 mpg. Good luck with that significant of a change.

Definitely agree with the freshness statement.

Different fuel maps with more air. It's not a magic, "We recommend higher octane fuel and the engine will make more power," they have a completely different tune.

My rules for fill-ups are basically as follows:

1. Avoid gas stations where I never see cars at the pump
2. If the refueling truck is in the lot, skip that station
3. Stick with Shell, Exxon, Sunoco (again, these just are my rules - I just know these brands as Top Tier stations)

 

This has been my experience as well, since day one with my truck if I'm running 87 I get a noticeable ping when throttling up from a low throttle high load situation and it's always done it. Had the dealer check it out, but they "couldn't reproduce" the issue.
However, if I run 91 octane it goes away completely and "feels" smoother (possibly just in my head, LOL). I know a few others with the same year/model as mine and some have the issue, some don't.
After moving to OvTune, the same issue persists.. Pinging on 87, smooth on 91 regardless of tune used. So I personally stick to 91, YMMV.

 

it performs better on 91 octane. but you can run 87. my truck has a slight miss with 87 that messes with the shift points and causes the the truck to lug a bit.

fwiw, toyota did all their testing with 91 octane.

 

really? how do you know?

 

it doesn't. it says 87 or higher.

 

So, 87.

If the vehicle required 89 or 91, it would clearly say so.

 

i choose higher

 

Yes, exactly what I've experienced. 3.6% better performance, 3.6% better acceleration and 3.6% better gas mileage.

On the serious side, I don't seek out ethanol free gas but I've tried Sunoco, and Shell 89. There is some performance benefit but just like running 91 with out a specific tune the benefits don't justify the extra cost. If price is not an issue, sure I'd run 89 ethanol free.