Anyone running 89 or 91 octane?

[Kielly]

Reading the manual I noticed it doesn't say to run 87, it does say to not run anything under 87. I assume it's tuned to run at 87 but I'm now wondering if I'd see slightly better gas milage running 89 or even 91, at most it'd probably help when coming to towing or heavy payloads.

Anyone been running anything higher than 87 personally? I think I might run her down to 1/4 (which won't take long ) and try running a higher octane myself for a full tank and see if I potential notice a difference.

Usually with the cars I've bought in the past they'll state which octane to run no questions asked, this threw me off a little as it only puts emphasis on not running lower than 87.

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[GRKTRD]

Personally ive been running 91 since after the first tank. Truck engine runs better. In my opinion anything boosted should run 91. When i had a bronco raptor that truck reacted really well in my opinion on 91. This one not so much. Bronco though spooled much much better. Id have to drive it again on 87 to know again. Kinda went right into it

 

[Kielly]

Personally ive been running 91 since after the first tank. Truck engine runs better. In my opinion anything boosted should run 91. When i had a bronco raptor that truck reacted really well in my opinion on 91. This one not so much. Bronco though spooled much much better. Id have to drive it again on 91 to know again. Kinda went right into it

Good to know! At $1.70/L CAD for premium, I'm going to try one tank and just see, although I'll be sulking the whole time

 

[ZIGGY]

First couple tanks were premium 93. Found a local gas station that sells 90 with no ethanol so I’m running that now. It probably doesn’t need the premium but I can’t run 87 on anything with a turbo.

 

[Ruissimo]

After 5 years of having to pump 91 because it was required by my current manufacturer, I am looking forward to a cheaper price at the pump... but I'm interested in your results. Is it confirmed that the hybrid model is also 87?

 

[Timster]

As an FYI, higher octane fuels don't offer more energy or better fuel economy. They simply are more resistant to spontaneous combustion due to compression (dieseling) which causes engine knock. This is the reason why many high compression engines require higher fuel grades. If the Toyota engineers have listed 87 octane as the minimum, it's safe to assume that the engine runs fine on it. Some engines that require higher grades will detune when detecting engine knock resulting in decreased performance.

 

[Kielly]

As an FYI, higher octane fuels don't offer more energy or better fuel economy. They simply are more resistant to spontaneous combustion due to compression (dieseling) which causes engine knock. This is the reason why many high compression engines require higher fuel grades. If the Toyota engineers have listed 87 octane as the minimum, it's safe to assume that the engine runs fine on it. Some engines that require higher grades will detune when detecting engine knock resulting in decreased performance.

True under normal circumstances but I've heard many of times running higher octane when under heavy load like towing should help performance and milage. How true that is I don't know lol.

 

[soupy1234]

True under normal circumstances but I've heard many of times running higher octane when under heavy load like towing should help performance and milage. How true that is I don't know lol.

There's a thread over at Tacomaworld on this.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/trying-different-grades-of-fuel-on-4th-gen.836505/
One comment is that 93 octane gets them 1.5mpg more.

 

[Miqie]

There's a thread over at Tacomaworld on this.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/trying-different-grades-of-fuel-on-4th-gen.836505/
One comment is that 93 octane gets them 1.5mpg more.

So, on a 360 mile trip, one tank gets you 20 mpg with 87 octane, the next tank gets you 21.5 mpg with 93 octane, you'd be paying $2.22 more per tank for premium. ( Using Costco prices) If the truck is not pinging and runs fine, I see no advantage to premium. Towing, which I have not done, may be another issue.

 

[Gurvy522]

They're all rated for 87 AKI. It's the same engine (as their AT SR5 and up counterparts), just with the addition of the hybrid motor/generator/battery.

Needless to say, I do plan to run 91/93 on longer trips when towing - especially if there are grades involved. The truck is pretty much in permaboost hauling a trailer, the 91/93 won't hurt it, that's for sure. But normal daily driving? 87 is fine. That's what these trucks are rated for.

 

[soupy1234]

So, on a 360 mile trip, one tank gets you 20 mpg with 87 octane, the next tank gets you 21.5 mpg with 93 octane, you'd be paying $2.22 more per tank for premium. ( Using Costco prices) If the truck is not pinging and runs fine, I see no advantage to premium. Towing, which I have not done, may be another issue.

That's pretty much the conclusion that most came to. Near me 93 octane is 17% more expensive than regular. 21.5mpg is only 7.5% better than 20mpg so it's definitely not a cost savings.
I tried premium in my 2013 Pre-Runner 4-cylinder to see if it got more power (was getting tired going up grades on the freeway) and saw no difference. May make a difference on a turbocharged engine but the new engine has so much more power anyway I don't think it'll ever be an issue for me.

 

[Sagebrush]

I'll buy a tank of 91 octane if I ever drive to the top of Pikes Peak–14'000' to keep the knocks away.

Until then, Big Oil will have to pry my plastic credit card out from my cold fingers before I buy more expensive gas than my truck needs.

 

[LincolnSixAlpha]

Have only run 87 since I purchased mine. But the unfortunate things we have to deal with are LSPI, or low-speed pre-ignition aka Dieseling as mentioned earlier. However, I think that Toyota addresses that specifically with both port and direct injection on this truck. LSPI is entirely prevalent on small turbo engines with DI and will ruin an engine like no one's business.

Higher octane fuel guards against this, I may flip back in forth between the two grades over time. I do agree with a lot of the comments here regarding altitude, towing, etc.

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