What gas grade do you use!?

I saw it! Looks like a blast!

I have access to a beach through an old easement road on property owned by Family. The easement road is narrow and curves through the woods, then you drive through a sort of prairie/wetlands area and onto the beach. This past summer I was going back and forth as fast as I could, and blasting around the beach in circles. That was so much fun!

It looks like your suspension really handles well at that speed. If I recall, you're on Kings?

 

Yes, I've got the mid travel dual TC with Kings and CaliFab rear links/Custom length smoothies with about 9" of travel on the V8. The 5th gen has Kings as well so it handles pretty good also.
No wife, no life, so I buy 4Runners and suspension parts.

 

New member here, I've already gotten really great info just by lurking around.
On the fuel issue I only use 91. My last vehicle a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with a 5.7 hemi, 91. 530i BMW 91, Nissan 300zx twin turbo 91. Even my 79 fj40 91. Now my new 4Runner, yes it's only SR5 Premium 4x4 with only 631 miles on it so far. Hey, I paid about the same amount of money for my first house. The 4Runner will get the best fuel.
BTW I love love love my new 4Runner and living in the California desert it's going to be fun. Installed my new Bugflector2 this evening. I can see adding to it is going to be addictive. Happy trails!!

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

Welcome from Wisconsin! Living where you do is going to be a good thing. When I traveled down I-15 I've seen lots of vehicles/atv's etc enjoying the trails along the way, from Barstow to Rancho.........Envy!

 

Well dang! I just found out from a buddy of mine whose cousin works at a store with a guy that knows a Toyota engineer. They said, and I quote:”to maximize the sport effect of your 5klbs suv, and the ancient 5 speed transmission, ensure you use 100+ octane only! For extra boost add octane booster additives to the mix per every 1/2 tank. More expensive the octane booster the faster your 4Runner will feel and more ass it will haul. Higher octane gas is also suspected to lower your vehicle’s center of gravity, tighten up the suspension, decrease overall weight and even affect the alignment settings. And then drive as fast as you can so that your hood scoop can ram more air into the engine - essentially same as forced induction”. don’t worry if you don’t have a good scoop, or if it’s fake. They all work the same. You can always get a piece of gutter, and pipe the air from your grill straight into the intake. Post filter only - of course. - for max gains!!
In other words - you should not be using anything less than 93 octane. Regardless of what the manual states.
Then, when we kill this horse - make sure to start a new thread asking what everyone likes to use for engine oil filter, their favorite brand, and whether it’s worth it to fill tires with nitrogen. Just to keep the crap interesting

 

Yep, big waste of money. Plus you'll blow up your led sled. And never ever ever engage the 4wd, you could get it dirty.

 

This guy is completely insane. Now he'll have to wash his truck and probably blew it up too.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/UNx8NTQrang

 

@Thatbassguy see what I mean about driving people crazy?

 

Welcome.

 

Thank you for reminding me how higher octane ensures pre-ignition does not occur in high compression engines. I will use a lower octane to for a few months and see if there is any noticeable gain or loss in fuel mileage.

 

I did a little research and found this information regarding octane to compression ratio. Other research may provide slightly different numbers.

87 Octane - engines with 7:1 t0 9:1
90 Octane - engines with 9:1 to 10:1
92 Octane - engines with 10:1 to 11:1

I could not find a specific listing for 89 Octane, but based on the numbers above I would estimate:
89 Octane - engines with 8.1 to 10.1

The 5th gen 4R V6 has a compression ratio of 10.4:1
Based on these numbers then the best two octane options would be 89 or 91 or even 92. As the gasolines with those two octane ratings would potentially provide the most fuel efficiency.

That having been said, the Toyota Manual says 87 Octane will work fine.

Since my habit has always been to use 91 octane, due to my previous vehicles having a need for it, I am going to switch to 89 octane for a few months and record my mileage to see how it compares. I suspect I will get the same efficiency with 89 octane. I don't know if my previous habits will allow me to go down to 87 octane. However, if the mileage results are the same at 89 as 91, I may give it a try. I always try to set my biases aside and see what the math tells me. If the mileage is the same, then the fuel of a lower octane is providing the same level of energy output. This test of lower octane fuels to determine mpg numbers does not necessarily indicate if the higher octane fuel is providing more hp in the form of torque. But I would surmise that for my driving style there would be no noticeable difference.

 

There are a lot of factors that calculate into fuel mileage, the difference between summer and winter blends, filling up in the morning when molecules are more dense, tire pressure and size, head winds, and some of it has to do with octane. The Dual VVT-i will vary (retard or advance) the timing to optimize what ever grade fuel your running to guard against pre ignition detonation in 90% of most scenarios.

87 octane will work just fine for pretty much everyone. Most manufacturer advertised mileage claims are done in almost perfect conditions that most of us will never duplicate. The computer read out averages on your dash are hit and miss between different vehicles and conditions, with meticulous hand calculations being the most accurate. Even then, are you going to insure you put the exact same amount of fuel in as the last time you filled up?

A lot of people don't realize going over the oem tire size changes your overall mileage, so the computer readings are skewed in those situations. At that point even your hand calculations will be off, based on odometer readings. You would have to use a gps tracker for accuracy. So I suggest running 87 in most cases and with the money you saved, buy your significant other some dinner at the end of the week.

Even with the 10.4:1 compression of the 1GR-FE, the Dual VVT-i will do just fine on the lower octane.
I personally have a lead foot and I like the placebo effect of premium octane.

 

85...I try to fill up at Costco as much as I can.

 

Word is that guerrilla fighters and terrorists the world over love this engine cause it will run on anything, even the blood of infidels. Alas, none of my local service stations sell Blood Of Infidels. Just Regular, Plus and Premium. So guess I'm gonna stick with the old 87.

 

My salesman told me the off road premium needs premium gas.

 

Wonder if your salesman has pissed in a cup recently?

 

Is Kroger considered top tier? If not, then what about Shell because I get $$ off at both locations for shopping at Kroger. I just got my SR5 Premium a couple days ago & haven’t filled it yet. But I don’t wanna go to someplace that’s not top tier.

 

Shell is top-tier and is excellent fuel.

 

This may help you.

 

One would have to know the details of the software in the ECU to know if a 4-Runner even might benefit from higher octane. It's an older, proven engine with a relatively low compression ratio by modern standards and I doubt that it advances timing until it detects knock...more likely as someone stated the calibration has conservative spark timing that assumes 87 octane and uses a knock sensor only to retard spark in very rare extreme use situations (if ever). I had an air cooled Ducati and the dealer recommended that I use 87 because it burns faster than 93 so in that bike (with no knock sensor) it might make a tad more horsepower. I'm a former powertrain engineer and run 87 in my 4-Runner. My vehicle rarely sees wide open throttle.

 

Very useful information for a novice like me. Thank you!

 

Cheap stuff- 87. Though once I did get ethanol free gas just cuz.