What type of gas do you use?

+1000

The description of Scotty Kilmer makes it pretty obvious he doesn’t have a clue what he is talking about n this case. Just because he wrenches on cars doesn’t mean he understands chemical engineering.

As has been said over and over, Octane rating is a measure of a fuels resistance to detonation. The word “octane” is used as it represents one of the hydrocarbon molecules in petroleum (along with heptane, hexane, etc) A long time ago “100 octane” was arbitrarily assigned to a reference mix that was 100% octane molecules and “0 octane” to a mix of 100% heptane. Octane is harder to burn (thus the knock resistance) and the part lots of average folks don’t realize is that higher octane fuels actually have lower energy content per volume.

read
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

And yes, modern ECUs that read knock sensors and retard timing let people get away with a wider variety of fuels than in the past.

The bottom line is: NO a 4Runner doesn’t need anything but regular, YES it’s harmless to use higher, and NO it won’t cause damage to switch back and forth.


——
BTW another point on RON and MON. While it’s true that you will only ever see (R+M)/2 on a pump here; a lot of other countries , including Japan, use straight RON… So what is called 87 here would actually say 91 on the pump if you pull into a gas station outside the plant in Nagoya.

 

Scotty is a Nut Case so much for what he says about Toyota's Like that "Mechanics Hate Toyota" and so forth I have watched a few of his gasbagging vids and he is just like alex jones of inforwars to me full of it says outrageous things just to get the attention and it works, if you watch carefully you will see that most of his stuff is piggy backing off something stupid someone else wrote or videoed.

I been around Toyota's way too long and been around (still) Toyota Mechanics and Foreign Car Mechanics since my first real Job working at a Toyota Dealership back when the only ones who were crooked (and still are) was the used car salesmen, I have worked on and owned a fair share of Toyota's, VW, Mercedes, Volvo and even a Opel GT at one time and a 31 Packard have worked on many real classic cars from the 30's plus Kubota Tractors and Deutz tractors.

 

This is completely untrue. Octane makes the gar burn in a more stable (slower) way. You will get more power out of lower octane gas unless the engine is explicitly tuned to run closer to the stoichiometric ratio. Only if you have a high octane tune will you need to use higher octane gas, and then it's to prevent detonation (knocking).

 

87

 

93

 

87

 

69

 

Special

 

Costco Regular

 

Shell

 

WaWa 87

 

I've considered trying mid-grade or premium, but the cost always turns me off. I'm thinking about trying it on a road trip, but I get the impression that it takes a few tanks for the ECU to make adjustments.

Shell is one of the places I look for when I'm travelling. I usually stick to BP, shell, Pilot, and Loves

I saw one of these along 65 last winter. I think I'll stop on my way through this coming year to see what the fuss is about.

 

I’m pretty sure the ecu adjusts on the fly, no?

 

I know this was tongue-in-cheeck but Shell is my choice, particularly my neighborhood station which sells ethanol-free 87.

 

I think so, but I thought I had read that it takes a few tanks to really adapt to a different octane. Maybe I'm wrong. I thought I had read it in one of the other 200 octane threads around here.

I know the computer can make some adjustments in real time, but I always thought it took awhile to actually learn things. I experienced this when my '03 wouldn't run after changing the timing belt. The belt wasn't the problem, but having disconnected the battery reset the ECU and it wouldn't run due to carbon build-up in the throttle body. I pulled the intake tube and cleaned out the throttle body and it fired right up. If it could really adjust on the fly, it shouldn't have been an issue, IMO.

This wasn't my theory, either. I found out by googling the issue.

I'm sure someone will be happy to tell me if I'm wrong, though.

 

87 non ethanol 99 percent of the time

 

I try to hit QT when I’m not traveling. There are Bucees all over Texas and other than the lines I like them.

 

Here in Utah I Gas up at Maverik, The prices are in line for the area and most not all but most have the ethanol free gas that I get for both my Auto's and boat and the use of the Gas card save 10 cents per gallon and get you points you can use for coffee or drinks and even save em up and use them to try to win shit like a guy at work got a heck of a nice Side x Side 2 years ago.

 

I am still upset when I get 15-16
mpg in heavy city traffic and 22 mpg on back roads. I’m at 3500 miles so hopefully this will improve with time. And only 87 but good quality.

 

93.....never less.

 

Being supercharged kinda dictates that.

 

It does

 

87 from Top Tier brands like Arco, Shell, Chevron and Costco. I stay away from shady gas stations

 

Also, Premium gas does not mean it is cleaner or of higher quality. You are wasting your money on premium gas, this truck doesn't need it. Buy 87 but buy it from Top Tier gas stations, their gas has additives and detergents.

https://www.toptiergas.com/

 

It is just in your head.

 

Any notable difference in performance, mileage and gas consumption?
Just curious.

Used to get Costco premium gas. The friendly gas attendant came over to tell me stop wasting my money.
Said any top tier regular gas would do.

 

Anyone else in Colorado notice 85 is regular gas out here? Allegedly it’s ok at higher altitudes?

 

Not me personally, but I've seen comments from members who seem to use it without issue.

What's the typical mid grade and premium octane there? An how bad is the price gap?

 

I think we're 85 reg, 87 mid, 91 premium, or something like that. I've always ran 85 in everything other than vehicles that require premium (Lexus) and haven't had any noticeable issues.

Not a major price gap between them most of the time.