85 octane in Utah
 

Hello folks!

I drive a 2003 Dodge Durango SLT Plus 4.7

I was wondering if it is safe to put 85 octane (considered regular here) in my vehicle instead of 88 (considered midgrade here) octane? There is a 15 cent difference between the two octanes at my local Sinclair station. I know the the owners manual says 87 but I just have to ask out of curiosity and the potential to save money at the pump. Have any of you used or currently use 85 octane? Thanks for reading my post.

- Nate

You can use the 85, but, I would add a bottle of actane booster as well...... But that's just me. Try a tankful of just the 85. See how it runs, if you get a lot of spark knock, add the booster to that tankful, and afterwards, stick with the 88. :D

DON'T buy it.. I was in Colorado for vacation and saw that they had 85 octane gas there too. So of course I researched it and basically in a nutshell they came out with it years ago for carbourated engines because it was cheaper and worked fine in higher altitudes. But for modern fuel injected cars it doesn't work as well for some reason and can even damage your engine is some cases. And they still keep it around! I have no idea why, I don't really care why, but that's just what I read from a few different sources.

A lot of people might not have an issue, but a handful do.
You could try it and see what happens, but I personally would not put in an inferior fuel on purpose just to save a couple bucks per fill up.


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So here's the thing, lived in Utah most my life.

I would bet that if you try it that 4.7L motor will ping like crazy. You should run at least mid grade. If it does ping, the next octane up is premium. My 2012 Durango Hemi requires Premium 91 because of this. Costco and Sams has the cheapest 91 fuel. Try not to think of it as cheaper fuel, the premium will burn slower and give you extra fuel mileage and a cleaner burn therefore breaking about even.