I never had a gas track before, but it seems like everyone is telling me that 87 is fine, is that true?

 

i'm sure others will disagree with me, but in my personal experience I get the best gas mileage on 89 octane. The difference between 89 and 91 was only 1 MPG difference. I was getting 8-9 on 87 octane, 13-15 on 89 octane, and 14-15 on 91 octane. This was with a bone stock truck with heavy to conservative driving. I did not notice any difference in the power or any weird noises with the 87 though, only a difference as to the mileage per gallon.

 

The engine was designed to run on 87 octane gas. So, yes, you can run it and not hurt anything. Will higher octane gas give you any benefits? Only way to know for sure on your truck, is try it, and see.

 

if you do mostly local driving, it will be beneficial to ANY motor to settle on one station or another..

the gas stations are notorious (around here anyway) for mixing fuels.. They'll top off the 93 tank with left over 87 in a heartbeat, and still call it 93... and every other conceivable variation too.. It's hard to find good gas, and it's harder to find good gas that IS what they say it is..

I am lucky enough to have a boat dock within a mile or so of me.. They sell true 'recreational fuel' which has zero ethanol, and accurately measured octanes.. The sell 89 and 91, and the 91 I sometimes use runs a TON better than the 93 I buy down the road..

This is apples and oranges I know- but I run a pair of matching sea-doo's during the summer which are 1496cc four stroke three cylinder engines.. On regular pump 93, I'm lucky to see 60mph with them.. On the recreational gas, I can hit 70mph fairly easily, and they run cooler while doing so..

there really should be better control or more honesty in the gas business, but there isn't- and as much as I hate it, I'm NOT for government intervention.. I AM for finding a station your truck likes and sticking with it though.. It seems your truck is far more predictable when you do that.

 

drewactual has some very good truth in his post but I would not know any thing about this...
people start disapearing when they dis the big oil company's. lol

 

Very good and true points, I use 87 in my 99. I only gained about 1mpg by using 91 and with the price difference it wasn't worth it... TO ME.

However, I have a programmer in my truck. I have it set to use 87 octane in "towing performance" mode in an effort to cap off the performance level of the truck. In that mode, I saw that 1mpg difference. In the 91 octane performance mode, I lost 2mpg. With no programmer, I dropped from 14 to 9 mpgs. So no, in my opinion, not worth it. But, I tried a few different ways just to see what was best for my truck it didn't work out in my benefit.

 

Go with the lowest octane (least expensive of the choices) you can find and still not have a pre-detonation. If you get the ping or knock of pre-detonation, go with the next higher octane, but don't waste money!

This is an article often cited by a former UC Berkely physicist I listen to regularly on the radio. If you are in Northern California, you've probably heard of Dr. Bill Wattenburg. Check it out. It's very informative.

http://www.kgoam810.com/viewentry.as...=PERSONALITIES

 

avoid gasoline with alcohol if you can. it ruins mileage. mine drops al low as 12 mpg on alcohol added gasoline. it gets as high as 19 mpg on 87 octane with no alcohol. if you can find some toluene at a fair price, it can be added to replace the heavy hydrocarbons the oil co's remove. like everthing else, alcohol in the gasoline is a scam.

 

Agreed. If your not pinging at your current grade, your wasting money by going with a higher grade.

 

i use 91 because our 89 here has ethanol in it, also our winter blends get crap for mileage