6 ms·
Perhaps you were using 82 octane gas? When you get into parts of the Southwest, gas stations down there offer some really low octane gas. I personally always go
by StudentStuff 8y ago
Perhaps you were using 82 octane gas? When you get into parts of the Southwest, gas stations down there offer some really low octane gas. I personally always go for premium (92 octane) at a large chain like Costco when going cross country if the local gas stations are slinging anything below 87 octane gas (which is the lowest commonly offered on the West Coast), as it leads me to think the gas offered at that station/in that city is all of lower caliber. Obvs not selling lots of high or normal octane gas at least!
- war1025 8y ago87 / 89 were the two options (Iowa).
- StudentStuff 8y agoNo 92 octane gas? Very odd, must not be many higher end cars in that part of Iowa.
- war1025 8y agoYou can buy it, just have to go out of your way a little for it. And yes, higher end cars are pretty rare.
- perl4ever 8y agoI have seen 85 octane, never 82. Probably in Colorado. The theory seems to be that lower octane is tolerable at high altitude, so you see it in some of the western mountain areas. But there seems to be some dispute over whether lower octane is acceptable in modern cars.
- maxerickson 8y agoIt pretty much doesn't matter in a fuel injected engine. The non-design octane can be lower efficiency/lower power/worse emissions, but the engine management system prevents knocking, so it isn't a big deal. Putting higher octane fuel in an engine that isn't designed for it is just a waste because the engine won't develop more power with it (the whole point of higher octane).
- perl4ever 8y agoI use higher octane fuel than necessary for one of my cars, because I feel it's prudent to use ethanol-free gas which is only available at the highest octane level. According to what I've read, the ethanol that's standard today can degrade the rubber in older cars' fuel lines sometimes and that can lead to a leak and catastrophic fire. It's also rumored that higher octane gas may (sometimes) have more detergents or something. In any case, I wouldn't trust even a modern engine computer to handle gas that is definitely too low in octane, because as far as I know, it's going to compensate after it detects pre-ignition, which is suboptimal.
- maxerickson 8y agoI think the concern about older fuel system components is real. The engine management system will compensate in milliseconds, so meh on that part.