which gas is best?

[93cr250]

we are putting the motor in my 95 camry tomorrow and i was wondering if buying 91 octaine would be worth the price, My dad has a 96 camry and he puts 91 in it in the summer but in the winter he puts 89 in. Im sure 91 is the best but is it worth the price?

[71Corolla]

Higher octane fuel in an engine that is not designed to take advantage of it is a complete waste of money.

[eyeball96]

which gas is best?

Cheaper gas!

[pmesfun]

^+1

[JohnGD]

87 octane should run fine. Use a top tier gas. Change the fuel filter.
http://www.toptiergas.com/

I'd put NGK Iridium-IX plugs in there too.
http://ngksparkplugs.com/

Unless the engine knocks with 87, I wouldn't put 89 or 91 in there.

[93cr250]

Originally Posted by JohnGD

87 octane should run fine. Use a top tier gas. Change the fuel filter.
http://www.toptiergas.com/

I'd put NGK Iridium-IX plugs in there too.
http://ngksparkplugs.com/

Unless the engine knocks with 87, I wouldn't put 89 or 91 in there.

my dad ordered ngk g power plugs from napa to put in the new motor but i could always exchange them if the iridium ix plugs are that much better, Is there a big difference? Also the motor has 100,000 miles and ive been trying to decide on whether or not to change the wires, what do you think?

[fenixus]

5s-fe is designed to run most optimally on 87 octane (AKI) fuel. unless motor is in poor condition (out of tune) you won't see any increase in performance while using more expensive fuel. waste of money. get it tuned up and run it on 87 and it will be fine.

1mz-fe is another story, it loves 91 or 93 octane fuel and can actually make use of it
though it can run fine also on regular 87, but is not as much peppy as on 93

[JohnGD]

100K miles is not a lot by today's standards. G-Power is a thin center electrode platinum plug. It's a very good value and is the second plug I'd recommend after Iridiums. Check the gap every 30K miles and use a dab of antiseize and torque wrench to 13 lb/ft.

You can run the existing wires and G-Power this time. If you do get new wires use NGK too from rockauo.com.

Originally Posted by 93cr250

my dad ordered ngk g power plugs from napa to put in the new motor but i could always exchange them if the iridium ix plugs are that much better, Is there a big difference? Also the motor has 100,000 miles and ive been trying to decide on whether or not to change the wires, what do you think?

[Silent Runner]

Generally the deal is that a higher octane gas will let your cars ECU optimize the timing to make a bit more power. In most cases, unless your running a boosted engine (turbo/supercharger), the difference is going to be maybe 2-3%. So on a 200hp engine thats 4-6hp, which you will only enjoy/maybe notice, under wide open, all out throttle conditions. Personally I can tell the difference like fenixus, but for the amount of time I spend running the car absolutely flat out to redline, I'd rather run the car on the cheap stuff. If I ever take the car down to a racetrack to record times to post here, I'll run it dry then put in a half tank of 96 octane at about $5.40 a gallon.

My 1993, owners manual says that the car will provide "slightly improved performance" if premium fuel is used.

Unless your cars engine is specifically desighned to run on premium fuel only, it is generally a waste of money to use it regularly. It has no magical protective or super performance qualities in it.

[fenixus]

^+1

I'd rather stick to top tier regular fuel with cleaning "powers" as mentioned above. Chevron is my favorite (because they add techron to all fuel grades they sell) however I know it only from my travels to South, no such stations around NYC.
Here I mostly use my local Shell (very competitive prices) as they also use some fuel system additives and that chain or Exxon (now also using fuel cleaning additives) while traveling around here.

I had terrible experience (ridiculously low MPG) with Sunoco fuels (tried regular and premium) though and that's from 2 different stations (by Philadelphia, PA and in upstate NY) ... don't know what's up with them...

[pmx007PL]

Higher octane fuel (premium) has lower heat combustion value (it stores less energy than regular gasoline, and it burns slower).

If your engine is in poor condition, you can feel the difference with higher octane fuel, I mean engine will run more smooth (on regular fuel burning faster there will be more knocking sensations in engine parts like crank and cam shaft bearings, valves, etc).

Real sport cars (Camry is not a sport car) needs very high octane fuel (with less energy stored in), because of high compression ratio, higher pressures, forces, torques inside engine (if you want to have more control of burning process, you must use fuel that is burning slower, to prevent knocking detonation).

Quality of fuel on different gas stations (different oil companies) is another story.
They are cheating, no matter where you live on Earth, even in so rich country like USA, where additionally fuel is about twice cheaper than for example in most countries in Europe (if you prepare reason for attack Iran and get their oil fields, gasoline will be even more cheaper, so my friends, don't worry about MPG in your cars).

[Silent Runner]

Originally Posted by pmx007PL

Higher octane fuel (premium) has lower heat combustion value (it stores less energy than regular gasoline, and it burns slower).

If your engine is in poor condition, you can feel the difference with higher octane fuel, I mean engine will run more smooth (on regular fuel burning faster there will be more knocking sensations in engine parts like crank and cam shaft bearings, valves, etc).

Real sport cars (Camry is not a sport car) needs very high octane fuel (with less energy stored in), because of high compression ratio, higher pressures, forces, torques inside engine (if you want to have more control of burning process, you must use fuel that is burning slower, to prevent knocking detonation).

Quality of fuel on different gas stations (different oil companies) is another story.
They are cheating, no matter where you live on Earth, even in so rich country like USA, where additionally fuel is about twice cheaper than for example in most countries in Europe (if you prepare reason for attack Iran and get their oil fields, gasoline will be even more cheaper, so my friends, don't worry about MPG in your cars).

OK, I'm not going to comment on any other aspect of this post other than one. All grades of gasoline contain the the same (within tiny 100ths of a % in energy storage value) , due to whatever additaves are included. Premium fuel contains a tiny amount of a variety of additives (different ones are legal in different markets) that make it LESS volitile and likely to pre-ignite, in your cars engine before an actual spark plug, sparks, and the cars ecu wants it to happen. To be clear: Premium fuel energy = Regular fuel Energy content, Premium fuel < explosive in high compression engines and high ambient temperatures (and ocassionally poor combustion chamber design or excessive combustion chamber deposits) than Regular Grade fuel. Fenixus makes an excellent point however, that the quality of the refiner and supplier, and other cleaning and conditioning additives can also make a big difference in some markets. Don't even think about arguing with this, thats the science. I'm a little less informed on the Higg's/Boson Particle, and Superstring Theory, but I know my stuff on this.

[mr1114]

I always use 89