I have a 2003 Avalon and in the manual booklet it states that the car runs with octane 87 but its being recommended to use octane 91 or higher. I useally fill up the car with either 87 or 89 but last night i tried octant 93 and the car seems to be running much smoother then it did before. Is there a difference that you notice or is it just me??? How does it effect the car???
The higher octane allows more spark advance. With the lower octane the timing is retarded as the sensors detect knocking. Lower octane should not effect the way it runs, except for a little less power at full throttle. I run regular in mine all the time.
The engine in the Avalon is designed to run on premium fuel, however the knock sensor will allow it to run on regular (which burns faster and more violently) by adjusting the timing to counter-balance the difference. My mom has a 95 Avalon (204,000 miles and counting) and it took me a long time to convince her to cough up the extra $$$ for premium gas, which the manual recommends.
When regular was used, the combined mileage (half city, half highway) was 24 with her driving and 19 with mine (she has a light foot, mine is very heavy). With premium it was 31 for her and 28 for me. The car is also much more responsive and does run smoother.
Using $2.40 as the price for regular gas and $2.60 for the price of premium, it is an 8.33% increase in the cost of fuel, with an observed mileage increase of 36.27% (average of the 2 mileage increases). The premium gas is actually saving her roughly 14.5%, and would save me 24% on the overall cost of gas, something which we really appreciate.
It is worth noting that unless the manual of a car states that premium is recommended, premium fuel will make it run rougher, with less power and greatly reduced mileage.
__________________
Toyotas in the family/next of kin:
1982 Corolla Wagon, 1989 Corolla DX, 1991 Previa LE, 1993 Previa LE,
1993 Pickup, 1994 Corolla DX, 1995 Avalon XL, 1996 Camry XLE, 1998 Avalon XL,
1998 Sienna CE, 1999 Camry XL, 2000 Camry XLE, 2002 Tundra, 2003 Tundra,
2003 ES 300, 2004 Camry XLE, 2005 Tacoma
Gideon,
That is a fantastic increase in mpg that you have gotten.
I've checked each of my cars since the '40s and have never gotten over a 2mpg increase in mpg. And that was in the newer cars that have a knock sensor and adjuster.
In a few of the cars, I actually had a decrease in mpg.
I usually test it with at least 4 tanks of gas of each, and that is the way I compare them. I know from experience that the higher octane in aircraft is to get more horse power out of the same engine displacement. That is for performance only.ie, go faster.
More power to you (no pun intended) for getting that mpg difference.
When I put a pencil to the difference in cost, there is a money drain to use the higher octane.
Gideon,
That is a fantastic increase in mpg that you have gotten.
I've checked each of my cars since the '40s and have never gotten over a 2mpg increase in mpg. And that was in the newer cars that have a knock sensor and adjuster.
In a few of the cars, I actually had a decrease in mpg.
I usually test it with at least 4 tanks of gas of each, and that is the way I compare them. I know from experience that the higher octane in aircraft is to get more horse power out of the same engine displacement. That is for performance only.ie, go faster.
More power to you (no pun intended) for getting that mpg difference.
When I put a pencil to the difference in cost, there is a money drain to use the higher octane.
I agree with John. For my car it does not make difference in MPG if I use 87 or 91 octane. As for performance I don't smash the throttle that often to notice any HP difference. So I just keep using the cheap fuel at COSTCO and the money I save buys me one more Starbucks each week.
Gideon,
That is a fantastic increase in mpg that you have gotten.
I've checked each of my cars since the '40s and have never gotten over a 2mpg increase in mpg. And that was in the newer cars that have a knock sensor and adjuster.
In a few of the cars, I actually had a decrease in mpg.
I usually test it with at least 4 tanks of gas of each, and that is the way I compare them. I know from experience that the higher octane in aircraft is to get more horse power out of the same engine displacement. That is for performance only.ie, go faster.
More power to you (no pun intended) for getting that mpg difference.
When I put a pencil to the difference in cost, there is a money drain to use the higher octane.
In most cars you will see little or no increase in mileage when you use premium, and in many cases there will be a decrease. My corolla maxed out at 26MPG highway the one time I put premium in it. The only time premium should be used is when the manual says to use it (or when things like a supercharger warrant it), which the manual for the avalon does. Also keep in mind that the 192HP rating of the origional avalon is when using premium, it is actually less (how much I dont know) when a lower octane fuel is used.
The horsepower difference is evident in the new avalons as well. It dropped from 280 to 268 because new rules stated that if the manual doesnt specifically say premium only, as in it can be run on regular, they have to post numbers achieved with regular gas.
__________________
Toyotas in the family/next of kin:
1982 Corolla Wagon, 1989 Corolla DX, 1991 Previa LE, 1993 Previa LE,
1993 Pickup, 1994 Corolla DX, 1995 Avalon XL, 1996 Camry XLE, 1998 Avalon XL,
1998 Sienna CE, 1999 Camry XL, 2000 Camry XLE, 2002 Tundra, 2003 Tundra,
2003 ES 300, 2004 Camry XLE, 2005 Tacoma
^...ah...is that why the decrease in HP in the new avalon? b/c of the type of fuel used?
Indeed it is. The new Avalon will in fact produce 280HP if you use premium gas, however new SAE regulations bar Toyota from publishing that figure since the engine can technically run on regular with the help of the knock sensor. They would only be allowed to advertise 280HP if they were to change the manual to state that only premium gan can be used.
__________________
Toyotas in the family/next of kin:
1982 Corolla Wagon, 1989 Corolla DX, 1991 Previa LE, 1993 Previa LE,
1993 Pickup, 1994 Corolla DX, 1995 Avalon XL, 1996 Camry XLE, 1998 Avalon XL,
1998 Sienna CE, 1999 Camry XL, 2000 Camry XLE, 2002 Tundra, 2003 Tundra,
2003 ES 300, 2004 Camry XLE, 2005 Tacoma
I went on a long trip at the end of Feb.- Mar. From Los Angeles to Texas and back. (San Antonio, Austin, Houston and back home) Dam that was far! But I enjoyed it.
This Avy. did great! I did an average of high 27's to low 28's MPG @ speed's of 75 to 80's MPH. City driving was 22's to 23's MPG and this was useing low grade oct. gas (87). Texas has much better gas than we do. Thats besides lower prices too. I tryed once to drive Grand-pa Style (with no offence to the elders) more or less 60-65 MPH. To my supprise I got up to 34.7 MPG. I though I was driveing a v6 Hybrid.
It may have went higher, but I did'nt have the patience to keep it up and said the heck with this. And that was with a full loaded car, passengers and luggages.
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