Caution re the Camry 3.5 V6 fuel octane

Noticing the very high compression ratio of the Camry 3.5L V6, I asked
Toyota how they could use the specified regular fuel.
Toyota confirmed to me that the stated performance will not be achieved
with regular fuel.
I've read of engine damage resulting from excessive use of too low an
octane fuel. A knock must occur before the timing is changed.

These days engine computers and sensors adjust things to match lower but
acceptable octane. You give up performance but the engine is not damaged.


"Spam away" <Trashhere@spam.net> wrote in message
news:Trashhere-28BF16.22353412022007@news.telus.net...[color=blue]
> Noticing the very high compression ratio of the Camry 3.5L V6, I asked
> Toyota how they could use the specified regular fuel.
> Toyota confirmed to me that the stated performance will not be achieved
> with regular fuel.
> I've read of engine damage resulting from excessive use of too low an
> octane fuel. A knock must occur before the timing is changed.[/color]

On 13 Feb, 08:06, "Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLE...@mindspring.com> wrote:[color=blue]
> These days engine computers and sensors adjust things to match lower but
> acceptable octane. You give up performance but the engine is not damaged.
>
> "Spam away" <Trashh...@spam.net> wrote in message
>
> news:Trashhere-28BF16.22353412022007@news.telus.net...
>
>
>[color=green]
> > Noticing the very high compression ratio of the Camry 3.5L V6, I asked
> > Toyota how they could use the specified regular fuel.
> > Toyota confirmed to me that the stated performance will not be achieved
> > with regular fuel.
> > I've read of engine damage resulting from excessive use of too low an
> > octane fuel. A knock must occur before the timing is changed.- Hide quoted text -[/color]
>
> - Show quoted text -[/color]

Any instance of knock can cause damage. The minute amount that is
required for the ECU to de-tune itself will do no harm - theyre very
sensitive and very fast. I wouldnt want it to work in closed loop and
be contsntaly trying to change back though -that would worry me - but
then i dont have millions of dollars in research to determine how much
damage would be done, unlike our favourite auto maker.

Spam away wrote:[color=blue]
> Noticing the very high compression ratio of the Camry 3.5L V6, I asked
> Toyota how they could use the specified regular fuel.
> Toyota confirmed to me that the stated performance will not be achieved
> with regular fuel.
> I've read of engine damage resulting from excessive use of too low an
> octane fuel. A knock must occur before the timing is changed.[/color]
If you are a mild driver, don't have to accelerate fast or climb steep
inclines regular should be OK. If you are a balls to the wall type
driver pay extra and go for it. The difference in fuel costs over the
life of the car can be substantial. The cost of engine repair is also
substantial if engine knocking occurs. I've gotten tanks of regular
gas that knocked and then bought regular gas at the same place later and
it didn't knock. My theory, if brake pads last 100K miles you
probably don't need high test gasoline.

On 15 Feb, 11:20, Moe <BubbleleL...@Fat.City> wrote:[color=blue]
> Spam away wrote:[color=green]
> > Noticing the very high compression ratio of the Camry 3.5L V6, I asked
> > Toyota how they could use the specified regular fuel.
> > Toyota confirmed to me that the stated performance will not be achieved
> > with regular fuel.
> > I've read of engine damage resulting from excessive use of too low an
> > octane fuel. A knock must occur before the timing is changed.[/color]
>
> If you are a mild driver, don't have to accelerate fast or climb steep
> inclines regular should be OK. If you are a balls to the wall type
> driver pay extra and go for it. The difference in fuel costs over the
> life of the car can be substantial. The cost of engine repair is also
> substantial if engine knocking occurs. I've gotten tanks of regular
> gas that knocked and then bought regular gas at the same place later and
> it didn't knock. My theory, if brake pads last 100K miles you
> probably don't need high test gasoline.[/color]


High octane fuel (all fuel i think to some extent) degrades over time
- if you go to a rarely-filled filling station you may get
significantly lower octane than you pay for.

On the costs over time issue - my car more than makes up the cost of v-
power (99 RON UK) in magically getting more mpg ! I like it!