Premium Gas

All Prius have OBDII and this is PriusChat, where we discuss the Prius.

I certainly would not claim that no car was designed to need premium, only that no Prius was.

Every car since 1996 has OBDII, knock sensors themselves only date from 1982 Saabs.

 

Yes I do because I took that sparkling clean engine apart and rebuilt it before I started using premium.

 

I've used regular unleaded gas (87 octane) for the past eighteen months. No need for anything higher.

 

You just joined on Aug 5th 2014 and you are already burned out on repeated questions?

You might consider changing your moniker to something besides "Easy Rider".

Yes, I agree, some topics such as what fuel to run in your Prius and Premium vs. Regular get asked over and over, but you just have to roll with it.

Sooner or later someone is going to ask again about Oil Weights and Grades and Oil Changing protocol....again...

And we are probably about 2-4 weeks away from someone asking again whether Premium gas is a benefit in a Prius.

I understand your angst...but then again- the thread title is "Premium Gas". Just don't click on it.

 

I moderate a tablet forum and we actually tell people to post questions over again for several reasons, but mostly because search doesn't work well unless you know the correct search terms to use, things change or something new comes along. What someone said 6 months ago may no longer be correct. I try to search, but if I don't get it on the 2nd-3rd try, I post the question. I actually did find some things I was looking for using search, but they turned out to be for a different model than mine. Then too, why should someone spend too much time trying to figure out search terms when someone can probably answer the question in mere minutes? Some of the things I've searched for came up with so many references, it took quite a bit of time weeding through them all and in the end, none answered my question. Search is over-rated.

 

I would rather they start a new thread than continue a years old thread, I am seeing answers I know then realizing that this guy from 2007 is not still waiting to know.

Besides I get practice explaining that in the US, today's differences between regular and premium in a Prius, has very little to do with octane or detergents.

 

And can be frustrating. If you spend enough time on a forum, you'll see the popular questions asked often. Tolerance of others, within reason, is a virtue.

 

LOL! Or my favorite, the annual 'EMI' risk. <grins>

It has also been a while since we've had: HHO gas, and the magic mileage resistor. Perhaps our moderators are zapping them before we can go ballistic (or moving them to Freds.)

Bob Wilson

 

Sometimes. But simply looking at "Recent Activity" to see if exactly the same question has been asked in the past 3 days or so is NOT.

 

OK hot off the press, some recent results from my informal study of gasoline energy content.
I mentioned above that last week I filled up with Premium in Western PA.
Today for comparison I got a Premium fill-up in north Virginia.

>No. Virginia is EPA Reformulated Gasoline, which definitely "Contains 10% Ethanol": I measured 0.716 g/cc density and 9.0 vol% ethanol
>West. PA is not reformulated gasoline which means "May Contain up to 10% Ethanol": I measured 0.750 g/cc density and 7.5 vol% ethanol

Lower density indicates lower energy content, and it is amazing the very low density (0.716) on No Va. Premium, which of course is expected due to the EPA reformualted gasoline regualtions essentially "put a lid" on density. This is as low density as I have ever seen even for a NoVA Regular. This is also consistent with what Chevron says on its public website information: if you live in a reformulated gasoline area, you should not expect to see any energy content variations between Regular and Premium.

The Western PA sample is my one-and-only sample outside of my EPA RFG region. As expected it has a bit higher energy content and a little less ethanol. Was hoping for even higher density but this will do for starters. I am thinking some E0's may have up to 0.78 g/cc density which would infer quite a bit higher energy content, but that's theory ...have not seen it yet. I am thinking the sweet spot for energy (MPG) could be Non-RFG Mid Octane E0, on the assumption extra ethanol is used to make Premium out of the mid-grade. So that could be something like the new BP Silver E0 in some markets (not mine).

This was my first attempt at ethanol content...I need a cleaner method. Density alls I do is get a weight on my lawn mower can with 1.5-gals exactly. For %ethanol you mix water plus gasoline and then measure increase in the water layer (messy - don't try this wthout proper attention to safety).

 

There was a thread a while back that posted a video exposing the whole premium fuel scam that has been pulled on the public for decades:
Pump Fiction - Marketplace - CBC News

If the link doesn't work, I wrote my own summary:
Best gas -- premium? Ethanol free? | PriusChat

 

Greg I saw it. My feeling is that there may be different perceptions in Canada vs USA.
I can't pin point when this happened, but in the U.S. right now, we have the oil companys, EPA, Consumer Reports, basically everyone saying there is no need for Premium in your car unless your car's op guide calls for it. So there is no apparent "scam" in the U.S. If you go back a decade or so, then there was a time when U.S. Premium had more additives and coud be argued to be better. I used to like Amoco Clear Ultimate Premium, but of course there is no Amoco today, and this fuel is no longer made, furthermore EPA reformulated gasoline would be as "clean" as Amoco Clear used to be. Back in the day, many cars knocked and stalled on Regular and Premium was not too much more expensive.

Hey the Premium I got the other day smelled much nicer (sweet)...maybe the EPA's new ultra low sulfur rules are already hitting some pumps here in the US.

 

Oh please. Don't let the myths become the reality.

 

They were talking about Premium gaso in the news today-
Saying the cost of Premium vs. Regular is getting worse (think I paid +55 cents/gal more the other day for Premium@ $3.90)
The reasons they said were (1) more demand from vechicles which require Premium, and (2) the newer US Bakken crude types are not as good for high octane.

So that's a good reason to back off Premium use if you don't really need it...I only tried it recently for the sake of a test run...normally it's Regular for me.

 

Some experts (as in the video) say no one needs Premium anymore, because modern engines can compensate for pre-ignition using Regular fuel.

 

Waste of $. Premium just has more resistance to ignite at any time other than when the spark plug fires. They also may have a slightly better detergent additive package. If the engine is designed for regular gas, there is no benefit.

 

Unless you have an ultra high performance car with a high strung engine, you don't have to use premium even if the car is spec'ed for premium. Many manufacturers have a clause in the manual that says if premium is not available, you may use regular but there will be some loss of performance. All modern cars have knock sensors, the ECU will adjust to the lower grade of gas. My 2003 Lexus GS430 has been on a diet of regular gas for years, with absolutely no ill effect. But I wouldn't dare do that to my 2014 GTR. It'd probably choke and go in limp mode. Many California GTRs had this issue when the engine was pressed in high temp conditions because of the California lower grade gas (sucks to be you lol)

 

Not this again. Don't waste your money. The Prius' engine is not capable of utilizing the benefit that high octane gas provides. End of discussion.