CNN Says more are buying primo gas and paying much more for it

And it's usually pointless.

 

you can't fix stupid

 

Modern ECU, fuel injected motors will automatically adjust to burn lower grades of fuel. You just won't get the performance numbers advertised in their brochures.

I know for a few model years; VW's had an octane sensor that would trip the CEL if you didn't fill certain model cars with premium fuel.

 

My Prius was set up to run on 87, my ZR1 was set up to run on 93 "minimum", but I run 104 when I really want to play. I don't need "anyone" to tell me what I need...or want.

 

Considered this prior to using 89 oct in the 5G -- after all, it's designed to run on 87.

'Run' and 'get best mpg for my driving conditions', aren't and will never be the same tho. As above, modern ECUs have been using lambda to adjust to octane at least 30y now (those vehicles with wideband sensors as current state-of-art, will be much more accurate as well).

No debate tho, 5G gets better mileage on 89. Have tried both a few tanks, proof enough for me.

But 93 in a Prius? Spend the savings on an electric bike, for the < 3-mi honey-do runs that can ruin a Prius' ICE.

Of note: since using 89 in the Prius exclusively, have not seen too much of that exhaust-blowby-caused, highly-acidic water accumulation in the pan on swaps. Could be due to swapping every 3500 mi rather than the manual's reccies (which AMD from Car Care Nut YT channel's repeatedly said, is the source of those Toyotas which never make it even close to 100K). Seven oil / filter changes in 70K mi, are you f***ing insane? Just the filter itself would be fully-bypassing long before 10K, pumping unfiltered oil through the myriad tiny passages depending on crystal-clean oil in them, in modern ICEs.

Change your oil -- esp in an HEV which rarely makes it to the same op temps an ICE-only burns off water in pan with all that wasted consumption, easily.

 

Yeah, but you shouldn't encourage it.
Priuses use a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder Atkinson-cycle gasoline engine. and thus 87-octane RUL is highly recommended.
In these engines...."the intake valves remain open longer to expel part of the air-fuel mixture back into the intake manifold."
This means the compression ratio is effectively lowered in these engines instead of the otha way round!

The term "premium" is a marketing label.

...."Yet demand for premium gas is up. That makes some sense: More new vehicles recommend or require premium-grade octane levels of at least 91. But many drivers falsely believe high-octane gas offers a kind of treat for their engines."

True enough.
That's going to get worse PARTIALLY because the climate industrial complex compels the OEMs to use smaller and smaller turbocharged engines - some of which require PUL and partially because of the backlash against automotive electrification which in part is creating the current enthusiasm for higher performance 'gasser' cars and trucks.

 

Have ridden in and driven current electric cars (Tesla 3, Kia Soul EV, and Toyota Busy Forks) -- impressions range from 'seems okay' to 'whoa'. Sure would be nice for emissions (and their testing) to be a thing of the past.

Not gonna happen tho -- even with surprisingly-affordable ones like the Leafs and new C-HR (which I'd love to test-drive), it's the infrastructure -- and until it's actually built, will always infrastructure holding back EVs -- not their cost, as substantial (and unsubsidised) as that is.

Have a feeling lots of peeps in this country just refuse to face any change an EV economy would mean, and luckily for them, lots of practical reasons not to. They want their ICE power delivery and ICE cost, refilling at an ICE petrol station network served by a bespoke refinement and supply chain, existing in this country in current paradigm nearly 100 yrs... like it's a religion or something.

If the infrastructure problem were solved, I'd be in current EVs in a second, as despite racing motos and loving muscle- and other types of ICEs all my life... eh gotta be done. Maybe that's just the Japanese collective-minded side of me, but don't feel any perceptible loss of masculinity or utility driving an HEV, let alone an EV with even more performance (holy smokes that C-HR can hustle)

 

infrastructure is seeing constant improvement, despite the current admin. for those who want to drive ev, it's not an issue.
for those who don't want to, it will always be an excuse. we're never going to see charging stations like gas stations, it's a different paradigm. but ev purchases continue to grow, despite the naysayers.
slow growth is probably a good thing, because investment in the grid and renewables isn't enough to keep up with faster growth, especially with all the server and ai centers being proposed and built

 

At the risk of straying into politics, Trump has just pardoned some clever clogs that were selling defeat devises for diesel engines. Poor guys, naughty-naughty...