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What octane of gas do you use in your Prime ?

Discussion in 'Prime Fuel Economy & EV Range' started by GKL, Jun 15, 2020.

  1. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    I got tired of starting problems with gas trimmers and gas chain saws, and got ones that use batteries instead and they have been working great, maybe when we are ready for a new push lawn mower I can talk my wife into us getting a battery one of those too :D

    Hey, electric car, why not some electric yard tools too :LOL:
     
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  2. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Yeah, I have battery and corded electric yard power tools for light duty jobs. Unfortunately, they are just not powerful enough for many of yard works I want to accomplish. I always have a can of this. It never failed me to start an engine that sit over winter with stale gas in it.

    upload_2020-6-15_16-14-2.png
     
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  3. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    I have a spare battery so if the string trimmer uses one up before I am done I can switch to a fresh battery.

    Yep, I've used starting fluid too !

    In fact a few weeks ago I tried using it to get our 1999 Astro van started but didn't work. The van does not get used that often, we keep it for when we need to haul something too large for the cars. The thing is I just had tried starting it about a week before and it started right up. It has plenty of gas (recently refueled and fuel filter is not that old) and the starting fluid made it start for about 3 seconds. I'm wondering if the fuel pump simply stopped working. No big rush to get it fixed, I have a code reader but I'm not sure how much of a help that is unless the engine is running.
     
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  4. nolotank

    nolotank Junior Member

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    Although I don't own a Prime, I've always understood the purpose of higher octane fuel to be greater resistance to preignition. This should only be a problem in high-compression or high-boost applications, a category which I believe the Atkinson-cycle and naturally-aspirated Prius engine will never fall into.
     
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  5. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    This can be confusing, as car guys often mis understand the Atkinson cycle engine.

    In the far more common Otto cycle engine, the compression ratio when the piston is going up and the expansion ratio when it is going down are mostly equal. Car guys call both the Compression ratio becuse they are the same and the compression side is easier to measure.

    The (pseudo) Atkinson cycle engine used in most hybrids has a compression ratio of near 8 to 1 and am expansion ratio of near 13 to 1. Because they do not understand, they often refer to the expansion ratio as the compression ratio, and in a Prius, it isn't.

    8 to 1 is slow low that regular is fine, if it really was 13 to 1, we would need Premium.

    Compression ratio - Wikipedia

    Atkinson cycle - Wikipedia
     
  6. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

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    LOL, I love gasoline threads.... ;)

    ****************
    I normally drive around town with a 1/4 to 1/2 fill of 92 or 93 E0 in the tank, my Prime runs smoother/better on the ICE with higher 92/93 octane.

    When I go on a long trip, I first fill up with a full tank of E10 87 Octane. When I drive back home, I try to estimate getting back home with a very bare minimum of E10.

    Then I restart the cycle...


    Rob43
     
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  7. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    I "discovered" something that should have been obvious a few weeks back.
    The makers of battery powered lawn tools ......and power hand tools to a lesser extent.......are changing the battery size or physical configuration every couple of years AND replacement parts for the old models don't seem to be available new.
    I was a little apprehensive about how long my battery would last.
    Then my CHARGER fried itself.
    I was lucky to find a used one.
    Designed obsolescence is a real thing.
     
  8. m8547

    m8547 Senior Member

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    Automakers have all kinds of tricks to get really high compression ratios with regular gas. For example I think Mazda does 14:1 (excluding HCCI which is not in mass production as far as I know).