87 or 89 octane

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2012RAM1500RT

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i work for Marathon and knowing what goes into just staying on spec in a unit with the average cost of 30-50 million per unit for the control system to control it... that little mixing pump... yeah i dont buy that is working correctly. so the difference from plus to premium is peenies so that's why i say i do 93 heck stations at one time were getting busted for sell 87 labeled as 93- that's a big moneymaker!
Once again, I like higher octane but with the theory you just gave the only people getting what they paid for are the ones buying 87. The others are having to "trust" gas companies and gas stations to get 89 or 93. Trusting every gas station across America in today's society for me isn't going to happen. Now I'll have to figure the fuel mileage and performance of my vehicle on the octane I "think" I bought last, that threw another wrench in the game questioning their honor system. As far as pennies difference in prices between 87 to 93 octane, .60 cent per gallon difference isn't pennies for me. To make it work cost wise I have to get around 3 more MPG going from 87 to 89 and 6 more MPG going from 87 to 93. Before hurricane Katrina gas went in .10 cent increments, a cost that I could make work for me. Since then it's gone to .30 cent increments. Not sure of the "special" stuff they have to put in it since then but it makes no sense to me. I'll still go by what works for me as everyone should but now I have to "trust" when I figure my MPG and performance that the last gas I got was really what I paid for unless it was 87 octane. Guess I'll never really know for a fact!
 
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seabrook

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Once again, I like higher octane but with the theory you just gave the only people getting what they paid for are the ones buying 87. The others are having to "trust" gas companies and gas stations to get 89 or 93. Trusting every gas station across America in today's society for me isn't going to happen. Now I'll have to figure the fuel mileage and performance of my vehicle on the octane I "think" I bought last, that threw another wrench in the game questioning their honor system. As far as pennies difference in prices between 87 to 93 octane, .60 cent per gallon difference isn't pennies for me. To make it work cost wise I have to get around 3 more MPG going from 87 to 89 and 6 more MPG going from 87 to 93. Before hurricane Katrina gas went in .10 cent increments, a cost that I could make work for me. Since then it's gone to .30 cent increments. Not sure of the "special" stuff they have to put in it since then but it makes no sense to me. I'll still go by what works for me as everyone should but now I have to "trust" when I figure my MPG and performance that the last gas I got was really what I paid for unless it was 87 octane. Guess I'll never really know for a fact!
it’s pennies to me lol i don’t even LOOK at the price of gas or how much it cost to fill up
 

seabrook

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I guess I really don’t care because I have a boat and a personal watercraft my boat can consume 50 gallons of gas in one hour and my personal watercraft can do right around 12 to 15 and one hour if you write it hard
 

HEMIMANN

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People - if we don't trust anything, we have anarchy. There's a reason for government regulation - one of which is certifying gasoline octane rating. Sure they can cheat and hope they don't get caught.

How do we know our food isn't poisoned with salmonella or e coli? Sometimes it is, right? So we should not trust anyone or anything and eat weeds? C'mon, man!!!
 

TestPilot57

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Not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but regardless, I'll repeat myself if necessary.

I run 91 in my untuned vehicles because around here it's the only way to get ethanol-free gasolinola.
 

corneileous

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Not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but regardless, I'll repeat myself if necessary.

I run 91 in my untuned vehicles because around here it's the only way to get ethanol-free gasolinola.

I wish we had ethanol-free everything else as well besides just 87.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

slickracer

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Mike runs just fine on E10 87 octane but I can tell a difference when I treat it to E0 89 octane.
 

Treburkulosis

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Ive been running E15 for years with no issues. Its slightly cheaper than 87, but is in the middle at 88 octane.
 

miles01

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89, if I am topping off just fer chits and giggles I may throw $5 or $6 of 87, but generally stay with 89. On MY 2012 Hemi, when I ran 87, it pinged everywhere. Not so much with the MY 19. BUT U gonna get a 1,000 different opinions.


Same for my 2011 1500 5.7hemi, it would ping when I ran 87 and loss of power
 

shmedley

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I never know what or when something will be on the back of my truck so I always run 89 at minimum. If I know I am going to be pulling something long distance I throw 93 in.
I fill up every week, needing it or not so most of the time it's not bad.
 

Smokey613

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My 2015 Mustang GT 5.0 was able to run on 87 octane but the owner’s manual recommended 91 for full performance. Now here is the intresting part. Well known tuners of the 5.0 determined that the factory tune would in fact adjust and add timing up to 94-95 octane. I ran nothing but 93 octane in it. One time I put 87 in it and there was a very noticeable drop in power from the 93. I still miss that Mustang but it would not pull the Jayco. :)

As far as our 2018 1500, we run 87 unless towing, then we run 89.
 

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RBJRBJ

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My 2021 RAM Longhorn with a 5.7L Hemi and eTorque will run on both 87 and 89 octane. I’ve used both without any issues. That being said, I fill up using 89 octane regularly now and basically because the manual recommends 89 octane and with the 5.7L Hemi with eTorque gives me a little more peace of mind for the long term.
 

HEMIMANN

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My 2021 RAM Longhorn with a 5.7L Hemi and eTorque will run on both 87 and 89 octane. I’ve used both without any issues. That being said, I fill up using 89 octane regularly now and basically because the manual recommends 89 octane and with the 5.7L Hemi with eTorque gives me a little more peace of mind for the long term.

87 octane won't harm the engine. The engine is programmed to adjust spark ignition timing to the gas octane level using combustion knock sensors.

89 octane is recommended to achieve peak torque and gas mileage. That is all. Your choice. I run the 89 so I have best available torque on a moment's notice (decide to hook up trailer, for example), and fill less often.
 

lew-e

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Hate to revive an older-ish thread but this seems like something that comes up a lot. Has anyone ever ran 87 for a few tanks and then dyno’d their vehicle? Then done the same with 89 and then 93? I’d be curious how much power it actually gains with the higher octane fuels. I see a bunch of people alluding to increased mpg, but what are some hard numbers there too? This should be a pretty straightforward and scientific thing. It either does or it doesn’t. If so, at what rate? I don’t have access to a dyno so no I won’t be the guinea pig. I am willing to do the mpg test though
 

retired

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just got back from a 3000+ mile road trip from Western Montana to South Eastern Minn taking in ND, SD and Wyoming on the way and way back. I hand figure every tank of gas and I drove the speed limits +-5mph ie if 80mph speed limit drove anywhere from 75-85mph. Worst mpg I got was in Minn on ethanol 88. Did not make sense because Minnesota is pancake flat and speed limits are slower. I found no difference running 91, 87 or 89 which I did just depending where I was at. funny thing MPG was better in Montana on 87 where it was much more hilly and speed limits were the highest for the most parts. I knew i would not be stopped for driving 85 in Montana so that is what I did. I was not so sure in ND or SD so I kept it closer to the speed limit.
 
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