recommended fuel

[bmw1150]

Looking to buy a 2026 with the Hurricane SO engine. I am sure this has been discussed, but quick search I could not locate an answer. Is the consensus that 87 octane is OK to use for daily driving? I see if extreme heat or towing 91 is recommended. Trying to move away from premium gas cost.

Thanks in advance.

 

[GeauxinUp]

Looking to buy a 2026 with the Hurricane SO engine. I am sure this has been discussed, but quick search I could not locate an answer. Is the consensus that 87 octane is OK to use for daily driving? I see if extreme heat or towing 91 is recommended. Trying to move away from premium gas cost.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bmw1150]

thank you!

 

[jc56berg]

My owner's manual says 89 recommended 87 acceptable. I noticed the 3-4 times I ran 87 I got a few less miles to the tank full, so I stick w/89. Now I've noticed which I have been doing now for several years is fill with 89, run it to half- way then fill with 93 and after a couple times doing this you get a 91 mix that performs very well. Other then rounded tips the OEM plugs looked really good when changed.

 

[Magfan2]

Never anything with alcohol - short term saving, long term bigger expense likely. I run every gas powered device on premium and have for a very long time.

 

[BossHogg]

Never anything with alcohol - short term saving, long term bigger expense likely. I run every gas powered device on premium and have for a very long time.

Alcohol or ethanol?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that ethanol is used to raise the octane level of gasoline to reach the premium class, typically 91-plus octane.

I live in the land of inland lakes and the Great Lakes. Many stations around me sell non-ethanol recreational fuel rated at 90 octane. It costs, on average, a buck more than 87 octane E10 ethanol-laced gas. I use it for my boat and all my gas-powered yard equipment. We don't use it in the wife's car, though.

 

[ibike]

Dang I’m feeling like such a bum. I run only the cheapest stuff I can find. All my yard equipment runs perfect and my oldest vehicle has 209,000 miles on it and runs like a top. Wonder if I had of used high test it would go farther? My oldest John Deere has 900 hours on it and has seen a lot of yards.
What am I doing wrong?

 

[GeauxinUp]

Dang I’m feeling like such a bum. I run only the cheapest stuff I can find. All my yard equipment runs perfect and my oldest vehicle has 209,000 miles on it and runs like a top. Wonder if I had of used high test it would go farther? My oldest John Deere has 900 hours on it and has seen a lot of yards.
What am I doing wrong?

If it works for you and you're happy with it, send it!

 

[HEMIMANN]

fyi - ethanol is an alcohol. so is methanol & isopropyl. Methanol is a no-no, I've never seen it anywhere I've travelled. Isopropyl used to be an additive to absorb water in fuel tanks in winter climates to prevent fuel lines and carburetors from freezing shut.

All alcohol used in gasoline blends is ethanol, made from corn. Yes, it raises octane, but also increases fuel consumption because it is less energy dense. It also used to be subsidized by us taxpayers, and made with fossil fuels (mostly natural gas). It is not "good for" engines, it has higher solvency than gasoline and requires more expensive, solvent-resistance elastomers. Due to it's cooling effect in vaporization vs gasoline, it can be more power dense in blown motors with advanced ignition timing, which is why nitromethane is used in top fuel race engines (that are rebuilt after every run).

 

[Magfan2]

In Montana, High Test, at least everywhere I buy gas, is ethanol free. Hey, whatever works!

 

[crash68]

I run only the cheapest stuff I can find. All my yard equipment runs perfect

The non-ethanol "rec fuel" is better for equipment that has a tendency to not used as much, for older equipment not built with ethanol in mind, and environments that are subject to high moisture like boats.
Ethanol absorbs water which can corrode fuel system components and cause running/starting issues. It also can attack certain types of plastic and rubber.
Ethanol blended fuel also has less energy per gallon so it lowers the performance of engines, on lower HP engines it can impact performance more.

 

[jc56berg]

Dang I’m feeling like such a bum. I run only the cheapest stuff I can find. All my yard equipment runs perfect and my oldest vehicle has 209,000 miles on it and runs like a top. Wonder if I had of used high test it would go farther? My oldest John Deere has 900 hours on it and has seen a lot of yards.
What am I doing wrong?

Doesn't seem like your doing anything wrong. 200+K, works for your needs. You've done well.

 

[HEMIMANN]

In Montana, High Test, at least everywhere I buy gas, is ethanol free. Hey, whatever works!

Some states are beholden to the agribusiness lobby. Such as Minnesota, my state. They force us to use ethanol blended fuel because Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland bribe legislators to write laws to require using their products.

The best government that money can buy-off.

 

[Magfan2]

Some states are beholden to the agribusiness lobby. Such as Minnesota, my state. They force us to use ethanol blended fuel because Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland bribe legislators to write laws to require using their products.

The best government that money can buy-off.

And that is the least of your problems! Lived there for a long time, enjoyable, got out fortuitously before it went bad.

 

[Tray Burge]

FWIW!
Running the cheapest gas you can will cost you big time down the road, I only run top tier gas like Chevron or Shell. It's cheaper in the long run if you plan on getting 300,000 miles out of it when you consider the sludge build-up you're accumulating with cheap gas.
Oil change too every 5,000 miles also.
Do your research.

 

[reefer451]

I always use top tier 87 octane gas in my Hemi even though they recommend 89. When I first bought it I did run 89 but I did a couple of direct comparisons and I saw absolutely no difference in mileage and if there is a power difference I can't notice it.

Every vehicle made in the last 30+ years has the entire fuel system designed to be fully compatible with ethanol fuel blends. Before I retired I designed gasoline fuel injectors. We would run tests using multiple different ethanol concentrations and special corrosive "sour" gas blends. One of the toughest was called Brazilian Yellow which was 22% ethanol and highly acidic. Higher ethanol concentrations are actually less corrosive. We typically tested to 600 million injections which is at least 250 thousand miles. Methanol is a completely different story, most injectors will not last even 50 million cycles on methanol and most of the o-ring elastomers will swell 50% or more in just 10% methanol.

 

[David James]

Never anything with alcohol - short term saving, long term bigger expense likely. I run every gas powered device on premium and have for a very long time.

Your premium is, unless stated as “non-ethanol”, at least E-10. The highest octane “premium” is E-85.

 

[David James]

I always use top tier 87 octane gas in my Hemi even though they recommend 89. When I first bought it I did run 89 but I did a couple of direct comparisons and I saw absolutely no difference in mileage and if there is a power difference I can't notice it.

Every vehicle made in the last 30+ years has the entire fuel system designed to be fully compatible with ethanol fuel blends. Before I retired I designed gasoline fuel injectors. We would run tests using multiple different ethanol concentrations and special corrosive "sour" gas blends. One of the toughest was called Brazilian Yellow which was 22% ethanol and highly acidic. Higher ethanol concentrations are actually less corrosive. We typically tested to 600 million injections which is at least 250 thousand miles. Methanol is a completely different story, most injectors will not last even 50 million cycles on methanol and most of the o-ring elastomers will swell 50% or more in just 10% methanol.

Ditto. 87 all the time with rare exceptions for a splash of 93 on top of the 87 that’s in the tank. No fuel issues of any sort, and that includes 49 North American USA states plus six Canadian provinces. 21 mpg on very recent 7300 mile coast to coast loop VA to CA.

 

[Magfan2]

Your premium is, unless stated as “non-ethanol”, at least E-10. The highest octane “premium” is E-85.

As previously noted, Montana Premium is marked no Ethanol - at least everywhere I buy gas.

 

[turkeybird56]

As previously noted, Montana Premium is marked no Ethanol - at least everywhere I buy gas.

Gotta be something with Montana and State Regs, cause in TX, all gas is at least E-10, unless you go to a specific location and purchase non-ethanol gas, which always cost more, and the Non-ethanol is neva at the regular pump, but separate island.

OP: I run 89 in everything. Heck both my chain saws say 89, my new riding mower says 89, just for me a lot easier to just put in CC, select 89, and fill up truck, cans etc.

I also run my 2006 MC on 89. It runs a tad better on 89 than 87, but no better on 93. But than it is a 1832 CC boxer motor, pulling double weight due to a Motor Trike conversion kit, so pushing 2000 lbs instead of 860 sumthin. .

But that is just me and my needs.