gdanaher

Fuel prices in Mexico really can't be compared to anywhere else because the industry is federally owned and the prices are set nationally with some variation in the border cities to compete with the stations on the USA side. Pemex is a nationally owned company and is subsidized by the federal government. Right now here in Texas, gas is a little cheaper than across the border, but ours fluctuates more than their's due to the nature of the industry.

Lexmex

Well said.

I remember that about the border zones. It probably might be even cheaper if the stations were self-serve, but every last one of them is full serve.

TWQ83

Octaine is a additive in Gasoline to prevent combustion of the fuel until the exact moment the cylinder head is at the top of the arch in order to time the ignition perefectly to get the most out of the downward thrust of the piston. Remove the octaine and the gas burns faster, timing is thrown off, and the PERFORMANCE of the engine suffers. This may not be noticable in some vehicles and very noticable in others. Is it going to destroy your engine ....... I doubt it seriously! Will it effect MPG, Proably not! Will it effect your ability to go from 50-70 in 2.7 seconds ........ Proably! You will have to finally decide what is best for your ride. I've had many Clients that tell me that they use the low grade gas in the Lexus and have no noticible difference. I have told them to add a can of Dry Gas and Fuel Injector Cleaner every 5,000 miles before the oil change and they have told me that it works perfectly!!!!

It won't hurt to try .......... and it could save you a ton in gas cost.

Pheonix

Run the lowest octane possible until it pings. If it's pinging, then you've gone a hair too far for the current conditions.
That gives the highest power, and highest economy.

Running higher octane that required lowers power output, economy, money, and increases emssions.





98% of the people on the forum should reste the ECU to clear the fuel trims & run 87 octane. Anyone else that just must have every last horsepower out of the engine... You know... Try 89 & go up from there. But you'd still make more power spending afew hundred getting a real Y-pipe fabbed without all the cats (keep a main high-flow cat if you want).
That would put you up around 300hp...
Or run a 75 wet shot of n2o. Then you can worry about running 91+.









For that matter, I have $10 running says if anyone wants to change their plugs to 1 heat range colder NGK/Denso plugs that they could drop to 87 octane & not loose any power from the OEM rating.

ESsearch

That used to be the rule but is no longer applicable to modern engines. They have ping detectors and will automatically adjust (retard) the timing to avoid pinging. You'll never hear the pinging.

Pete

Pheonix

Yes, but not in the manner that you think they are used.
The current Denso knock sensors only work at a specific rpm range (typically 3xxx-5xxxrpm) and are not particularly sensative to all forms of knocking.
The engine itself does not cycle maximum timing, then back off & program those findings on the fly. (Closed-Loop knock sensing. Currently avalible on extremely high end Bosch engine management solutions, and stand-alone boxes Al-LA J&S Ignition).

It runs the specified timings at all times until knocking is present, when it retards X amount in ignition degrees for the cylinder than is experiancing pre-ignition.




When you get the octane too low, trust me you will hear it ping. The VVT-i engines forgo the older "dump all the EGR you can" in the , instead relying on increased valve overlap to cycle much hotter exhaust back immediately into the chamber. Increasing chamber temps. (but they do stay MUCH cleaner over time & have no maintenance, which is just peachy!)
They also don't retard in large steps. They retard in very small incriments. Typically it's a fraction of a degree of timing. Which means it can take quite afew firing cycles for the management to have neutralized any present pre-ignition.


What I'm saying in the second part is that when you make the newer vvt-i engines. It will ping like a mother *u**e* & when it happens, it is readily obvious.









IDK why guy thinks Lexmex's gas is cheap. It's about that in half the US.
http://www.gasbuddy.com/
Low $2.80's here in bama.

toneman

True but in much of the other half of the U.S., it's still quite a bit more expensive than Lexmex's gas. I know, 'cuz I live in CA...although in my local area (Sacramento) we are almost down to $3/gal at the top brand-name gas stations (currently $3.04 at my local 76 station, and $2.99 at my local Sam's Club).

VroomVroom

Wow, Tony...it's amazing what 100 miles does for gas prices. I just filled up this morning and it was $3.41.9 for 87 octane.

LexBob2

The local bp station is "down" to $3.299 for 87 octane in our suburban Chicago area.

VroomVroom

Bob - I meant to mention. When I was there a coupla' weeks ago I was amazed to see higher gas prices than what we had in the SF bay area. I see we've caught back up...

toneman

$3.41??? Dunno what the prices are today (6/25) in your area but the local 76 station up here in Roseville near where I live is currently selling 87 at $2.999/gal; I suspect the local Arcos, Sam's Club, and Costcos will be a few cents lower than that...

Getting back to the whole 87-octane discussion--notwithstanding the anecdotal evidence as to whether it's okay to run 87 in the ES 350, I will offer the following: I dunno about other folks' ES 350s but on mine, there is a sticker on the inner side of the fuel filler door that states, "Premium Unleaded Fuel Only". Now you folks are more than welcome to argue as to the semantics of that statement, given the use of the word "Only" on that sticker...

LexBob2

It's a mystery indeed. In the owners manual it says, "Premium unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 91 or higher is required for optimum engine performance. However, if such premium type cannot be obtained, you may use unleaded gasoline with an octane rating as low as 87". On the next page it says, "If you use gasohol in your Lexus, be sure that it has an octane rating no lower than 87". The whole thing still sounds vague to me.

lowrider

what's up toneman!!

Is that Roseville, CA cuz that's where i stay at as well. Iv'e seen other ES models rollin around, which one is yours?

(Assuming Roseville, CA) of course

mandyfig

Use mid-grade. Means 91.

toneman

Mid-grade may be 91 where you live, but it's 89 here in CA. I just wanted to make that clarification, just in case other folks may be led to believe that mid-grade absolutely means 91-octane gas.