Can't remember where the cut-off is (maybe sweetwater) but Fort Worth was always 93 octane and Lubbock is 91 territory. I randomly guessed that maybe it had something to do with altitude and the combustion. Have no idea really.
Here in the DFW area, 99% of Super Unleaded is 93 octane?
I wonder why some other states get the shaft with mainly 91?
It's often an altitude thing... but nobody's really getting the "shaft" unless their car requires higher than 91.
Which the 2IS does not.
93 does nothing helpful if your car is programmed for 91.
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2008 IS350 - Black Sapphire Pearl/Cashmere - Sport Package, Mark Levinson (no nav), XM, Tanabe Exhaust, F-Sport Intake and Sway Bars
It's often an altitude thing... but nobody's really getting the "shaft" unless their car requires higher than 91.
Which the 2IS does not.
93 does nothing helpful if your car is programmed for 91.
I disagree.
I recently did testings with full tanks of both octanes at multiple different stations/times (probably 3 or 4 each) just to see for myself if there really was a real difference and I DID notice that 93 octane ran smoother than 91, especially at idle. 90 octane was even worse. And no, I did not go to any no name gas stations at any point in my testing.
However, I did NOT notice any real performance difference between any of the octanes, just a smoother idle & engine.
Where does it actually say in the specs from Lexus that the 2IS is a 91 octane specific engine? Really? I would like to see that.
I do know that a car requiring regular unleaded (87 ish octane) will see no benefit from 93 octane, and may actually cause damage to the engine with consistent high octane usage. However on the IS, I think a higher octane super unleaded gas does reap some benefits. That's what I experienced.
And anyways, if one station has 91 & another has 93 for the same, everyone would choose 93 as a no brainer. Why not?
I guess if you live in an area that doesn't have any 93 octane stations, then you are getting the "shaft!"
Been pumping costco gas for 10k miles. No problem at all. Averaging basically the same gas mileage as pumping Chevron/Shell gas. Gas is gas, whether it is costco gas, Arco, Shell, Chevron, they are all the same and work the same.
__________________ '08 IS350SGM
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It's all the same except for the additive pack each brand puts in, and there isn't a huge difference in that either. In areas with multiple refiners you may get Shell gas one time, Chevron the next, and Exxon after that even if you stay with one retailer. Gasoline is a commodity and has to meet tight EPA specifications. If your car runs fine on Costco or Walmart gas, use it, it just may be coming from a Chevron owned refinery. Why pay more than you have to. Top Tier gasoline is a marketing exercise according to their own website, it's there for the companies who bought into the program to use it in advertising. It's no better than non-tier gas.
__________________ 2006 IS 350 - Tungsten Pearl/black ~ Carbon Fiber trim w/ Momo Combat Evo shift knob ~ NAV/ML/XM ~ Sport Package ~ Ground Effects ~ Lexon Roof Spoiler ~ G-Spiders ~ Spoiler ~ Race Mesh grille ~ Yellow fog overlays ~ 35% tint
Guys GAS IS GAS! I'm not trying to be a ****, but some simple REAL research will give you the answers, and my best friend works for SHELL as a chemical engineer, and does this science daily, for a living.
So Do you all realize that each and every refinery or tanker is pumped into central pipelines, therefore it's all a mixture.
Oil companies pay fees to use the pipelines/storage tanks and monitor the amount of fuel they pump in and then only take the exact same amount out.
At that point each different oil company chooses to add there own "additives" such as fuel injector cleaner and the such. But are governed by Federal law to meet minimum standards.
And for all those who don't know they only refine 2 grades of gas, usually 93 and 87 grades and then "mix" them to get mid-grades.
But, as for the "additives" MOST companies use similar items to reduce knock and deposits.
ANY of the major brands are nearly identical and your cars ECU/engine CAN NOT determine what is in gas, only it's O2 content ( which determines it's grade 87/89/91 ).
YES, cheap gas from mom and pop stations MAY NOT have such "aggressive" additives, but FEDERAL mandates ALL gas meet certain cleaning and "anti-knock" standards.
SO whether you buy Mobil, Exxon, Texaco, Shell, Chevron, or BP..THEY ARE ALL 99.9% the same, and the .1% difference will NOT affect the performance of ANY engine. Modern cars automatically adjust to different O2 levels found in gas, NOT to it's additives.
A dirty engine is a dirty engine, and read your car manual or ask a ASE tech, a lot of the current aftermarket additives people use, can actually damage O2 sensors in your car, making your car run differently. But this is NOT the gases fault, it's the aftermarket additive you put in.
It's just your brain, guys. You think your engine is running differently, but if your engine was being diagnosed by a ECU computer, it would not be any different for ANY major gas.
The human brain and ones perception are great things, but because we love our cars and take care them and they become part of us, we THINK we notice it's running differently, when i reality it's just a machine, running exactly the way it was designed...Those annoying 'check engine" lights on the dash will be more then happy to let you know when there is a problem.
So save money, if Chevron is cheaper, use that. If Shell is cheaper, use that...
I use them all and may 350 runs like a dream, quiet at idle, fast and stronger when I floor it...
smpis, not going to convince eachother I suppose. I will say this, I would be comfortable using most main-line gas stations gas. It's the really low end (racetrack, etc) that I'd definitely be leery of. The folks that water down their tanks and use other 'additives' to stretch to the next truck arrives and generally don't care.
I have 2 cars. My IS350 and a 1986 Mercury sable(FORD) which was my first car. My dad bought that car brand new, and has put nothing but MOBIL Gas and MOBIL1 oil since day one. It has 256000 miles and still runs good. MOBIL GAS FTW!!
I have 2 cars. My IS350 and a 1986 Mercury sable(FORD) which was my first car. My dad bought that car brand new, and has put nothing but MOBIL Gas and MOBIL1 oil since day one. It has 256000 miles and still runs good. MOBIL GAS FTW!!
And clearly if he'd put some Shell in there it would've burst into flames!
What's great is if you search these gas threads you'll find, for virtually every brand in the world, one guy who posts "I know a car that ran on nothing but brand X and it has eleventy pepsi miles on it and still runs" and then 3 pages from that post you find someone else who posts "I once just put 3 drops of brand X gas in my car and I immediately lost my job, my house, my wife, my dog, and the car died too!"
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2008 IS350 - Black Sapphire Pearl/Cashmere - Sport Package, Mark Levinson (no nav), XM, Tanabe Exhaust, F-Sport Intake and Sway Bars
And clearly if he'd put some Shell in there it would've burst into flames!
What's great is if you search these gas threads you'll find, for virtually every brand in the world, one guy who posts "I know a car that ran on nothing but brand X and it has eleventy pepsi miles on it and still runs" and then 3 pages from that post you find someone else who posts "I once just put 3 drops of brand X gas in my car and I immediately lost my job, my house, my wife, my dog, and the car died too!"
This thread is about "Favorite Gas for your IS?". State your own opinion about YOUR favorite gas for YOUR car. Not for other people to come on here and make sarcastic irrelevant remarks to impose other peoples opinions. Lets be mature here guys. This is a Lexus forum.
Hybrid Mode
