Sherwink

What's the max octane allowed to be put in the rc? I have been putting 93 in the car

GearHead69

That's good. The manual just indicates Premium, whatever Premium is for you area which at a minimum should be 91.

VMRWheels

+1

In CA the highest we'll find (typically) is 91. In other parts of the country 93 is the norm. Either will work fine

Nightcrawl

We have a choice of 91, 95 or 98 here in Australia. 95 seems to offer the best price/performance equation. I used to use 98 in my Supra TT and it definitely responded, even though it was a 1993 model. In Japan you can get 101 RON fuel.

VMRWheels

Must be nice! haha

Whenever I speak to our AU customers about the availability of just 91 in Cali, all they do is cringe haha

kymbakitty

Read on another message board that the RC requires 91% Octane....? I have to look at my manual, but this is the first I've heard of this.

This must be for the RC F. I can't see any reason why this V6 would require 91%.

We still have one car that requires premium, but someone that didn't know would learn this quickly because it is noted a few place on car. I don't see anywhere on the Lexus that mentions this and no one reads a manual before operating their car. I'd still be at the dealership if that was the case.

Is this a requirement that somehow was just not mentioned to me?

Thank you.

Dawn

GearHead69

Hi Dawn, sorry to break it to you, but Yes you need to run 91 octane in the RC350 and your dealer didn't tell you. I go to Costco to get the cheapest 91 octane, and it is Tier 1, which is the best. It's on page 225 of the manual.

Peter

SRC350F

Hi Dawn,

Just repeating what Peter said, you have to put in 91 octane due to the high compression ratio of the engine. The higher octane gas is to prevent premature combustion, I believe people also call this knocking? Costco is usually the cheapest, but if you do not want to go all the way to Costco and if you do not already have this application on your phone, get GasBuddy, it will show you the prices of nearby gas stations and you can filter it based on premium, supreme or regular. It will also show you whether or not it is tier 1 gas on the right side of the column. If you are not sure of what tier 1 gas is, providing some background, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Ti...rgent_Gasoline
Hope this helps!

Sam

Also how are you enjoying the car so far?

GearHead69

Thanks Sam for GasBuddy. Also if you don't use 91 octane what happens is that the engine's computer (ECM) detects the lower octane, pulls timing from the engine, and you get less performance. Not fun, especially since we spent so much on the car in the first place.

kymbakitty

Hopefully one tank won't hurt.

I'm going to contact the dealer today. I was given a lot of information when we picked up the car. But I guarantee you that no one uttered a word about the gasoline. We both would have remembered that! Our Mark VIII takes Premium and it has it in multiple places so I looked for the reference to Premium gas on the Lexus (usually, this is on the car because manuals don't always end up in the cars through the years and the requirements don't change so it should be somewhere on/in the car).

My husband missed it too. I hope one fill up of regular is okay. I feel like I should fill up with 91 as soon as I can but that might make it worse.

We have Costco gas...quite a few. It's the cheapest gas has been for a long time. Come to think of it, all 3 of our vehicles require the Premium. My Toy was the only one that didn't.

Loving the car....although I accidentally called SOS yesterday going home. Nice to know someone is actually there should I have a real emergency!

Dawn

dchar

I believe even the gas filler door even states premium/91+ octane required. I bet the dealer assumed that you'll see it on the door before filling up. Most luxury/performance cars require premium anyways.

Filling up with regular won't harm the car. Just fill up with premium next time if you want max performance. Not saying you're one of these people, but I know some that fill up with regular in their luxury cars because premium is "too expensive." I look at them and think...you drive a $50K+ car and a few dollars is too much?!

GearHead69

You are right the label is on the Gas door, and just put 91 in as soon as you can. Mixing the two won't do any harm. It will probably take 2-3 refills to get the full effect of the 91 octane. I noticed when I picked up my new car from the dealer that it quite didn't have the kick it was supposed to have, and I thought they put in 87. After a couple of tanks of 91 I could feel the difference.

I agree 100% with your statement, "You drive a $50K+ car and a few dollars is too much?"

kymbakitty

So I went to our parking lot to take another look at the gas lid. Sure enough, there is a label on the inside of the door. It is at an angle so I know why I did not see it. In fact, when I flipped the door open, I still didn't see it. Even if you open the door, so long as you are not bending down or specifically looking for something, you don't see it. When I bent down, I saw it on the lower half of the door.


I mentioned the Premium gas requirement to my dealer today and he said it does not need it (that's why they didn't tell me). He said if I was driving it for performance, then that would be a different story. He said he has drove Lexus for the past 15 years and he never uses Premium.


I would never NOT put in Premium because of the extra .20 cents a gallon. That is just ridiculous. It's the same as if I wanted a car with really good gas mileage, I would have chosen a different vehicle.


Since our other Luxury coupe and even our truck requires Premium gas, it's not even a big deal.


Thanks all....I knew I could get my answers quickly on this board.


Dawn

GearHead69

Dawn,

With regard to what your dealer told you; If Lexus did not require the use of 91 octane then that sticker would not be there, and if I can say, your dealer is an idiot. They didn't tell you because they were afraid that if they told you it required 91 you wouldn't buy the car because of the added expense.

Now, go out and enjoy that beautiful car.

Peter

kymbakitty

You are giving dealer too much credit. They didn't even think about it. I can't imagine someone not telling you because of the extra money. You are buying a $50k + car so if you have to add a few more dollars at fill up time, big deal.

I called 4 dealers today. The dealer I purchased my car from is not the only one touting the "optional but not required" party line.

To me, this car clearly requires the Premium. There is a difference between recommended and required and this car is getting Premium like our other two vehicles.

Thanks!