Looks given by the gas attendants
09-10-13, 04:49 PM
#1
Driver
Thread Starter
Looks given by the gas attendants
Whenever I pull up to a gas station and a gas attendant asks, "Premium?" and I say "Regular," they always have this puzzled look in their faces as if to say "Really?!" 
One attendant even asked me the reason the 300H uses regular is because it's a hybrid, and not knowing the answer, I just said yes. But I believe even the 2013 350 uses regular. So, what has changed in the 2013 engines that enable it to use regular gasoline? Of course I'm not one to complain.
One attendant even asked me the reason the 300H uses regular is because it's a hybrid, and not knowing the answer, I just said yes. But I believe even the 2013 350 uses regular. So, what has changed in the 2013 engines that enable it to use regular gasoline? Of course I'm not one to complain.
09-10-13, 06:04 PM
#2
Pole Position
I think when the average person sees an "expensive" car pull up at a gas station, they assume it takes "expensive" gas. But more knowledgable people know that octane has to do with the compression ratio of the engine and not if it's a higher-end car or not.
09-11-13, 05:28 AM
#3
Lead Lap
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If memory serves me correctly, at 10.8 for the ES350 and 12.5 for the ES300, these are hardly considered low compression ratios when reasoning why regular grade gas should be used. Used to be lower c.r.'s meant you could use regular.
Power management systems and VVT play an important role.
John
Power management systems and VVT play an important role.
John
09-11-13, 06:17 AM
#5
Lexus Champion
Premium used to be recommended in the ES350 up until the 2011 model year. I believe regular has always been recommended in the Toyota hybrids and now in the 300h.
09-11-13, 06:56 AM
#6
We haven't had attendants in Illinois since the '80's! I miss those days when it was 20 below outside and I could just pass a few bucks through the window. 
09-11-13, 07:49 AM
#7
Lead Lap
Even on Lexus vehicles of several years ago, while the "recommendation" was to use premium fuel with an octane rating of 91, the manuals for those vehicles said to use at least 87 octane fuel.
On my 05 GX, I've been using 89 octane fuel with 10% ethanol since I got it. I've never experienced any engine knocking, and, if there is any performance difference, it is so little that I wouldn't notice it. Similarly, with the 06 ES that I previously owned, I used the same 89 octane fuel, and there were no issues of any kind up to the time when I traded it in with 105,000 miles on it.
On my 05 GX, I've been using 89 octane fuel with 10% ethanol since I got it. I've never experienced any engine knocking, and, if there is any performance difference, it is so little that I wouldn't notice it. Similarly, with the 06 ES that I previously owned, I used the same 89 octane fuel, and there were no issues of any kind up to the time when I traded it in with 105,000 miles on it.
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09-11-13, 08:10 AM
#8
I used 91 octane for my ES 300 initially (super smooth), then switched to regular for many years (fine), until I had stalling problems on startup (very low idle RPM), then went back to 91 after that problem was (more or less) fixed.
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09-11-13, 08:22 AM
#9
Lexus Champion
I had an '07 ES350 and used the recommended premium for a few months and then went to regular with no issues. Then got a 2010 and continued to use regular, again with no issues. Beginning with the 2011 model year regular was recommended.
The cynic in me looked at the Toyota models using the same engine with regular recommended (Camry, Avalon, Venza, Rav4, Sienna, Highlander) and I was comfortable with regular even though with premium the ES was rated at 2-4 hp more than it's Toyota counterpart.
The cynic in me looked at the Toyota models using the same engine with regular recommended (Camry, Avalon, Venza, Rav4, Sienna, Highlander) and I was comfortable with regular even though with premium the ES was rated at 2-4 hp more than it's Toyota counterpart.
09-11-13, 10:24 AM
#12
Lexus Champion
Correct. I thought it was interesting though that the EPA estimates on the ES350 were the same for 2010's with premium and the 2011's with regular. There are some though where it really makes a difference.
09-11-13, 10:24 AM
#13
New Jersey and Oregon are the only U.S. states that currently ban self-service gas st
I got this from: http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/bans-gas-pumping.html
New Jersey and Oregon are the only U.S. states that currently ban self-service gas stations.
The purpose of these laws was to protect consumers and gas station owners from costly, and possibly deadly, accidents. Better education and improved technology, however, have made pumping gas much safer and easier for consumers over the last 50 years. Since the 1970s, self-service gas stations have grown in popularity.
The New Jersey law was enacted in 1949 and the Oregon law in 1951. Each statute has stood up to several challenges in those two states.
Disabled motorists are most interested in seeing such laws survive. For those motorists with a disability, pumping gas is not an option and they depend on the employees of full-service stations.
Despite requirements outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act, many self-service stations do not provide a full-service option for disabled drivers, nor provide those services at self-service rates.
New Jersey and Oregon are the only U.S. states that currently ban self-service gas stations.
The purpose of these laws was to protect consumers and gas station owners from costly, and possibly deadly, accidents. Better education and improved technology, however, have made pumping gas much safer and easier for consumers over the last 50 years. Since the 1970s, self-service gas stations have grown in popularity.
The New Jersey law was enacted in 1949 and the Oregon law in 1951. Each statute has stood up to several challenges in those two states.
Disabled motorists are most interested in seeing such laws survive. For those motorists with a disability, pumping gas is not an option and they depend on the employees of full-service stations.
Despite requirements outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act, many self-service stations do not provide a full-service option for disabled drivers, nor provide those services at self-service rates.
09-11-13, 11:16 AM
#15
I remember the attendant washing my windshield, and offering to check under the hood, even your tire pressure. Those were the good old days. We even got Green Stamps and a free glass and the price was under .45 cents per gallon!