what gas to use in rx 450h?
 

The sales guy told me regular 87 is good enough, thoughts?

Premium is recommended.I use it.
89 would probably work but 87?
Why skimp a few dollars a month when you spent $50K for the RX?

it says on the owner's manual to use premium.

i've done 89 and 91. i don't know if i notice much of a difference, but i wouldn't put 87.

i use 91 octane

this debate continues...lol

there is no right or wrong. I personally put 91 but its more of the mentality than anything. Im sure you arent ruining your car by using 87, but you should know mpg and performance decreases with a lower octane.

This may not totally apply to the RX, but just FYI, for 2011 the ES350 has been "re-rated" (not sure what that really means) for regular unleaded. HP goes from 272 to 268 on regular.

Previously, premium was recommended. Gas mileage remains the same with the new rating.

Page 399..
6-1. Specifications
Vehicle specifications
Fuel information
If premium gasoline is not available:
If 91 rating gasoline cannot be obtained, you may use unleaded gasoline with an
octane rating as low as 87 (Research Octane Number 91).

https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lex...html&locale=en

I've been told by the service dept. that you can use 87. The computer will automatically adjust for it. Auto makers feel that recommending high octane puts their cars in the Premium Class.
Has anyone used the 87 octane? Anyone have any negative experience?

Here is some additional info: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...emiumgas_x.htm

One dealer told me that he got the same from 89 as 91 and in some cases he got more mpg out of the 89 but he was not trying to set any speed records with the car and was looking to get the highest mpg out of it. He was in Birmingham , AL and they have some small hill there I am on the coast and there are no hills here . In a two weeks when our new 450 gets in I will start the game of which fuel gives the highest mpg here in LA (lower Alabama).

One of the salesman told me that for 2012 they are going to change the RX to regular like they did the ES. The performance will drop, obviously. I agree, you spend that much for a car and you skimp a few pennies on gas, not worth it. I have never used regular in any of my cars and never had an injector/ carbon issue.

Interesting. Apparently the CT will take regular.

I used to put 89 or better in the 330 even though 87 was recommended. It ran great for the 6+ years I had it. The 450h gets 93 since 91 is recommended and like you said it's not worth saving now to only face potential problems down the road. It also helps that gas prices are below national average by me with no self serve :D

Used 87 on my ES350. The kick is missing in the kick down whenever I manually downshift to 3rd gear for passing.

I have ran 87 for 77k on my 330 and again no problems like the rest with 91 so it is up to you what you feed the car. Had a 2001 Dodge Dakota with a v8 that in the book said to run only 87 in it that your mpg would go down on anything higher.

Right now we use 91/93 in our 2011 RX 450h.

I read a person alternated every 1/2 tank or so 89 then 93 to get a blend, that way you could potentially save money and the RX could also run at it's peak performance.

Makes sense to me!

Just my thoughts,
Steve772

i know it says 91 premium is recommended but my sales guy says all lexus vehicles can run on 87. i dunno if i should take his recommendation.