Anyone using 87 octane in your NX 350 turbo. I know it's not recommended.

 

Don't use regular fuel on a turbo especially it is not recommended by the manufacturer.

 

My thought also. Just wondering what others are doing.

 

I am doing what the manual and the lid says 93 only.

 

I did my first fill-up yesterday...as painful as $4.89/gal is, I'm sticking with the premium.

 

We had an Infiniti JX35 (now the Q60?) a few years back that called for premium fuel. I told the wife to get the 87, since it was with my understanding the timing is computer adjusted and will adjust to the lower octane. The car did "ping" when accelerating and didn't have great performance when using the 87, and when we traded it in, it was throwing a "check engine" light for the catalytic converter.

No idea if the catalytic converter issue was related to using 87 for 120,000 miles, but in the case of the NX and the Turbo engine, I think we'll stick with the premium. So far we're getting overall of 28.5 mpg which is 20% better than the Highlander we traded in, so the 10% extra $$ for premium fuel leaves us ahead.

 

Actually, it's 91.

Octane Requirements

 

Premium is Required and not just recommended for the turbo

 

I would only attempt that on a cooler day. On a hot day or hot climate generally, stick with premium. The pcm will adjust but at the cost of lost performance. If you live in a cold climate you will likely be fine since the cold intake air will likely provide enough protection from detonation and pinging with the pcm there to monitor and adjust accordingly.

Under warranty, would I mess with it long-term? Probably not but it's ok for once in a while to test it or by accident.

Once you are out of warranty, you can install a water injection system to effectively boost the octane of regular fuel to well beyond 93. I've done it on all of my turbo cars (including my Lexus) for other reasons such as improved cooling capability, cleaning of deposits and for performance reasons when increasing boost levels.

 

Only in a pinch and then only quarter tank till I can find 91.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.co...?client=safari

According to Doug Herbert at Lexus, “Required” is a bit overstated:

Herbert said that both vehicles (an RC 350 sports coupe and an NX 200t compact SUV) will run on regular-grade fuel without damage. But since both the advertised power ratings and the EPA fuel-economy figures were attained using premium, that’s what they have to put as the required fuel. However, he also warned that continued use of regular-grade gas would cause the engine’s computer to back off on the ignition timing—thus adversely affecting both power and fuel economy—and that it would continue to do so for a time even after the car is filled with premium.

 

To take a little sting out of the high gas prices for premium, you could alternate between Premium 93 and Plus 89. If you start full with 93 in the tank, when you get to 1/2 tank, refill with Plus 89. That would net down to approx 91 octane which would still satisfy the engine requirement. Of course, all if you want to be bothered doing this....