Rarebird

‘17 350 RX use regular from top tier Exxon. Try to always visit same big busy station in town.

used top tier in prior car, Toyota Camry V6 3.5L ( I believe these engines are very similar And used across Toyota and lexus brands) same Exxon fuel. That car purchased new ‘08 & i ran it for 180,000 miles before selling to very happy new owners just few months ago.

Cocal

This not correct! They are tuned to ACCEPT regular gas without damage, that's not to say that's what they recommend.

mssca

Lexus manual recommends ANY type of fuel rated 87 or up on American fuel grading scale. So, yes the Lexus Canada recommends 87 fuel and it is printed in my manual black and white. Lexus Canada also claimed that using higher grade fuel will NOT extend the life of my 2017 RX V6 engine (page 678 of the manual).

Cocal

This is what I've found in my Owner's Manual 2017 RX350 page 739: Except EU area:
You must only use unleaded gasoline. Select unleaded gasoline with a Research Octane Number of 95 or higher for optimum engine performance.

Where is the recommendation?

mssca

Europe calculate the octane rating differently. On the American scale 87 is probably 95 in Europe. European scale for octane rating is different.

If not, do you have a Hybrid RX? If it is then, yes you should use a higher octane gas. The engine on hybrid is different from the normal V6.

EDIT: Grade 87 = 91 rating in Europe. So it is kind of close to 95, but I don't know why Lexus in Europe says use 95 or above on Europe rating.

tomtom74

Higher compression engine need higher octane fuel.
RX350 3.5L compression ratio - 11.8:1
RX450h 3.5L compression ratio - 13.0:1

mssca

This is why NX need higher octane too right? IT has a higher compression ratio than RX 350 V6.

tomtom74

I think NX 200t has lower compression then RX 350. Usually turbo engine has lower compression ratio then naturally aspirated engine. There is different reason for turbo engine to use higher octane fuel.

Oldfart

Mazda engines with 14:1 do not require higher octane

tomtom74

I'm not a Mazda engineer so I don't know how they are doing it, but I'm taking about generally speaking and including Lexus engine.

PeeVee

I've been on a trip for my son's hockey tournament and usually I always fill-up at Esso (Exxon in the states) but this time I went to a Shell station, same grade (87).

I found the responsiveness of the acceleration to be degraded compared to what I am used to.
I wonder what made a difference though.

I never complained about hesitation before but now I surely feel it!

Htony

According to owner's manual I use Shell Premium always.

Htony

According to owner's manual?

PeeVee

You have the hybrid?

Cocal

Read it again, that quote was for outside Europe