87, 89 or 91 octane?
- Thread starter Bob-Loblaw
- Start date
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- 2015 Mazda CX-5 Touring FWD
I have tried premium, and no alcohol gas in my 2015 Touring with no appreciable difference between any of them. Stick with 87, anything else is wasted money.
Agreed with a caveat?
I have always run Chevron 87 in my cars. but on occasion, I have used Arco or the like in a pinch. Through the years, I have owned a few higher performance vehicles like a 911SC Porsche, and a supercharged Mini Cooper, where the higher the octane the better!
Now since there is only 1 pipeline into town; it would appear on the surface that all brands are identical, except for the cleaning additives that are used. I have not noticed any of my autos running any different; and really wonder if additives like Techron are snake oil, or if they are good in the long run for helping to clean fuel systems?(boom08)
I have always run Chevron 87 in my cars. but on occasion, I have used Arco or the like in a pinch. Through the years, I have owned a few higher performance vehicles like a 911SC Porsche, and a supercharged Mini Cooper, where the higher the octane the better!
Now since there is only 1 pipeline into town; it would appear on the surface that all brands are identical, except for the cleaning additives that are used. I have not noticed any of my autos running any different; and really wonder if additives like Techron are snake oil, or if they are good in the long run for helping to clean fuel systems?(boom08)
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- Plano, Texas, USA
piotrek91, please listen to ramius, and hope you don't do "driving up a steep driveway at ~1000RPM in 2nd gear" at all. In addition, I hope your CX-5 was still moving and your clutch is fully released while you were doing that. Otherwise not only you were lugging your engine, but also you were burning your clutch.
Also piotrek91, are you using top-tier regular gas such as Shell, Chevron, or even Costco? No matter what you'd said, Mazda designed Northern America version of SkyActiv engines with lower 13:1 compression ratio just for running 87 octane gasoline. It has 5% less horsepower and torque than 14:1 SkyActiv engines used in the rest of the world. Using premium gas here in US for your CX-5 is simply just waste of money.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
No, NA version of SkyActiv engine can't take advantage of higher octane gas as it designed with lowered compression ratio to run regular gas.
Thank you for your concern and advice.
Keep in mind that "steep" is a relative term. I've moved away from this hill, so you can rest easy knowing that my cx-5 no longer has to drive up it
The car did fine climbing said hill in second gear, it was just happier doing so with premium gas. (I run regular 99% of the time, I just tried a few tanks a couple years ago to see if there is any difference)
I do use top-tier gas. I would have to go out of my way to find non top-tier gas. The cheap gas stations around here: Arco and Costco both sell top tier gas these days.
This topic has been discussed many times here before and if you do a search you'll see its been beat to death. The facts are the American Skyactiv 2.0 and 2.5 engines DO NOT benefit in any way from using higher than the recommended 87 octane fuel. They do not get better fuel mileage (I've tested this myself) and they do not gain more power. The only difference between 87 octane fuel and 93 octane fuel is in the 93 octane fuels ability to resist pre-ignition under higher pressures/temperatures because of its higher flash point. 93 octane fuels DO NOT contain more cleaning additives than 87 octane fuels but the gas companies do an admirable job of fooling the uninformed consumer of making them believe that so they boost their profits by selling more of the high octane stuff to those people. Lastly the gas/fuel companies make more money on 89 octane fuel vs 93 octane, which is just a blend of 93 and 87 octane fuels. Lastly if you want to get the best 87 octane fuel for your engine than look for the brands that carry Top Tier fuel.You can find out more about Top Tier here http://www.toptiergas.com/
The hills I got up are 14,000ft (Mt. Evans) and I do it on 84 octane with my CX-5.
stormcloud
Member
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- 2016 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD w/Tech + i-ActivSense
I'm just wondering if anyone here gets get lower mpg when using Costco, Sams Club vs. Shell or BP?
I use either Costco or Chevron. No change in MPG.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Now, that's funny!
But seriously. I remember when I pumped gas in Colorado many years ago, the octane on regular was 85, not 84!
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- Plano, Texas, USA
I use Shell only on our CX-5 but use Costco or Shell on our Honda CR-V. There is no difference in MPG and it shouldn't. Be aware that Costco is Top-Tier gas but Sam's Club is not!
I guess I want to know what this is based on, Costco vs Sam's club.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Costco gas station put up a sign says its gasoline exceeds Top-Tier gasoline standard; whereas Sam's Club gas station says nothing on the pump. Besides, you can check out this TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline Retailers list.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
"TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline is the premier standard for gasoline performance. Seven of the world's top automakers, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Audi recognize that the current EPA minimum detergent requirements do not go far enough to ensure optimal engine performance.
Since the minimum additive performance standards were first established by EPA in 1995, most gasoline marketers have actually reduced the concentration level of detergent additive in their gasoline by up to 50%. As a result, the ability of a vehicle to maintain stringent Tier 2 emission standards have been hampered, leading to engine deposits which can have a big impact on in-use emissions and driver satisfaction.
These automakers have raised the bar. TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline help drivers avoid lower quality gasoline which can leave deposits on critical engine parts, which reduces engine performance. That's something both drivers and automakers want to avoid."
The website has a video and the sponsor "Lubrizol" is a Cleveland based chemical company now owned by Warren Buffett, who provides detergent to Costco gas.
iced_theater
Member
I use 85 octane and have for 70k plus miles. If I lived closer to sea level, I'd still only use 87 octane.
Chris_Top_Her
Contributor
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- San Antonio, Texas
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- '15 CX-5 Miata AWD
I use whatever the top is; around here that's 92. My engine is tuned so I get more performance with it. Sometimes I can break traction at 35 mph under the right shift/throttle combo.
boandlkramer
US Specs in Europe
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- '17 CX-5 GT AWD; '18 BMW X3
I think I have the octane queation down. However the premium grade at some stations has additives that clean out the 'insides' right? It wouldn't hurt to fill with this every month or so?
