2017~2025 Emergency Regular in CX-5 Turbo?

[Pitter]

Does it cause any harm to tank up a turbo with regular in an emergercy situation? I am in Colombia and there is a shortage of gas due to road blockages.

 

[CarpeDiem]

The current 2.5 turbo engines can use 87 octane (US measurement) all the time, not just higher octane. Not sure about the octane ratings of “regular” available in Colombia or how they are measured - RON, MON, AKI or what.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

You'll be fine with 87 octane. The engine knows which octane is being used and adjusts engine parameters accordingly. You'll lose a bit of power as compared to higher octane but the car will be fine.

 

[wlong01]

Have not put in anything but regular (87) in and it runs fine. It's built to run on 87.

 

[Pitter]

Well I'm seeing in wikipedia that the RON level for regular is about the same for both US and Colombian gasolines so indeed it does not appear to be an issue.

 

[ceric]

Keep it under 5k RPM if I were you.

 

[Sig cx-5]

Keep it under 5k RPM if I were you.

LOL, why do you think that?

 

[Mazdiod2]

Does the 87 have any ethanol in it? You could add some Everclear.

 

[ceric]

LOL, why do you think that?

The power curves diverge from 4k and up (87 vs 93 octane).

 

[Sig cx-5]

Does the 87 have any ethanol in it? You could add some Everclear.

That does not equate to damage, which you seemed to be alluding to.

 

[CarpeDiem]

Spinning the engine much above 5000 rpm won’t hurt a thing, but it won’t help much with power. The horsepower curve starts dropping off after ~4800 rpm after peaking around 4000 rpm.

 

[Pitter]

I appreciate the informative responses to my original question. Now I need to update it. The "emergency" descriptive no longer applies. The national strike here in Colombia continues with roads into the city of Cali where I live continuously blocked. Some fuel as well as foodstuffs have been let in but there is no sign of "extra" being supplied to gas stations any time soon. So now my question is, is there damage to a turbo CX 5 when regular fuel is used for an extended period like a month or two?

 

[CarpeDiem]

Absolutely not, as long as it is equivalent to or higher than the 87 octane available in the US. Mazda advertises the turbo as producing 227 hp on 87 octane.

 

[pcardoza]

40,000 miles on my '19 GTR. I'd say 37,000 miles have been on 87 octane. Runs like new...

 

[Pitter]

Well that's good to know. Since I posed the question gas stations here are now getting delivery of "extra". I checked once in wikipedia and if I recall correctly the "regular" octane rating for gas sold here is the same as in the US.

 

[MyFirstMazda]

I appreciate the informative responses to my original question. Now I need to update it. The "emergency" descriptive no longer applies. The national strike here in Colombia continues with roads into the city of Cali where I live continuously blocked. Some fuel as well as foodstuffs have been let in but there is no sign of "extra" being supplied to gas stations any time soon. So now my question is, is there damage to a turbo CX 5 when regular fuel is used for an extended period like a month or two?

A national strike? Yikes. What's the strike about?

 

[Pitter]

Colombia is in a huge mess right now. Roads throughout the country are blocked. Only some so called "humanitarian" deliveries of food, medicine and gasoline are being let through. The strike began in response to a proposed economic reform that would tax a lot more people but was finally shelved as a result of the protests. The strikers then added more issues to the extent that it is now not clear what they want. Unfortunately criminal groups especially FARC guerrilla have taken advantage of the situation to create havoc in the cities through violent acts of vandalism in an effort to collapse the current government. Indian groups are allied with the guerrila and it is mostly Indians who are manning the roadblocks outside the cities.As things stand today there is no way to leave or enter the city of Cali where I am either North , South, East or West. All roads blocked.

 

[murky]

If I got the turbo, I don't think I'd ever put anything but regular it it. It makes no difference except when you are accelerating full throttle at high RPM - something I almost never do.