2003 4Runner V-6 Fuel Octane Requirement

[Mark]

Hello. I am currently looking at purchasing a 2003 V-6 4Runner. I am
not overly impressed with the gas mileage, but most of the vehicles in
that class get about the same as the 4Runner.

The dealer told me that Toyota says to use 91-octane fuel. With the
cost of gas today, has anyone used the 87-octane fuel in the V-6? How
is the performance? Will it harm the engine?

I know the V-8 will use either regular or premium, but that is just
overkill for what I will be using (little to no off-roading and no
towing at all).

Thanks for the input!

Mark

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[Brian]

Googling revealed a few sites that do show 91 octane as recommended, hmm
thats a pricey reqt.

Bri

"Mark" <bro...@nosp.yahoo.net.com> wrote in message
news:u9lddv892b56etgqj...@4ax.com...

[Wesley Thiessen]

If the engine has been designed to run with higher octane, you will definatly damage
and wreck the engine in a shorter matter of time. Fuel choice could also be diagnosed
by dealer and they won't give you warranty if you do that. If you arnt gona 4x4 much,
or pull a trailer, why would you buy such a truck? Any tall vehicle with that kind of
rolling and wind resistance will get poor milage. Throw in the cost of the high
octane... pretty expensive vehicle to operate!

[Brian]

Actually, I have a 2003 V6 with about 2K on it now. So far I have averaged
20.5 - 22 MPG.

This is really not bad at all for a SUV.

Brian

"Wesley Thiessen" <wthiessen***@agricoreunited.com> wrote in message
news:3ED7C259...@agricoreunited.com...

[CDEWITT Webtv.net]

Thank you for that post!
My 03 V8 89 Octane one week 93 The Following!
18MPG
C

[CDEWITT Webtv.net]

You are a Moron!
C

[Ken Shelton]

The engine's knock sensor and other electronics will ensure that the engine
runs well on any octane gasoline...no damage and no warranty concerns. If
you use a lower octane fuel than the engine was designed for your power will
be slightly less and fuel consumption slightly higher.

The owner's manual will give the accurate story on the gasoline octane
requirement. Ignore 99% of what the fools at the stealership tell you.

Ken

"Wesley Thiessen" <wthiessen***@agricoreunited.com> wrote in message
news:3ED7C259...@agricoreunited.com...

[CDEWITT Webtv.net]

Hey How About that!
You Know something Intelligent About Cars and Fuel Management Systems
Bravo!
Unlike that other useless brainless fool!
C

[Mark]

I went to the dealer today to look at what they had in stock. I asked
to look at a Owner's Manual on a V-6. From what I can remember, the
Owner's Manual states that 91-Octane (96 research - whatever that
means) is recommended, but to never use below 87-Octane (91 research).
Use of a non-premium fuel may result in power loss.

I was told that the Owner's Manual for the v-6 and v-8 are the same,
and the manual did not make a distinction between the two engines.

Seems that Toyota is only making the 91 as a recommendation, unless I
missed something else in the manual. Hard to really look through it
with the sales guy over my shoulder.

Thanks for the feedback. It is a nice truck, and in my opinion, rides
much like a car.

Mark

[Wesley Thiessen]

You are recommending someone to run a lower octane fuel? I was just
trying to encourage someone to do what the vehicle was designed for...
seemed to be the wrong vehicle choice in the first place. A detonation
sensor responds after detonation has already occured, something that I
prefer not to put any of my vehicles thru on a daily basis. It's
designed to help the engine deal with some bad gas, not as a premament
fuel/timing adjustment. Relax a bit there smart guy.

[CDEWITT Webtv.net]

Not necessarily is lower Octane bad Gas
My 03 V8 4Runner runs better and has more power on 89. Go figure!
lower Octane than 89 NEVER would I suggest that!
Fuel management Systems Adjust Accordingly for Fuel, Air, Altitude
C

[Wesley Thiessen]

I agree that lower octane doesnt mean bad fuel... what I mean is that
the detonation sensor is there to help deal with the times that you do
have bad gas (ie: water in it, old stale gas, etc) and is not there to
deal with lower octane fuels on a normal basis.

Lower octane fuel is more explosive (hence earlier detonation) than
higher octane fuel. If your engine can handle lower octane fuels safely
(ie: designed to run them), you will only loose power by going to a
higher octane fuel. However, anytime you run an engine closer to its
design limitations, it will give you more power, however, you are
running at "the ragged edge". My main experiance is with snowmobile
engines and fuel selection/quality is of bigtime importance. These
engines also get run at alot higher performance level than your 4Runner
ever would, so its is of even greater importance, but it is something to
consider even for just a road vehicle.

Modern fuel management Systems Adjust Accordingly for Fuel, Air,
Altitude and...
ambiant temperature, engine temp, exhaust levels (O2 sensors), throttle
position, intake air flow, and hard coded timing curves that are based
on expected fuel octanes (not a fuel system but is of even greater
importance). Over all a pretty complex system...then throw in something
like a fuel that its not designed to run with, I think is just asking
for something to fail.

JMO.

[DTT]

Lots of car now these day requires premium fuel, even a 96 Camry V6.
Combined with poor mileage of those cars, and high fuel cost. Premium
gas will cost $200 more a year. That is something the buyer needs to
consider.

I like Honda 'cause most of their car does not require premium fuel.
But all the Acura line does.

I live in AZ, so 6 months of year, I have to pour premium gas in my
Honda and Nis Quest although both has lower compression ratio. So it
does not make much differences for me.

Toyota probably requires premium gas to achieve high output and smooth
running. I think most people can get by with lower grade fuel in cold
months.

Wesley Thiessen <wthiessen***@agricoreunited.com> wrote in message news:<3EDF521A...@agricoreunited.com>...

[Wesley Thiessen]

I used to work with a guy that had one of those Blue Chrysler "Indy 500" pickup trucks with a 360 V8 in it. He put
in some mod chips into the engine management system... it advanced his timing somewhat and forced him to run on
premium fuel... that got expensive real quick!

[Bill & Lynda]

I have an 03 Camry, V-6 and an 03 Tundra V-8. Both call for regular gas (87
octane) and run fine with it.

"DTT" <dtms...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:697a20b8.03060...@posting.google.com...

[CDEWITT Webtv.net]

Honda makes good Motorcycles!
You do not have to use premium in Toyota's
Toyota has much better resale than Nissan and overall builds a much
better car!
C

[Wesley Thiessen]

I have a friend who races motorcycles for many years... does not like
the Honda's at all. He has a Honda factory race bike right now... its
for sale.

I have heard that Honda and or Toyota, might be getting into the General
Aviation business... that would be interesting!!

[Matthew Kane]

You are an idiot if you think that lower octane always means more power. The
truth is that if you are running at the same compression ratio and timing,
you will have slightly more power on a lower octane gas, as it will burn
faster, because that's what lower octane gas does, it burns faster at the
same conditions as a higher octane gas. The problem with your logic is that
this engine does advance the timing with a higher octane fuel, and therefore
does make more power.

Also, the knock sensor is designed to be sensetive enough to sense such
small amounts of knock and adust accordingly that you could run the engine
for it's entire life on lower octane gas and get the same numbe of miles out
of it before it dies/loses compression.

-Matt

"Wesley Thiessen" <wthiessen***@agricoreunited.com> wrote in message
news:3EDF521A...@agricoreunited.com...

[Wesley Thiessen]

Whats with the "I will read one thing, but interpret it as something completely
different"? Kinda strange... No where did I say that lower octane fuel always
means more power... read it again. Whats with the insults too? Are you just a
kid?

What I said, was that running HIGH octane fuel will NOT give you more power, if
the engine wasnt designed for it. Reason being, from how I understand it, most
vehicles have a hard coded time curve. Where on the curve the timing is at, is
based on all its applicable sensors. This timing will also be extra retarded if
a sensor is reporting that something is "out of spec" like a detonation sensor
going off. The system however, won't advance the timing beyond this "hard coded
safe range" to try to take advantage of a higher octane fuel (unless thats where
it was orginally designed to run at of course like I have said). It will just
go up to its designed point which in the case of an engine designed to run lower
octane fuel, wouldnt be far enough to allow the high octane fuel to make any
difference. When people buy the aftermarket performance chips for their "car
computers", its this curve thats being changed... then you can put the high
octane fuel in it and it will take advantage of it.

Most engine fuel requirments are based on compression ratios, not some kind of
timing/fuel management scheme. More HP means higher compression alot of the
times. As modern engines are making lots of power for their displacement, I
would hope that its not a surprise to you that octane requirements are in the
uprise.

If you rely on a detonation sensor to try to compensate for a deficiancy in the
fuel... thats saying abit about your vehicle care.

[DTT]

Ask your racing friend if he loves Ducati. As far as I know, it's a POS.

Wesley Thiessen <wthiessen***@agricoreunited.com> wrote in message news:<3EE49E7B...@agricoreunited.com>...

[Wesley Thiessen]

I don't think he has ever handled one of those. It looks good in the new Matrix movie though.