Recently moved to Utah from California. The costcos I’ve been to here only offers gas in 85 or 91. My car manual recommends 87 and there seems to be a debate online with no consensus over whether 85 gas is harmful or not harmful.
Should I purchase 85 or pay up a little extra for 91 to be safe?
Thank you!
Unless you know for certain that your engine management system can tolerate 85 octane gas I'd play it safe and use the 91. Even at today's prices gasoline is still cheaper than fixing engine damage.
That’s what I thought too. Thank you for backing me up so I don’t feel like I’m getting ripped off at the pump hahaha.
Never heard of 85 octane. They are usually 87, 89 and 91.
We've actually touched on this previously but I'm too lazy to search the board for it. At that time we had some members chime in to say that in some areas of the country regular gas is 85 octane.
85 octane? I don't even think my lawn mower would run on that.
Yup really different here with the 85, 88, and 91 octane stations.
Most cars run just fine on regular 85 at higher altitudes. The air is thinner up there, which effectively reduces the compression ratio of your engine, reducing the need for knock inhibition. That is the extent of my insight on the matter.
Here's is someone very knowledgeable about cars on the matter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJyd6C99_3g
