What type of Gas should Prius stay AWAY

use 87 while cruising around town, 89 on long distance highway driving.

 

So 89 is only useful in power mode with "spirited" driving?

 

Save your money: it never needs 89 octane. If the engine ever pings it needs a repair, not different gas.

 

I would love to see what kind of mpg my Prius could reach if real 87 octane was available instead of E-10 and the special additives requiored in the Chicago area and the crap winter blend. I found real gasoline in Alabama on a trip to florida used 2 tanks to and 2 back going through the state got 6 mpg better on that gas. First tank of E-10 and everyone after back down minus 6. I have been told less energy in a gallon of E-10 vs real gasoline and even less energy in a gallon of E-85. Everyone i have met with a flex fuel vehicle says E-85 drops their mpg compared to E-10.

 

I'm not totally sold on the idea of E-85 having less energy than E-10 or real gasoline. I met an owner of a shop that specializes in changing over vehicles to E-85 only. I'm not sure what parts are changed and what tuning tweeks he then uses but he said i would be suprised the power and mileage gains they can get. I saw how many vehicles were waiting for the change over lots of mustangs some were getting the full treatment turbo, E-85 change over and then tune tweeks. I'll stay with my tweeks called Toyota Prius.

 

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/pdfs/afv_info.pdf
Alternative Fuels to Gasoline - Cost of Alternative Fuels - Popular Mechanics
www.fuelgaugereport.com
The ethanol myth

http://www.motorweek.org/features/goss_garage/e85_compatibility

But, http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2009/05/25/462650.html claims the above is an exaggeration.

 

cwerdna nice video but the shop does not do a flex fuel conversion it is E-85 only . The parts that are needed to be changed they do then some type of tune. They have lots of happy customers who are gearheads and probably charge a couple thousand. They have been refining this for a few years. From what they said flex cars are a joke because they have to do both fuels their conversion takes full advantage of E-85 they are more of a race shop for muscle type cars. This is not my area of knowledge at all but they have a following so they must be doing something right. They also say small engine, turbo and set up to run only E-85 is what car manufactures should be doing but it's all Greek to me.

 

High performance cars often run alcohol or methanol to increase octane and decrease the chance of detonation. I ran methanol injection in my truck. I can understand why high performance turbocharged or supercharged cars would be interested in E 85 but that doesn't means it's the way to go for everyone. Ethanol is expensive to produce and doesn't offer any real reduction in fossil fuel use.

 

We are moving to south Utah, elevation 2800-5000 feet. Regular gas is 85 octane and has 10% eethanol. Is that OK for my
2009 Prius with 85000 miles

 

Yes. The lowest octane in your Area is always fine. 85 is likely tailored to your higher altitude. It's a rare vehicle that needs anything higher, but you wouldn't think that's the case, looking at the plethora of higher octane pumps.

 

Our Prius has a knock sensor that I've tested and works just fine. You should have no problem. Still, ask a local Toyota dealer for the last word.

Bob Wilson

 

Reg 87 is all you need, I get mine at Costco or Sams it works just fine

 

^^^keep in mind MPG, high up in the mountains they can go with Reg 85 octane as equivalent to Reg 87 octane at sea level

 

Other than that high-ethanol gas you are NOT supposed to use, you can use any regular gas out there. Even the 10% ethanol gas (most common) is perfectly safe on the Prius.

Also, regarding "high octane" gas, a Prius would really never benefit from it. The Prius power plant does not use the ICE to produce motion in quite the same way as a standard automobile does. Even then, octane's benefit is frequently questioned.

You WILL get more benefit running a fuel system cleaner on a somewhat regular basis (every 3 months) to ensure you keep the system running at 100%. Every vehicle my family has owned that used a FI system has done this. Go a year without doing it, and you will notice an improvement when you start doing it again. The additives gas companies put in are a much lower concentration, and requires you always use THEIR gas to get the long-term benefit. OTC additives are much more powerful and do the job in one application.