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A lot has changed with the new Toyota models offered nowadays, including their class of vehicles. Many Toyota customers have had to go back to the drawing board and reevaluate their perspectives after seeing these truly groundbreaking cars.
Many people have the question about whether Toyotas need premium fuel because of its efficient performance and long life. Obviously you don’t want to put the wrong fuel in your car but you also don’t want to be wasting your money on premium gas if you don’t need it.
Almost all new Toyota models are built to run on standard fuel, and ONLY the Toyota GR Supra has been released to consumers that should be running on premium fuel.
Regular fuel is totally fine for almost all new Toyotas and they will work just fine with it. The increased cost of premium fuel is not worth it in those vehicles.
However, the GR Supra’s top performance and fuel economy would suffer if the improper fuel is used. Once the tank is drained and the proper gas is used, this should be resolved.
While this answers your question briefly, I wanted to go into more detail in this article to give you a better understanding of premium gas, Toyota premium gas usage, and its effect on Toyota’s performance.
I think this information is important to help you understand your Toyota more, save some money, and have a longer time with your Toyota.
Premium Gas and Its Types
All the different fuels are almost the same except for their varying octane number, which makes them slightly different. If you visit a gas station, you will usually see three types of fuel — ordinary, mid-grade, and premium – each with a different octane rating.
An octane rating can be described as a way of measuring the fuel’s capacity to withstand engine knocking. Higher octane will burn cleaner and also more efficiently.
Most of the gas stations offer three types of fuel to the drivers:
1. Regular – which has the lowest octane grade of 87.
2. Mid-range – it has the octane range of 89 to 90.
3. Premium – has the highest octane rating of 91 to 94.
The octane number might differ depending on the manufacturer. 93 octane fuel is the most commonly available fuel in the United States and is generally called super or ultra-premium fuel.
All vehicles must use a specified type of fuel, such as unleaded gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), diesel, or an electronic battery. Most of the Toyota engines work well even without premium fuel except for Toyota GR Supra.
It is better to utilize regular gasoline as long as your Toyota owner’s handbook permits it as you will save a significant amount of money over buying premium gas. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a good idea to combine the different types of gas.
Many people have discovered the hard way when trying to use diesel in a gasoline vehicle or gasoline in a diesel vehicle however the different octane gas shouldn’t be mixed either.
Premium Gas and High-Performance Engines
Higher octane or cetane fuel is usually used to increase efficiency and improve performance, regardless of the brand. It is more difficult to ignite high-octane (premium) fuels because of the increased compression required to do so.
Fuels with low octane numbers are more likely to combust under pressure. Fuel compression is often higher in high-performance engines, and only premium fuel can ensure resistance against that.
Using regular fuel in your Toyota GR Supra can result in unexpected explosions that can damage your engine due to its high performance nature. This is why it is advised to use higher octane fuel in such cars to avoid any possible issues.
You must be thinking, what will happen if you put premium fuel in your car while you are already running on regular gas? Even if you mix regular fuel with premium unleaded fuel, your engine is better prepared to handle it and should not be harmed.
Premium Gas Benefits
Premium gas manufacturers claim that their products have significant advantages, such as removing dirt from the engine’s interior and enhancing the engine’s overall performance. But it does not show any noticeable difference in cars that do not need premium fuel to run.
This is because all cars do not have an equal fuel efficiency response to standard unleaded fuel like regular or midrange and higher octane fuels like premium fuel. For this reason, you should consult the owner’s manual of your car to see what recommendations the manufacturer has for fuel.
Using a higher-octane fuel than what your car’s manufacturer advises is fine, but you will not notice any difference in performance so basically you will just be wasting your money.
In the long run, however, using fuel with a lower octane rating than what your car’s manufacturer advises can lead to engine damage. You should always use premium fuel to get the most out of your high-performance car, such as a Toyota GR Supra.
Using Premium Fuel in Toyotas – Is It Worth It?
It shouldn’t be a surprise that premium fuel is significantly more expensive than normal gas is. It is around fifty cents to a dollar more expensive per gallon than the standard gasoline.
This price differential in fuel will really hurt your wallet if you buy a full tank. This brings us to the question of whether or not it is worthwhile to put premium fuel in your Toyota.
It has been an argument among car enthusiasts for years on whether or not the added expense for premium gas is justified in normal vehicles.
In my opinion, the use of premium fuel on a regular basis is clearly a waste of money for someone with a small to medium Toyota engine. You will pay more at the pump, but you will get no additional power or speed from it.
Older engines that have been running on ordinary unleaded fuel for years may benefit from the cleaning properties of high-octane fuel. Keeping this in mind, a fill-up with premium gas every now and then may be advantageous to your standard Toyota.
However, premium fuel is beneficial for high-performance cars like the Toyota GR Supra because it improves fuel efficiency, maintains, and boosts engine performance. Try high-octane fuel if you think it will help your car and if Toyota advises it as an option.
If you do not notice any difference in fuel efficiency or performance, you are better off sticking with standard fuel and not wasting your money.
What is the point of spending money on something you don’t actually need? Most of the time, going over the octane recommendation in your Toyota owner’s manual is pointless.
Even if you have a Toyota RAV 4 with a high fuel compression engine, using premium fuel will not improve your car’s performance, help it go quicker, get better gas efficiency, or run cleaner. So essentially you are paying more for something when you don’t need to.
Final Thoughts
All of this information is dependent on the make and model of your Toyota. If your Toyota GR Supra has been routinely filled with premium petrol and drives like a dream, there is a compelling case for keeping up with it.
Using regular octane fuel in a low-powered car will also provide you a pleasant ride. You may use premium fuel in your regular Toyotas every now and then to clean the engine and flush the toxins, but doing so regularly for any Toyota other than the GR Supra would cost you more money than you need to spend with very few advantages.