POLL What octane gas is everyone using?

[matthew1]

I added a poll to this for quick data uptake.

You can vote up to 3 times, one for each Volvo you own. Please only vote once if you have one Volvo, etc.

You can change your vote(s) in case you change octane or make a mistake.

[matthew1]

I don't know that 84 or less is available, and similarly don't know if common pump fuel goes to 95 or above, but I put those in to be sure. I'm fairly sure it goes from 85 to 93, commonly.

[matthew1]

If you occasionally put in 93 but normally use say 87, just average it, giving the correct weight to the respective numbers in your math.

[matthew1]

What helped MPG for you? is an interesting sister subject/poll.

[prwood]

I use 87 in my '01 V70 2.4T, as per the minimum requirement listed in the owner's manual, rather than 91 which is recommended for "optimum performance." So I guess I can assume that my engine is not currently running at "optimum performance."

Fuel requirements
Octane rating
Volvo engines are designed for optimum performance on unleaded premium gasoline with an octane rating AKI of 91, or above. AKI (ANTI KNOCK INDEX) is an average of the Research Octane Number, RON, and the Motor Octane Number, MON. (RON + MON/2). The minimum octane requirement is AKI 87 (RON 91).

source: http://new.volvocars.com/ownersdocs/200 ... a.htm#pg78

Gas prices here north of Boston are $2.56/G for regular and $2.96/G for premium. A tank full of regular runs me about $51, a tank full of premium would be about $59, so I guess I'm saving about $8? Is it worth it? I haven't done any testing with higher octanes to see if it affects performance or fuel economy, so I can't say for sure.

Side note: we just took a road trip to Prince Edward Island, and while fuel was definitely more expensive (it came out to $3.28/G after Liters-Gallons and CAD-USD conversion), I did appreciate not having to shop around to find the cheapest gas, since the island regulates its prices: http://www.irac.pe.ca/document.aspx?fil ... prices.asp

Site note 2: When we traveled out west a few years ago, it was interesting to see the lower scale for octane ratings as we got out into the Rockies, due to the higher elevation, and I did notice that performance and fuel economy improved once I switched from my typical 87 down to 85.

[850TurboTurtle]

87 is regular here, 91 is high octane. I generally use 87 in my 2005 S80 T6, but I drive gently. If I want to give it a treat once in a while I'll do a tank of 91, usually after a price drop. It seems to eat anything happily, but it is a little more punchy with 91.

[gmh]

The real point is the longevity of the engine internals. As has been beaten to death here and on other forums, over the long haul the engine is much more likely to burn an exhaust valve when running the lower octane fuels. Burnt valves are showing up more and more these days ...

Modern fuel injections engines have knock sensors to detect knocks to save the engine. If you use lower octane gas, the engine will probably knock on acceleration, computer will see the knock and pull timing, this is why power/mpg goes down.

Use whatever the factory recommended, which is usually 91 octane for turbo car. If you can't afford 91 octane, you can't afford a turbo car.

Run 87 in a turbo long enough and you will burn valves, I promise. 92 or NA.

For those who overlook the original posts in this 4 year old thread, be aware of the warnings about burnt valves. It happened to me with my first 850 as I ran regular before joining the forum. Still quite a few saying that they use regular in their turbo.

[Ocelot]

The lowest octane sold in the Netherlands is 95, the highest you can get is 102 but the price of that gas is just wonkers. I wonder how my S70 runs on 87 in the US... a few days back I visited Poland and the cheap gas there made my Volvo run less economic. Not bad in any way, just less mpg.

[Rattnalle]

A tank of regular EU 95 is something like $110-120. Premium another 10% or so. Another 10% on top of the $4000 or so I already spend on fuel each year I'd rather spend somewhere else.

Octane aside that can be other differences. I hadn't even heard of a burnt valve before I came on here.

[abscate]

A tank of regular EU 95 is something like $110-120. Premium another 10% or so. Another 10% on top of the $4000 or so I already spend on fuel each year I'd rather spend somewhere else.

Octane aside that can be other differences. I hadn't even heard of a burnt valve before I came on here.

We complain when it goes over $50 a tank here. Of course, we spend 4x that on poor health care that can be taken away from you if you get sick.

Just got a $1000 bill for one of the kids 9 months after the event. Insurance company says I’m outside the 6 month window to file claim. WTF?