[juliemaxine]

Good morning.
I am a newby. Just bought our first Toyota, a 2011 RAV4 with 23,000 miles. I believe Base 4WD model.
Here in Iowa there is a nice discount for purchasing 10% ethanol blend gasoline, 87 octane or better. I see in other threads that it seems to be fine to use that.
But I'm wondering about long term usage, is there a down side to it, other than perhaps worse gas mileage? Will we see components fail sooner?
The user manual says "regular unleaded" and a minimum of 87 octane.
Thanks very much!

 

[Dr. Dyno]

10% blend is just fine. In fact it's all that's available in many states.
Octane ratings vary with altitude from 87 at low to 85 at high elevations. Whichever is labeled "Regular" in your location is correct.

 

[RTexasF]

It's nice that you have a choice! As Doc Dyno mentioned just finding straight gasoline is all but impossible in much of the USA. Up to 10% ethanol is fine, the engine & fuel sytem are designed for it. E85 is NOT okay. If I had a choice, which I do not, I would run straight gasoline providing the price was not prohibative.

 

[ronto]

I use what the manufacturer recommends, 87 octane in this case. If I had a choice I'd pay a little extra for no ethanol gas.

 

[focus123]

Good morning.
I am a newby. Just bought our first Toyota, a 2011 RAV4 with 23,000 miles. I believe Base 4WD model.
Here in Iowa there is a nice discount for purchasing 10% ethanol blend gasoline, 87 octane or better. I see in other threads that it seems to be fine to use that.
But I'm wondering about long term usage, is there a down side to it, other than perhaps worse gas mileage? Will we see components fail sooner?
The user manual says "regular unleaded" and a minimum of 87 octane.
Thanks very much!

Top Tier Gasoline

 

[RTexasF]

I DO agree with Top Tier Gasoline.

 

[FixIt]

I DO agree with Top Tier Gasoline.

As do I.


I have corrected many drivability issues on customer's vehicles by having them switch to a top tier fuel. I usually dump a can of Seafoam in the tank to help clean up any deposits in the combustion chambers.


The ONLY fuel I put in my Avvy is QuikTrip. My wife is pretty good about that with her Ravvy, but every now and then she dumps some crap MotoMart fuel in since they are right in front of her office.


You would be amazed at the number of vehicles I have worked on that failed the state emissions tailpipe inspection, and all I did was connect our Motorvac fuel injector flush/combustion chamber cleaner and let it run for 45 minutes. NOx comes down, CO2 goes up, HC goes down and CO goes down.

 

[rav4.32010]

Bp or shell. Mostly bp because of availability in my town. There is 1 gas station next town over that offer non ethanol but its out of the way. Opposite direction on work and such.

 

[kendfw]

FixIt,

Do we need throtle body cleaning and fuel injection cleaning every 30k miles? The dealership uses BG. I normally dump some techcron into the fuel system. Have the dealer clean up the throtle body if it is idling rough only.

 

[rav4.32010]

You can inspect the TB, if needs you can clean it yourself. Auto parts store sell throttle body cleaner. You don't need the dealer to do it and get charge for it.

 

[richardraley]

I use what the manufacturer recommends, 87 octane in this case. If I had a choice I'd pay a little extra for no ethanol gas.

Try this website for ethanol free gas in your area.
Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

 

[DVS]

It is my admittedly very vague understanding that in some (many?) areas it's actually technically illegal to run ethanol-free gas in modern passenger vehicles.

In those areas, ethanol-free gas is approved for small/carbureted engines, such as lawn mowers, snow throwers, boat engines, etc. as it's strongly preferred because it keeps the carbs from gumming up due to the ethanol pulling moisture out of the air and fouling things up.

So I suggest that whoever is thinking of running it in their RAV should check their local laws first.

.

 

[focus123]

Bp or shell. Mostly bp because of availability in my town. There is 1 gas station next town over that offer non ethanol but its out of the way. Opposite direction on work and such.

I would now add Costco to the list. I used Shell and BP since 2009 recently started using Costco(about 3 month period)- as much as 25 cents less per gallon. Getting the same results as Shell and BP in performance.

 

[ronto]

Try this website for ethanol free gas in your area.
Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

Thanks for the link. I found 1 station in town.:smile