Well I had said that I didn't notice a difference when I switched from 91 to 87 octaine. Well I decided to try a tank of 91 because it was a good price. I have been running on it 2 days now. I am not 100% sure that its not where I bought it as opposed to the octaine level. I got this 91 at a different station than I usually go to. Well for that last 2 days my truck has been driving smoother and also feels more peppy. Not anything outrageous just enough to tell a difference. Maybe I'm crazy or maybe its just a better gas quality at this station, but I believe I will start using 91 for a while. What do you guys think about this finding.
M4ck

I think it's very a real observation. I have yet to do any octane testing with my OBD2 cable and laptop but can tell you that by using a slower burning higher octance fuel comes less emissions. I'll try to do some testing soon and see if a higher octance fuel increases timing any. Stay tuned!!

Well I had said that I didn't notice a difference when I switched from 91 to 87 octaine. Well I decided to try a tank of 91 because it was a good price. I have been running on it 2 days now. I am not 100% sure that its not where I bought it as opposed to the octaine level. I got this 91 at a different station than I usually go to. Well for that last 2 days my truck has been driving smoother and also feels more peppy. Not anything outrageous just enough to tell a difference. Maybe I'm crazy or maybe its just a better gas quality at this station, but I believe I will start using 91 for a while. What do you guys think about this finding.
M4ck

Yeah I thought that you would reconsider my poll after trying a different gas. Just kidding, It does seem to make a slight difference though.

Gentleman,
My bet is that octane has little to do with the overall performance of the gasoline. Afterall all octane measures is the ability of a gasoline to resist pre-ignition. Octane has no bearing on the "energy" available from a gasoline. My guess is that buying gasoline from a reputable refinery will yield better performance in most all applications. Hop onto VP/Sunoco et al websites and I'm sure you'll find gasolines of similar octanes (research or motor octanes) that will far out perform pump gas in any application. The question is are we willing to pay for it, let alone find a place that sells those gasolines?? Living in Denver I can tell you that having oxy gasoline (ethanol) sucks. These types of fuels lower mileage for the sake of lowered CO emissions. I routinely get the mileage that the sticker says I should get. However living at an elevation of 5500' MSL one would think that my truck would get better mileage here at altitude. If for no other reason than the engine ought to be mixing less fuel with the available atmosphere here. Just my two cents...bye the way does anyone know of a manufacturer that might build a turbocharger for this engine? That would make our trucks all that and a box of chocolates.
Regards,
Sam

What do you guys think about this finding.

I think you found some good drugs! It has all been said before, but go ahead and spend the extra money if it makes you feel better!

Spending extra money doesn't make me feel better but I swear that I can see a difference I'm wondering more if its the difference in brand because this was from 2 different gas stations.
M4ck

yeah 91 is good for the titan .. so what if it costs a few dollars more to fill up

I did the opposite a few months back...went from 91 to 87 octane. I also switched stations. My truck gets better mpg and runs smoother on the lower octane. But my guess is that it runs smoother with the better gas source. Went to BP gas. Tried Texaco and Valero in the past few weeks and my mpg and performance suffered. So all in all...I think that what you are seeing in the higher octane is actually just a better quality gas from a better station. Try the lower octane at that station and see what happens.

Just realized this was an OLD thread....

dang it! sorry!

The truck is designed to burn 87. You will generally get ur best results using 87 unless someone comes out with a Tuner. Then 91+ would be better.



OOOOOps way old thread my bad.

i have to run 93 octane in my rig since i have a nitrous setup now..

I have tried this with 89 and 87 octane from the same station and all I can say is that this truck likes the lower octane not only did my mpg increase I found it ran a lot smoother. The question really is how high a quality is the gas, some 87's might be a better quality than some 89's or 93's. Another question is how long is the 91 or 93 sitting in the tank before it is sold, most people use regular so I think it comes down to buying quality gas whatever you use !!

Just make sure your gas station is one that sees a lot of traffic. This will lower the chance of getting some "bad" gas.

Higher octane fuel will have different additives that will help the engine run cleaner and smoother. It's not just knock resistance that's different.

I run premium V-Power only in my Titan. I'd do it even if it was more expensive. It just turn's out the improved mileage from the premium out weight the price difference. I hit reserve at 320-340 miles with regular and at 360-370 miles with premium. Driving habits will affect that a lot. I do 60 miles a day, mostly highway, cruising at 70 mph.

Yes, the topic has been beaten to death. Most people that say fuel grade doesn't make a difference have no idea how an IC engine works... Just get a good engine tunning book, skip to the ignition timing section.

The truck is designed to burn 87. You will generally get ur best results using 87 unless someone comes out with a Tuner. Then 91+ would be better.

The same engine in the QX56 recommends 91...

The same engine in the QX56 recommends 91...

im sure their are suttle diferences that account for that.

the engine i the same but it has advanced timing to account for the increased hp

wow these old posts are getting drug up the last few days.
I will be switching to 93 as well as soon as I get the opportunity to install my nitrous kit. Its sad its just sitting in my garage collecting dust for the last few weeks.
M4ck

:( no performance shops around you to install it?? they will prob charge you 400-800 to install the kit..
did you also end up getting the msd window switch with the fuel rail adapter and plugs?

Still need the switch and adapter.

the engine i the same but it has advanced timing to account for the increased hp

Hmm, AFAIK all Nissan and Infiniti engines are set at 15^ BTDC...

nope not the armada and the qx56.. they have advanced timing to account for thier increased hp.. that's why THEY HAVE TO RUN SUPREME UNLEADED

Resist the temptation to believe marketing hype, expecially on different brands of gasoline ..... I'm looking over our tank truck loading facility right now and I see a BP Amoco truck, Shell truck, several Pilot trucks, a bunch of white unmarked trucks, and I saw an Exxon truck walla go, but it's already gone ......and the refinery that I work for is none of those ..... but if you believe that one brand is better than another brand, that's ok too ...... is truly amazing how powerful a "placibo" can be in medical test ...(which is a nice way to say it's all in your head).....the bottom line is whatever makes you happy ....and as far as the octane discussion, it is possible that the ECU is effected by the slower burn of a higher octane fuel .... and that could possibly result in a positive power output .....but I personally run the cheap stuff .....a couple of fuel buying tips .... always purchase fuel in the coolest part of the day, early morning ....fuel is sold by volume and a gallon of cooler fuel has more hydrocarbon molecules than a gallon of warmer fuel ..... and as mentioned before, always buy fuel at high volume distributors ..... also, never purchase fuel while a tank truck is unloading into the stations tanks, it could stir up sediment that may or may not be there......

Resist the temptation to believe marketing hype, expecially on different brands of gasoline ..... I'm looking over our tank truck loading facility right now and I see a BP Amoco truck, Shell truck, several Pilot trucks, a bunch of white unmarked trucks, and I saw an Exxon truck walla go, but it's already gone ......and the refinery that I work for is none of those ..... but if you believe that one brand is better than another brand, that's ok too ...... is truly amazing how powerful a "placibo" can be in medical test ...(which is a nice way to say it's all in your head).....the bottom line is whatever makes you happy ....and as far as the octane discussion, it is possible that the ECU is effected by the slower burn of a higher octane fuel .... and that could possibly result in a positive power output .....but I personally run the cheap stuff .....a couple of fuel buying tips .... always purchase fuel in the coolest part of the day, early morning ....fuel is sold by volume and a gallon of cooler fuel has more hydrocarbon molecules than a gallon of warmer fuel ..... and as mentioned before, always buy fuel at high volume distributors ..... also, never purchase fuel while a tank truck is unloading into the stations tanks, it could stir up sediment that may or may not be there......

Ah...Mr B...you hit the nail on the head (as always)...may I add...never continue filling your truck when the storage tank pumps run slow...that means your scraping the bottom of the barrel...adding sediment to your fuel.

STOP now, and move on to another station.

nope not the armada and the qx56.. they have advanced timing to account for thier increased hp.. that's why THEY HAVE TO RUN SUPREME UNLEADED
the Armada has the same HP and TQ as the Titan. The QX has slightly higher. Even with the timing advance I am under the impression that you don't need to run fuel higher than 87 unless you are towing full capacity. Heavy strain on the engine causes knocking and higher octane will help.

Consumer Report did a study several years back and came to a conclusion that there is no significant improvement in performance by switching from 87 octane to 93. The only reason to use higher octane is if you have a high performance vehicle that is design to use it or years down the line when you have a lot of carbon build up to prevent knocking. If your vehicle was design to run on 87 octane going to 93 will be giving money away to the gas companies. There has been many studies to prove this.

Resist the temptation to believe marketing hype, expecially on different brands of gasoline ..... I'm looking over our tank truck loading facility right now and I see a BP Amoco truck, Shell truck, several Pilot trucks, a bunch of white unmarked trucks, and I saw an Exxon truck walla go, but it's already gone ......and the refinery that I work for is none of those ..... but if you believe that one brand is better than another brand, that's ok too ...... is truly amazing how powerful a "placibo" can be in medical test ...(which is a nice way to say it's all in your head).....the bottom line is whatever makes you happy ....and as far as the octane discussion, it is possible that the ECU is effected by the slower burn of a higher octane fuel .... and that could possibly result in a positive power output .....but I personally run the cheap stuff .....a couple of fuel buying tips .... always purchase fuel in the coolest part of the day, early morning ....fuel is sold by volume and a gallon of cooler fuel has more hydrocarbon molecules than a gallon of warmer fuel ..... and as mentioned before, always buy fuel at high volume distributors ..... also, never purchase fuel while a tank truck is unloading into the stations tanks, it could stir up sediment that may or may not be there......

It's not surprising that all the companies share the same ingredients in their formulation.

It's the additives that are different, and these are added in the truck. Fuel is just fuel, nothing wrong for beer companies to share the same water supply right ? ;)

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I've got to put my 2 cents in this discussion.
I get better mileage, better throttle response and smoother idling by using 89 octane in the winter. I get 15-20 more miles per tank with 89 than I do on 87. Understand that this is only during the winter. I saw my mileage drop when the weather turned cold. I don't think I'd get any better going to 93.
Everybody knows that the oil companys tamper with fuel in the winter.
During the winter months, 89 is alot closer to 87 than it is in the summer. At least here in the northeast.

I've noticed my truck burns thru 91 alot faster than 88.

I dont have enough mileage on my '06 TITAN to draw any real world testing (0nly 6k) however on my 03 Hemi i did an extenisve mileage comparison between 87 and 89 octane for about 5000 miles with meticulous fuel log records. At the end of which the 89 octane delivered an increase of 0.4 mpg. the driveability was the same, I could not test acceleration times, but noticed no difference. The extra cost of .10 to .20 per gallon for 89 octane was not made up for by the slight increase in mileage at the average price of 2.00 to 2.20 /gal . So unless there are clearly demonstrated performance advantages or requirements for higher octane I'd stay with the 87.

Thanks for the info -I'll have to try it out

i would like to say one thing on this subject... some vehicles increase or retard timing based upon fuel octane. it is a known fact that the 4th gen maxima gains 10whp off of 93 vs 87. someone in this thread mentioned checking timing and i would say that is the only way to tell. i notice no difference on the titan between octanes, only brands (additives).

I run Mountain Dew in my truck. I tried Dr. Pepper for a while but it knocked like crazy, plus all these weird artsie types began to follow me around. Then I tried COKE for a while but had trouble finding a station that carried it - they kept telling me "no COKE...a PEPSI".