Originally Posted By: skyactiv
If you buy a new gas powered car 10 years from now, it wont be using 87 octane. GM and other auto makers are pushing to get rid of 87 octane as it's holding back better engine designs and Joe Q public wants to buy a $48K SUV and run the cheapest gas possible.
That's the truth. With the newer engines that are completely computer controlled, you can get away with using 87 Octane and not hurt anything. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the best choice. Years ago if you used too low of an octane fuel, your engine would start knocking and pinging loud enough to sound like a Jamaican steel drum band.
Today the computer immediately senses it, and detunes the engine to prevent that from happening. So in that regard you can safely use 87. But most of the owners manuals that come with the higher performance V-8 engines tell you that for, "best engine performance" use a higher octane fuel.
I don't drive enough for the cost to matter. And I want my HEMI V-8 to perform at it's best. So I use 91 Premium. Paying an extra $3K for a V-8, then turning around and burning cheap gas in it which limits it's performance, seems like false economy to me. I'll save money elsewhere. And the fact the manufacturers are pushing to get rid of 87 speaks volumes in itself. It's holding back both efficiency and performance, and forcing them to design lower performance engines because it limits the parameters they can build to. People use it because it's cheaper, period. It offers nothing else except for the fact you can get away with it.