Regular gasoline for a hybrid

- G
- Gary
  
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posted
12 years ago

Sun, Dec 4, 2011 2:21 PM

I just bought a new Lexus CT-200h hybrid and had a question of my salesman regarding gasoline for the car. I wasn't satisfied with his answer. Maybe someone here has a better take on what kind of gas to use for my new hybrid.

Usually gasoline manufacturers add detergents and other cleaning agents to their premium gas. I always thought that the regular octane gas had much less of these sorts of chemicals. That means that if you buy the recommended regular gas, you are inviting buildups of carbon and other contaminants.

On the other hand, the car is designed for regular gas. There might be other consequences that I don't know about to using a higher octane gas than is called for.

So what's the best gasoline practice for a hybrid? Should I adopt occasional use of the small bottles of fuel system cleaners you can buy at WalMart or auto supply stores?

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- Elmo P. Shagnasty
  
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posted
12 years ago

Sun, Dec 4, 2011 2:36 PM

20 years ago, that was the case--the "premium" labeled fuels had distinctly better detergents across the board.

Then in 1995 the feds mandated a minimum level of detergents for all fuels.

Now it seems that some brands (Shell is an example, and BP claims to be an example) are still maintaining the delta, with their premium truly having an advantage over their regular when it comes to detergents and whatnot, but most brands are not doing that. Most brands are sticking with octane level as the differentiator of their "premium" labeled fuels, and are using the EPA's minimum levels of detergency (which have dropped since 1995, btw).

If your car is specified for 87 octane fuel, then use that. Higher octane in and of itself gets you nothing, and may even degrade your performance.

There is no "best gasoline practice for a hybrid". You have a gasoline engine that requires 87 octane fuel, just like 98% of all the passenger cars out there in the country. Your gasoline engine is no different than theirs.

Toyota and some other manufacturers have recognized your exact concern, and have addressed it:

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I can tell you that a few years ago I acquired a 120K mile 1993 Lexus ES. The gas mileage was OK, but nothing stunning. I spent a few tanks running Shell 93 in it, to get their level of detergency to clean things out, and then I ran Shell 87 in it after that. My mileage jumped up a decent percentage and stayed up.