We currently own a 2000 Toyota Avalon XLS, and were planning on upgrading to a new 2007 Lexus ES350. I did a comparison in Edmunds and discovered that Toyota has put the same engine in the Avalon and the Lexus, but has apparently increased the compression in the Lexus to obtain an additional 4 horsepower. Unfortunately, the info says that the ES350 now requires premium gasoline, while the Avalon (basically the same engine) still runs on regular.
Anyone know if this is true, or if the Lexus will run on the regular?
I can't believe that the Toyota engineers (marketing) would place a 30 cent-per-gallon cost premium (and 1 mpg less) on the consumer just to get an additional 4 HP !
Graybeard