We got a Prius about a month ago, and so far it seems like the car is happier with premium gas. With low-octane gas, when the gas engine shuts off, it doesn't do so smoothly - it kind of "ka-chugs" a couple of times before stopping. Is this normal?
Thanks! Chris
Mine does that sometimes when it is cold. I understand this is common. I use 87 octane and that works fine.
Cold like the weather is cold, or like right after the car has first started?
I am pretty sure it does this for me even after the car has been running for a while ...
It's normal. The engine is burning off the last little bit of gas so it doesn't evaporate (evaporated gas being a worse pollutant than burned gas). Prius never needs premium; if it ever pings, it needs a repair.
Mine had done this a few times in both winter and summer weather (I'm in Minnesota) but to the best of my recollection, only when the engine was cold. Sometimes I think it has a conflict of interest: It wants to shut down because I'm not putting a load on it but it wants to keep running because my catalytic converter hasn't warmed yet.
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