Gasoline and Additives

[daveinfl]

I ran across an old post from Bill saying that the Honda Pilot with tow package needed to run Premium gas. It made me wonder a couple of things.

a. When towing does it make sense to use premium gasoline? Or is it a waste.

b. In my old "lightweight" tow vehicle (Mercury Mariner), I would put in a fuel additive by Lucas before going on any trip with the 2619. Now I don't have any hard evidence, but it appeared to give me about three more miles per gallon. I plan to try it with my new TV (2006 Ford Explorer with factory tow package) to see if the same thing happens. But it makes me wonder if I should use premium instead while towing?

Padgett ... You may have already tried this. What do you think? I'd also like to hear from others that may have tried additives or premium gas.

[Padgett]

Running a higher octane than the vehicle requires does nothing at best and can reduce economy & power, and make the engine run hotter

As far as power, high test has the same BTU/lb as regular. What higher octanes have is extra refining and additives to make the gasoline burn slower (avoid detonation/autoignition) but in order to extract the same power, the timing needs to be advanced. Not all computer cars can do this.

If not the timing is effectively retarded, and you need more gas to make the same power which raises the engine temps.

OTOH if the computer is designed to advance the timing accordingly, you could see an increase in power/mpg particularly if the engine has a compression ratio above 10:1 or if you have boost.

Otherwise no. I just use what the manufacturer recommends.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by daveinfl

When towing does it make sense to use premium gasoline? Or is it a waste.

Short answer - same as Padgett's. If the manufacturer says to use it, he does so for a reason, so use it. If the manufacturer doesn't call for it, then there is no reason, so it is likely a waste.

Bill