What octane do you fuel your T6 with?

jowillie · Oct 12, 2015

Costco gas here is "Top Tier" approved. I use it and hard to beat the price.

goVolvo · Oct 12, 2015

Paradox said:
Costco sells regular and premium, not regular and mid-grade (which is 89 octane). Maybe it is just in your state/area they have 87/89? The following is from their FAQ (and personal experience purchasing gas from Costco when I'm near one):

Q: What products do you sell?
A: Regular Unleaded (typically 87 octane) and Premium Unleaded (typically 91 octane). Octane requirements can vary by state.

http://www.costco.com/gasoline-q-and-a.html

Good. Then I am wrong, knowing only two kinds, but don't remember which two.

bolinp78 · Oct 13, 2015

ryjimenez17 said:
I would also suggest a name brand gasoline. I prefer Sunoco or Shell. Just a personal preference. I don't like the greed that comes from Exxon/Mobil.

Another dumb comment to follow up with your dumb comment on octane ratings. Are you going to go for the trifecta?

brandeeno · Dec 1, 2015

I was just reading latest manual downloaded from the volvo site (v2).... it was says minimum is 91 octane. Did they change this? As said earlier, they were recommending 87.

citivas · Dec 1, 2015

There must be half-a-dozen topics on this exact same question floating around here, leap-frogging each other...

brandeeno · Dec 1, 2015

I have been following and participating in the Octane discussions for a while now... I have not seen anybody point out that the manual has changed from 87 to 91. Also, the vovlo.com online manual used to have a dedicated page to state the requirement of 87... but now the link is invalid/not found.

citivas · Dec 1, 2015

The manual used to be ambiguous. I don't recall it "recommending" 87, but it stupidly had that icon that showed it could handle 87 though also said in the footnote that high performance engines might require 91. Since it was a manual for a vehicle that only had this kind of vaguely defined engine, it was just dumb for them to have ever mentioned the 87. From the earliest production cars, they always said 91 on the label next to the gas cap. So someone figured out the mistake and corrected it. Good catch noticing it.

Mellow Guy · Dec 1, 2015

A local gas station has premium gas without ethanol for a very high price. (I suppose to handle antiques and small engines.)
EPA uses gas without ethanol for their tests and then adjusts the milage for ethanol.
Dairy farmers and meat farmers blame the high cost of grain on ethanol requirements.
Is anybody using ethanol free gas for their modern vehicles?

GrecianVolvo · Dec 1, 2015

Fmfosnacht said:
Since the XC90 is designed to run on 87 Octane, but offers enhanced performance on Premium, I am wondering gas others are using, and what "real world" difference anyone has noticed in mileage or performance on premium?

Premium gasoline does not have enhanced performance; it is designed to offer stated engine performance and fuel mileage when premium fuel is used.

Bigote Joyride · Dec 1, 2015

GrecianVolvo said:
Premium gasoline does not have enhanced performance; it is designed to offer stated engine performance and fuel mileage when premium fuel is used.

Yannis provide the answer here and I think there shouldn't be any questions regarding the fuel octane level needed. 91 higher because that's what it was engineered for to get the advertised engine performance and efficiency. 87, if for example you went to Death Valley with your XC90. After driving for hundreds of miles you are close to an empty tank and the only gas station for the next 50 or so miles is the one that carries only a fuel that has an octane level of 87 then thanks to Volvo's amazing engineers you can use that and your vehicle would still run like a charm - without of course the actual performance and fuel mileage that is stated on the brochure.

zmm · Dec 1, 2015

Its not always so clear cut, especially if you are leasing for a few years.

On my QX60 that I am replacing, I tested 87 vs 93 and it made literately no difference that I could tell on MPG or general driving.
I have done over 40K miles on it in the last two years on 87 and its still running just fine.

msai_kris · Dec 1, 2015

Any advantage of using 93? If not using 91 makes sense I guess. I used to have an Infiniti g35 first edition and treated it very well. Someone had put 87 in it once and I could see significant difference in performance. Couldn't wait for that tank of gas to be done.

93 vs 91 is still the question. Thanks

durbano · Dec 2, 2015

Planning on using premium (taking delivery around the first of the year). 91 is the highest octane generally available in California. You can find higher octanes at the track and at specialty gas stations, or perhaps in other parts of the state.

The car this is replacing is a Subaru (4 cyl) and we put regular grade in that. The other car is a 2006 A3 (4 cyl turbo), which has had premium its entire life.

GrecianVolvo · Dec 2, 2015

msai_kris said:
Any advantage of using 93? If not using 91 makes sense I guess. I used to have an Infiniti g35 first edition and treated it very well. Someone had put 87 in it once and I could see significant difference in performance. Couldn't wait for that tank of gas to be done.

93 vs 91 is still the question. Thanks

91 and above is considered premium in this country.

I do not know about the XC90 however in my My01 V70 T5, I do notice a little difference in acceleration from using 91 octane vs what the car felt like when I lived in the Midwest and East Coast, where premium was 93.

GatorVolvo · Dec 2, 2015

I experienced 87 when my dealer delivered the car. 1/2 a tank of 87 was enough to convince me to top off with premium. Has been running much better since. I'm lucky enough that my Costco carries 93 and I'll never look back.

300+_T5R_855 · Dec 2, 2015

Premium or unleaded is incorrect. All fuels sold today are unleaded unless you are buying race fuel specifically for off road.

87 Octane carries more energy and can produce more HP if you can control detonation. The engine control on modern engines can use either fuel without damage. If you have a performance or blown (turbocharged or supercharged) engine you will see a decline in performance under load. This is due to the ECU not being able to control the detonation any other way than retarding timing.

j.rolf.nielsen@gmail.com · Mar 10, 2016

If I remember correctly the manual states min octane 91 but I hear about people who just ignore it and pick the cheapest fuel. Here in NC/SC there can be as much as 50c difference and that can add up during a year. I have always picked the highest octane (93) which is the generally the only one that exceeds 91 here. What do you guys use and is there anyone out there who uses 88/89 without trouble?

Paradox · Mar 10, 2016

In this vehicle I use Premium because of the twin charging on the engine. I've owned normally aspirated vehicles in the past that wanted one to use more than regular (an 03' Acura TL Type S was the one that comes to mind) but in that I used regular and had no issues.

While I'm sure the engine will compensate for use of regular, after spending as much as this vehicle does, I don't see a reason to 'cheap out' and not run premium. Plus, in this engine more than others, a difference in power will definitely be noted by not running the proper fuel.

Of course, to each their own on this topic.

VENDELLA · Mar 10, 2016

You most likely would experience less power. You might even get worse gas mileage negating your savings. Modern control systems and sensors are pretty good at avoiding knocking and potential damage from low grade fuel, but I wouldn't take the risk. We have about a 0.20 difference between the two. That is about $80 less a year. (on a $60K vehicle)

malba2366 · Mar 10, 2016

Probably a bad idea to put regular fuel in such an energy dense engine.

What octane do you fuel your T6 with?

jowillie

goVolvo

bolinp78

brandeeno

citivas

brandeeno

citivas

Mellow Guy

GrecianVolvo

Bigote Joyride

zmm

msai_kris

durbano

GrecianVolvo

GatorVolvo

300+_T5R_855

j.rolf.nielsen@gmail.com

Paradox

VENDELLA

malba2366

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