flipside909

It's recommended but not necessary considering the 1MZ-FE V6 which you have in your 95 has knock sensors which are designed to adjust (retard or advance timing) according to the fuel octane you are using. With the price of premium at a HIGH premium, using midgrade or lower won't hurt your motor. Just stick to one or two brands of fuel. I regularly use Chevron and sometimes use Mobil. (SoCal resident).

LexFather

Yeah, for optimum performance and fuel efficiency, use premium. Not using it can cause buildup in the fuel injectors. If you are going to use regular, buy and use a additive every oil change.

Baby Lex

No matter what car I own, whether it be very nice or crappy. I ALWAYS use 93 octane or higher (if you can find it). You get better mileage, performance is of course a plus, but your engine burns the gas cleaner than regular or mid-grade. You CAN use the lower end fuel. But in the long run, you will gain more by using the higher octane rated fuel. I know it's a bit more in price. But I'm telling you, it is worth it. Also go to reputable service stations such as Mobil/Tetco, Chevron, Exxon etc. Stay away from Racetrac, or those of that sense. They may have a great price and even if it does say 93 octane. It's crappy. They get the "leftovers" from the refineries. Kinda like ciggerettes. If you don't buy the name brand you get what they sweep up at the end of the day, so they can make cheaper brand ciggs. There's always that great saying which is ever so true..."You get what you paid for!"

Baby Lex

Thought this was funny...

zexen

lol, great find, Baby Lex...

<VENOM>

Which octane gas runs better in the ES300 regular 87 or premium 91/93, I have been running 87 in my 03 ES300 with no problems but was wondering if with the high compression ratio 10.5, if premium would be better gas mileage wise, just looking to see if the added cost of premium will net me more mileage out of a tank of gas.

mcelligott

Wooooaaahhh!! Use Premium man! My 92 owners guide says 91 or higher, might want to check what yours says.

fallabel

I always use 94 octane Sunoco.

emus1

I used 89 in my 99 LS 400, per service manager, with no problems. I am using 87 in my 03 ES 300, again, per service manager.
ET

cheapsk8

my service manager also suggests 87 in my 98 ES... but then again he's a bit of a d*ck
too low of an octane can cause spark knock...but if you run too high, your ECM will just adjust to it anyway and do nothing except burn a hole in your wallet...I would use the lowest recommended.

-c

Toysrme

ES300 egine aside, no foriegn V6 or higher motor can run on 87 octane period. Detonation occurs along with pinging and it will eventually destroy your engine.

Domestic V6 and V8's have a better shot at running 87 octane, however it's still hit or miss(pun intended) as to wether or not it will work. ('87-'89 most domestic no 4c engines began to swap to 89)

********

Back to us. DO NOT use '87 octane! The only way you can is to have the timing retarded via the belt AND the computer. Of which can't be adjusted by 99% of the people you can take it to anyways.

Our engine is fine and happy running GOOD 89 octane. Nearly every year is set to run between 89-91 from the factory, depending on dealer destination(rarely) and the year of the car.

*Note*
By GOOD 89 octane I mean Cheveron/Texico. Cheveron has the ebst additives and generally the best performance and gas mileage.

*Note II*
Just because you're pumping 89 octane, dosen't mean you're pumping 89 octane. It can varry anywhere between slightly more than 87 (I forget the number) and somewhere below 91 octane.

Federal regulations DO PERMIT the tanker trucks to fill the gas tanks with whatever the immediately next higher octane is COMPLETELY, OR the next LOWER octane if they can't fill a tank completely. (I.e. they're allowed to mix lower octane with the stock grade, or higher grade in the tanks to create "as close to" gas as they can)

*********

Why have I told you this? Because if you're out somewhere wtihout 89 octane, feel free to mix 87 and 91 or 93 to create about what you need. Normally you can run a tank of "descent" 87 octane gas through the engine without pinging "too bad"; sometimes not at all.

You shouldn't shouldn't make it a regular event. In the case you DO have to run 87. Cheveron gas will get you alittle farther, with better performance, while not pinging *quite* as bad.

**********

In conclusion, when in doubt(i.e. country store way far away from other stations, or a refinery/refinery gas route. Mix 87 with the highest grade you can get.

**********
mcelligott You shuold be able to run 89 just fine if you want to save alittle $$$ If you trust me give it a try sometime. The engine itself should be able to retard itself that much no matter what the book says

You may or may not loose some pickup and mileage. That's completely dependant on how the engine can adjust.

lexusk8

For a very long time I had been running the cheapest grade of fuel on my '96 ES before I traded the car. Then upon hearing remarks of better engine cleaning (not necessarily performance) with premium fuel, I switched to 93/94 Octane rating for a little while. THEN, after chatting a little bit with a Lexus service advisor, he told me it's best to use mid-grade fuel (89 rating) for my '01 ES, so that's what I'm currently using.

I'm getting between 23-25 mpg with mixed (city + highway) driving everyday.

<VENOM>

The owners manual says 87 is fine and for increased performance use premium, guess I'll stick with 87

Toysrme

Which owners manual? I can assure you no ES300 *should* run for long legnth sof time with 87 octane, because they can't adjust that much and will start pinging horribly.

yeah, as far as performance, you won't gain very much, if any at all by using higher octane gas than the car is setup with. They adjust themselves to run properly and by the time they do, you don't see any gain from it

I use to swap to high grade Cheveron after a while also. Then I just swapped to Their (Or any other good) gas additives. I can find it in the local Dollar Genral here and it's cheaper than buying a full tank of premium.

manlee

i've got 96k miles on my '98, no pinging. i run regular 87 from speedway.
my mechanic has told me that the engine was made to run on it, and it adjusts for the higher grade if you put it in.

i dunno.