I’m a Convert
That’s right. I’m converting. I’m taking the plunge. I used to be an adherent to 89 octane gasoline. I’m dropping to 87.
If you read yesterday’s post, you might think cost is the reason for the switch. But that’s not the case. When I bought my car, they told me to fill it with premium. I think somewhere along the line I likely realized the car “required” 87 but whenever I’d read up on the “87-vs-89″ topic on-line I’d see 20/20-like fear mongering among 89-octane believers:
“[87 octane] tends to build a carbon film on your cylinder heads. … if you open the engine to replace your head gasket when you rebuild your engine head or when you want to do an engine overhaul… you will see what [using 87 octane does] to your engine. So if you plan to keep your vehicle for over 10 years then it would be a good idea for you to use the higher octane.”
True, I’d also find comments saying this was flat-out wrong, but the fear mongering works. We’re talking about caring for a huge, fragile, mechanical investment. I know little about cars other than that I don’t want mine breaking down. Ever. Can I in good faith risk my car’s engine for the savings of a mere dime per gallon? I mean, that’s $35/year if you fill up every other week. And I don’t think I fill up even that much.
So why switch?
Because I don’t like the idea of doing things that have no basis in reality. What’s next? Someone tells me that wearing garlic will protect me from vampires so I may as well wear some garlic just to be safe? It can’t hurt, they’ll tell me, and if it works then it’s win-win. No, I can’t do that. It feels like a scam, like the oil industry is squeezing a little more money out of my pocket by preying on my desire to take care of my car. I feel like I’m realizing how silly I’m being over this. I taking a stand.
Plus, the manual does say 87. And I got a letter from a fellow Subaru driver at fuelly.com asking me why on Earth I was using 89 octane. That led to more on-line reading and now I’m wondering if there is more risk using 89 octane than not (more fear mongering, eep!).
It’ll be a while before I have to fill up again, but when I do it’ll be bold-and-true, red-white-and-blue, proud-to-be-an-American 87-octane we-kicked-Iraq’s-butt gasoline! And I’ll see how it goes.
Speak to me, fellow drivers. What do you fill your car with? What does your car require? What are you thoughts? Am I crazy to switch? Or have I finally seen the light? What has your research told you? Please share links if you have them (but don’t bother sending me the fuel injection article from Wikipedia; that may as well be in Chinese).
PS Anyone out there with a 2003 Subaru Forester XS must respond. 
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87 Octane, baby. ‘97 Toyota Rav4 with 340,000 kms on it. Still running as good as 2008.
1I’ve always used 87, though I admit to falling victim to the brand fear-mongering. I use to fill up with Arco, but switched over to 76/Shell (76, primarily) when we bought our Toyotas because it was “cleaner” fuel. I don’t necessarily buy that, but the habit has been changed and it takes a lot of effort to reverse direction.
2As good as 2008!
3Ugh. I hadn’t event thought about that. I always fill up at Speedway. The convenience store section of their gas stations are always clean and well-lit. Yep, that and the cheap gas prices hooked me. :p That, and there’s a Speedway on the way to just about any place we go in town. They’re everywhere. There are lots of other stations, too, but… yeah, like you said, habit set. Am I going to have to scour the web for articles on gas-brand allegiance?
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