Lower Octane Out West

[BUBBA0420]

Why is it that they sell 85 octane gas in places
like Colorado ??? Not even my weed whacker is supposed to use anything less than 87. Does this have something to do with altitude ??

 

[eljefino]

yup. Thinner air= less knock.

Turbos are an exception; they compress the incoming air anyway.

 

[HunterG69]

Where I live (3600 ft) the premium is only 91

 

[Blue99]

From the Gasoline section of the Chevron website:

Gasoline Octane Facts


Q. What determines my car's octane requirements?

Altitude - The higher the altitude above sea level, the lower the octane requirement. Modern computer-controlled engines adjust spark timing and air-fuel ratio to compensate for changes in barometric pressure, and thus the effect of altitude on octane requirement is smaller in these vehicles.

Q. How many grades of gasoline are available?
A. Most places that sell gasoline offer three octane grades of unleaded gasoline--regular at 87 (R+M)/2, midgrade at 89 (R+M)/2, and premium at 93 (R+M)/2. In high-altitude areas such as the Rocky Mountain Region of the U.S., the (R+M)/2 number may be lower by one or two numbers. After January 1, 1996, no leaded gasoline may be sold for highway use.

 

[rich mds]

Except in CA, our high octane is 91. I am guessing its emissions related.
I remember it used to be 92 then one day 91.

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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Where I live (3600 ft) the premium is only 91 [Burnout]

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Cry me a river. Like rich mds, I'm in California and find only 91 octane fuel (not counting 100 octane race gas). I'm basically at sea level! I'm now at the low end of the octane rating required by my engine.

 

[SteveD2]

Most places here in Oregon are 91 too. There's a few 92s, but not many....

 

[MNgopher]

When I used to live in Colorado, some vehicles tolerated the 85 octane, others didn't. My Cavalier had to have 87 octane or it pinged constantly.

More recently, my F150's and Cherokee ran fine on 85 octane on trips to the area. Of course, the last fill before I left that took me to Nebraska was always an 87 octane tank!

 

[Bio-T]

I just came back from a trip to the top of Pikes Peak (slightly over 14,000 feet) and no pinging at all on 85 octane Colorado fuel. With the modern fuel management systems this should not be a problem.

 

[uconn1150]

quote:

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Originally posted by 59 Vetteman:
I just came back from a trip to the top of Pikes Peak (slightly over 14,000 feet) and no pinging at all on 85 octane Colorado fuel. With the modern fuel management systems this should not be a problem.

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How much was the Colorado 85 per gallon?

 

[Bio-T]

I filled at Trinidad, Colorado on the way up to Colorado Springs and paid $1.999 per gallon. It was a few cents cheaper the further North I went, but I was desperate when I filled.

 

[uconn1150]

quote:

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Originally posted by 59 Vetteman:
I filled at Trinidad, Colorado on the way up to Colorado Springs and paid $1.999 per gallon. It was a few cents cheaper the further North I went, but I was desperate when I filled.

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Figures that these oil companies rip people off...

$2.04 for premium here in TX.

So much for getting what you pay for.

 

[BUBBA0420]

Well Gentleman $2.16 a gallon for premium in Cleveland

 

[moribundman]

Well, I feel lucky if I find a gallon premium for $2.29. Most gas stations charge around $2.40 here in the Bay Area.

PS: The barrel crude hit 50 bucks today. Cheers.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by moribundman:
Well, I feel lucky if I find a gallon premium for $2.29. Most gas stations charge around $2.40 here in the Bay Area.

PS: The barrel crude hit 50 bucks today. Cheers.

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$2.12 for premium near Sacramento last week. I felt like I was out of state

 

[tom slick]

$2.19 for regular here

 

[02supercrew]

Wow, I feel sorry for you guys!

Yesterday I put in 5 gallons of 93 octane for $2.00 a gallon for my chipped F-150.

jeeze I better get to the station and fill it up!

 

[02supercrew]

On my way home I saw that one station had 87 for $1.83.

FWIW

 

[GT Mike]

2 out of the 3 gas stations in the town where I work don't even carry premium gasoline. They have 87 and 89 and they're the same price. $1.999/gal right now. The 89 is a 10% ethanol blend, so I'm guessing it's cheaper than non-ehtanol 89 to either encourage people to run it, or because of the gov't. subs. that keep the taxes down on the ethanol blends.

These stations told me they don't sell enough premium in a given time so their corporate offices dropped it. Only like 1 in 200 cars bought premium when it was being sold at the one station that I talked to the owner of. He jokingly (or maybe not) said it was the one old guy in town with a new Cadillac that bought a tank of premium once a month and that was about it.