Octane for 97 Rav4

i recently bought a 97 Rav4. i really like it (and it does great on
moderate off-roading). the owner's manual says to use gas with an
octane rating of 87. in the town i live in, though, regular is 86 and
plus is 88. considering that regular here is now $2.06 a gallon (plus
thus being $2.16) i was wondering if it's fine to put 86 octane in. i
believe the guy who i bought it from just used regular and the engine
is in great condition and i seem to be getting about 26 mpg. 103k
miles, 4wd, manual.

any and all real knowledge and wisdom is greatly appreciated.

thanks!

In article <[email protected]>, jmama135
@yahoo.com says...
> Subject: Octane for 97 Rav4
> From: [email protected] (walker7366)
> Newsgroups: rec.autos.4x4
>
> i recently bought a 97 Rav4. i really like it (and it does great on
> moderate off-roading). the owner's manual says to use gas with an
> octane rating of 87. in the town i live in, though, regular is 86 and
> plus is 88. considering that regular here is now $2.06 a gallon (plus
> thus being $2.16) i was wondering if it's fine to put 86 octane in. i
> believe the guy who i bought it from just used regular and the engine
> is in great condition and i seem to be getting about 26 mpg. 103k
> miles, 4wd, manual.
>
> any and all real knowledge and wisdom is greatly appreciated.
>
> thanks!
>
>


Octane ratings are different in the US and Europe, which are you in?
It's a non turbo low compression ratio engine so regular gas should be
fine where ever you are.
--
____________________
Remove "X" from email address to reply.

Chris Phillipo wrote:
>
> In article <[email protected]>, jmama135
> @yahoo.com says...
> > Subject: Octane for 97 Rav4
> > From: [email protected] (walker7366)
> > Newsgroups: rec.autos.4x4
> >
> > i recently bought a 97 Rav4. i really like it (and it does great on
> > moderate off-roading). the owner's manual says to use gas with an
> > octane rating of 87. in the town i live in, though, regular is 86 and
> > plus is 88. considering that regular here is now $2.06 a gallon (plus
> > thus being $2.16) i was wondering if it's fine to put 86 octane in. i
> > believe the guy who i bought it from just used regular and the engine
> > is in great condition and i seem to be getting about 26 mpg. 103k
> > miles, 4wd, manual.
> >
> > any and all real knowledge and wisdom is greatly appreciated.
> >
> > thanks!
> >
> >
>
> Octane ratings are different in the US and Europe, which are you in?
> It's a non turbo low compression ratio engine so regular gas should be
> fine where ever you are.

My '85 4Runner (22RE engine) lists 87 octane. When I drive through the mountain areas of of Colorado, for example, they drop the octanes so regular is 85, mid-grade is 87, etc. I run 85 there and it works fine. Usually done at higher elevations since
you need less octane to prevent pinging with the lower air pressure.

--
Roger

thanks for the insight. i live in new mexico at an elevation of 7000
ft, so that makes sense, i suppose.