88 Octane good enough?

[AlphaVortex]

Hey guys, did some searching and found plenty of octane threads, but didn't find any posts specific to this.

Where I live (Utah) we only have 3 Octane types generally... 85, 88, and 91 octane. I know the ti's are rated for 89 octane, but do any of you see any reason why 88 wouldn't be "close enough"? I only ask because I am going to use this car to commute, and I will be driving a lot, and gas stations have gotten into the habbit of charging in 15 cent jumps between the gas ratings, so it would save me a bit of cash.

I'm pretty sure 88 is good enough, I just wanted to know what you all thought. It's not as if 91 is going to kill me.

[AlphaVortex]

Ok nevermind... mere seconds after posting this I figured it out...

"United States, in the Rocky Mountain (high altitude) states, 85 AKI is the minimum octane, and 91 AKI is the maximum octane available in fuel. The reason for this is that in higher-altitude areas, a typical naturally-aspirated engine draws in less air mass per cycle due to the reduced density of the atmosphere. This directly translates to less fuel and reduced absolute compression in the cylinder, therefore deterring knock. It is safe to fill up a carbureted car that normally takes 87 AKI fuel at sea level with 85 AKI fuel in the mountains, but at sea level the fuel may cause damage to the engine. A disadvantage to this strategy is that most turbocharged vehicles are unable to produce full power, even when using the "premium" 91 AKI fuel. In some east coast states, up to 94 AKI is available [1]. In parts of the Midwest (primarily Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri) ethanol based E-85 fuel with 105 AKI is available [2]. Often, filling stations near US racing tracks will offer higher octane levels such as 100 AKI. California fuel stations will offer 87, 89, and 91 AKI octane fuels, and at some stations, 100 AKI or higher octane, sold as racing fuel. Until summer 2001 before the phase-out of methyl tert-butyl ether aka MTBE as an octane enhancer additive, 92 AKI was offered in lieu of 91."

Disregard!!!

[cooljess76]

I ran 87 in my car all the time and I live on the beach. Here in SoCal, the highest I've seen is 91. 87 works fine in the M42's and M44's. My S52 will only get 91.

[ti-billy]

I run 91oct (no ethanol), i can actually see the difference in fuel mileage if i run a lower octane or get fuel at a station that has ethanol in their gas.