Why doesn’t FCA put a fuel grade requirement in plain sight

[ColoradoCub]

I have literally talked to like 5 different new ram owners in the last few months that we’re completely unaware of the mid to high grade fuel requirements for the Hemi and all of these owners have been running the cheapest fuel at the pump. There’s no sticker on the fuel door, nothing in the dash seems like a major oversight on FCA’s part. I live in Colorado where reg gas is 85 Octane and every ram owner I’ve talked to is running 85!

 

[mikeru82]

I'm in agreement with you about that, except that it's not a requirement to run a mid-grade fuel. It's a recommendation. The owner's manual says it's acceptable to run 87, but 89 is recommended. I always ran 87 octane in my 2017 Rebel, and have been running 87 octane in my 2020 Laramie until now. Most vehicles I've owned have had a sticker inside the fuel door if the recommended fuel was higher than regular, which is 87 where I live.

 

[rws1944]

I have literally talked to like 5 different new ram owners in the last few months that we’re completely unaware of the mid to high grade fuel requirements for the Hemi and all of these owners have been running the cheapest fuel at the pump. There’s no sticker on the fuel door, nothing in the dash seems like a major oversight on FCA’s part. I live in Colorado where reg gas is 85 Octane and every ram owner I’ve talked to is running 85!

Maybe it's just me but the first thing I do with a new vehicle is read the owners manual to find out things like what kind of fuel to use.

 

[Eltaco]

Mid-grade is also different depending on your elevation. My mid grade is 89 in KS, but I know it’s 87 in CO. I believe that cutoff is 4000’ elevation, as it relates to a/f ratio at different ambient pressure.

I switched to mid-grade on this last tank of fuel and can’t say I see or hear any difference.

 

[Goatmann]

I switched to mid-grade on this last tank of fuel and can’t say I see or hear any difference.

one tank of mid-grade fuel, especially non ethonol, will not show much difference. several tanks may show a tad better fuel economy, but not off the line performance plus.

 

[mikeru82]

Maybe it's just me but the first thing I do with a new vehicle is read the owners manual to find out things like what kind of fuel to use.

I usually pull out the owners manual too, but it's not like I read it cover to cover. There is nothing indicating an octane recommendation, so I didn't look that up in the manual. On any other vehicle I've owned which had a recommended octane there was a sticker saying what that recommendation was. Now that I've experienced this I won't be making the same mistake again though.

 

[Kidder]

For the Hemi, 89 is recommended, 87 is okay as long as there is no knocking.
That's what the manual says. I attached a screen shot from my 2019 manual.