Ah yeah, sounded good. But... Mean elevation of Arizona is 4100ft... (http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/states/arizona.html)

Mean elevation of New Mexico... drum rolls please...

5700! (http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/states/newmexico.html) Not even close.

My personal experience is you get 5 more miles to the gallon in the mountain states of Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. This was observed (and amazed us) for over a year when we moved from Mass to MT. The gain in fuel efficiency went down again when we moved to California. And yes, we ran 96 octane in the Bitteroot Valley of Montana.

tim in San Jose

> >Here in Arizona, I have never seen anything lower than 87 octane. In New >Mexico, all regular I >have seen is 86 octane. Arizona averages higher than New Mexico in >elevation. People don't >realize how mountainous Arizona is unless they have explored it a bit. The >expressways stay to >the easy ground, so driving through on I-10 or I-40 doesn't give one a >realistic picture. Well >over half the state is above 4500'. We have several good sized towns >located above 7000', and >the "occasional mountain passes" often are much higher. Some peaks near >13000'. Don't judge >the whole state by Phoenix, although even that valley metropolis is much >higher than the >highest point in Illinois, where I grew up. > >My point was that octanes are lower in New Mexico than in Arizona, even >though the average >elevation in New Mexico is lower than in Arizona. That makes me question >if the difference is >strictly altitude related. Gas sold in Phoenix is definitely different >than that sold in >Flagstaff, which is 5500' higher than Phoenix. Phoenix gas will make your >car hard to start in >Flagstaff, although both say 87 octane on the pump. > >Bill > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "John Brush" <jbrush@AROS.NET> > > > > The octane rating can be lower at higher altitudes. > > > > The reason AZ gasoline is rated 86 or 87 is because the state resides > > mostly at lower elevations, even tho an occasional mountain pass might > > exceed 7000 feet. In CO, UT, MT, WY, and other states that pretty much > > reside above 4500 feet in most areas, the octane can be lower since >nearly > > all driving is at the higher elevations. > > > > The gasoline is blended to for majority of the driving conditions. > > > > Lower octane gas is not garbage gas. Using octane that is higher than > > necessary is a waste of money.

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