Black plate (51,1)Cadillac Escalade/Escalade ESV Owner Manual - 2012Driving and Operating 9-51FuelUse of the recommended fuel isan important part of the propermaintenance of this vehicle. To helpkeep the engine clean and maintainoptimum vehicle performance, werecommend the use of gasolineadvertised as TOP TIER DetergentGasoline.Look for the TOP TIER label on thefuel pump to ensure gasoline meetsenhanced detergency standardsdeveloped by auto companies. A listof marketers providing TOP TIERDetergent Gasoline can be found atwww.toptiergas.com.Vehicles that have a FlexFuel badgeand a yellow fuel cap can use eitherunleaded gasoline or ethanol fuelcontaining up to 85% ethanol (E85).See Fuel E85 (85% Ethanol) onpage 9‑53. For all other vehicles,use only the unleaded gasolinedescribed under RecommendedFuel on page 9‑51.Recommended FuelUse premium unleaded gasolinewith a posted octane ratingof 91 or higher. You can also useregular unleaded gasoline ratedat 87 octane or higher, but thevehicle's acceleration could beslightly reduced, and a slight audibleknocking noise, commonly referredto as spark knock, might be heard.If the octane is less than 87, youmight notice a heavy knockingnoise when you drive. If this occurs,use a gasoline rated at 87 octaneor higher as soon as possible.Otherwise, you could damagethe engine. If heavy knocking isheard when using gasoline ratedat 91 octane or higher, the engineneeds service.
