My van does not run well at high altitude. When we came here to Mammoth last
year the van lost a considerable amount of power after running normally the
whole way up here, and despite the fact that I filled up on local gas. I
don't remember the octane, but it was one of those pumps where you have
three choices for one hose and I think I'd remember picking something other
than the usual 87... on the other hand you'd think that "regular" here would
be a high-altitude formulation. I am going to try to remember to check it on
the way back through town.
This time I filled up on 87 in Bishop with the same results. Everywhere we
go here is between 8 & 9 thousand feet; in addition to the low power it's
difficult to start when cold, to the point that I actually have to goose the
gas until it smooths out. Is there some point where the ECU can no longer
compensate well for the altitude, or does this point to another problem?

On another distantly related note, I've noticed that the wood fires here
seem to smoke much more than at lower elevations... is there anything to
that?

Cya,
Robert