Premium vs. regular now with ethanol

[Randy Stoner]

So everyone likes good mileage with their trucks and I am no different. I have a 2023 F150 3.5 and for the first eight (8) months I ran regular fuel and consistently got about 640 miles per tank. I drive the same amount each week and the same routes. I use the eco-mode consistently and baby this truck. In April I was reading on this forum that premium fuel would give good results especially if one was pulling a trailer. I have a 34 foot Camper and sure enough I did notice a little more pep. Since then I have run premium fuel all the time now and since then was getting almost 875 miles per tank and in two instances just over 900. I am an engineer and I know how to collect and analyze data. I got consistent numbers up until the end of October. Since October, I now again get roughly 650 miles approx. per tank. We have really had no bad weather (i.e. snow) up here and my route and driving habits have not changed.

This week I contacted the fuel company (ie Pioneer Fuels) and was told that the blend has been changed for the winter and that the federal government late September also mandated that 5-15 percent Ethanol now must be in all the fuels. Of course you can guess, the price of the less potent premium did not change so as in many things these days we get less product for more money.

Just thought I would pass this along.

Randy

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[Ford4Ever]

Must be nice to have lasted this long on pure gas (no alcohol), it was forced on us years ago. Non alcohol is now considered "recreational use" and costs a dollar more a gallon.

 

[Kanuck]

So everyone likes good mileage with their trucks and I am no different. I have a 2023 F150 3.5 and for the first eight (8) months I ran regular fuel and consistently got about 640 miles per tank. I drive the same amount each week and the same routes. I use the eco-mode consistently and baby this truck. In April I was reading on this forum that premium fuel would give good results especially if one was pulling a trailer. I have a 34 foot Camper and sure enough I did notice a little more pep. Since then I have run premium fuel all the time now and since then was getting almost 875 miles per tank and in two instances just over 900. I am an engineer and I know how to collect and analyze data. I got consistent numbers up until the end of October. Since October, I now again get roughly 650 miles approx. per tank. We have really had no bad weather (i.e. snow) up here and my route and driving habits have not changed.

This week I contacted the fuel company (ie Pioneer Fuels) and was told that the blend has been changed for the winter and that the federal government late September also mandated that 5-15 percent Ethanol now must be in all the fuels. Of course you can guess, the price of the less potent premium did not change so as in many things these days we get less product for more money.

Just thought I would pass this along.

Randy

Just wondering what the cost per mile to gain the extra 235 miles per tank comaired to 87 ?

 

[TarnishedCopper]

I tried the No Alcohol Recreational Fuel in mine and found the increase in mileage wasn't worth the added cost in normal driving. I get around 18 mpg on the "Moonshine Blend." I don't understand why we are forced to burn alcohol in a gasoline engine. Is it to keep the price of corn artificially inflated for the farmers? (the raw product for the alcohol) The same corn could feed a lot of hungry people around the world.

 

[Randy Stoner]

the reason i stayed with the premium fuel is that i do haul a big camper around all summer and it definately makes a difference power wise. It also takes at least one to two tanks run through it before i have a tank of pure premium so i dont bounce back and forth where i will get a partial regular and premium blend.

randy

 

[2Lazy2P]

I bought the truck new and have averaged 16.1 MPG running 87 over 26,800 miles. Normal mode.

 

[Ford4Ever]

I tried the No Alcohol Recreational Fuel in mine and found the increase in mileage wasn't worth the added cost in normal driving. I get around 18 mpg on the "Moonshine Blend." I don't understand why we are forced to burn alcohol in a gasoline engine. Is it to keep the price of corn artificially inflated for the farmers? (the raw product for the alcohol) The same corn could feed a lot of hungry people around the world.

That has been a topic of discussion around here for a long time. Creates a subsidy for the corn farmers and increases the price of cattle feed all the while making it more expensive for us to get food.

 

[Cobra129]

So everyone likes good mileage with their trucks and I am no different. I have a 2023 F150 3.5 and for the first eight (8) months I ran regular fuel and consistently got about 640 miles per tank. I drive the same amount each week and the same routes. I use the eco-mode consistently and baby this truck. In April I was reading on this forum that premium fuel would give good results especially if one was pulling a trailer. I have a 34 foot Camper and sure enough I did notice a little more pep. Since then I have run premium fuel all the time now and since then was getting almost 875 miles per tank and in two instances just over 900. I am an engineer and I know how to collect and analyze data. I got consistent numbers up until the end of October. Since October, I now again get roughly 650 miles approx. per tank. We have really had no bad weather (i.e. snow) up here and my route and driving habits have not changed.

This week I contacted the fuel company (ie Pioneer Fuels) and was told that the blend has been changed for the winter and that the federal government late September also mandated that 5-15 percent Ethanol now must be in all the fuels. Of course you can guess, the price of the less potent premium did not change so as in many things these days we get less product for more money.

Just thought I would pass this along.

Randy

Randy, just curious and trying to have some fun with numbers, what financial savings would be gained by going to premium, granted better engine performance accepted.

Using full tank measurements;
640/36 = ~17.7 mpg
875/36 = ~24.2 mpg

Looks like ~6 mpg difference going to premium seems to be an excellent increase in MPG. However, how does that equate to overall cost per tank? Granted the price per tank is more for premium, but with the increase in MPG do those numbers (cost per tank), offset the price difference between regular and premium? And lordy, fuel isn't cheap in Canada. Looks like another citizen screwed by the government with their ethanol degraded gasolines... ? Cheers!



.

 

[Captain Dirty Beard]

Is it to keep the price of corn artificially inflated for the farmers

Yes, it is. Especially considering that there are other plants such as Switch Grass and Sugar cane that are far better for producing Ethanol than corn is.

 

[Randy Stoner]

Randy, just curious and trying to have some fun with numbers, what financial savings would be gained by going to premium, granted better engine performance accepted.

Using full tank measurements;
640/36 = ~17.7 mpg
875/36 = ~24.2 mpg

Looks like ~6 mpg difference going to premium seems to be an excellent increase in MPG. However, how does that equate to overall cost per tank? Granted the price per tank is more for premium, but with the increase in MPG do those numbers (cost per tank), offset the price difference between regular and premium? And lordy, fuel isn't cheap in Canada. Looks like another citizen screwed by the government with their ethanol degraded gasolines... ? Cheers!



.

Today i filled up with regular. Im going to run a few tanks of that for the next month and see again what kind of numbers i get. Based upon what you and I both are observing im liable to not get very good mileage. But since im not pulling a camper.

For those enquiring as to why i like super, i like the noticeble performance increase but the station i frequent gives me 3 cents per liter off every time i pay with my bank card and once i recieve 300 points i get another 7 cents. plus the 3. That offsets the price again of premium a little as well


randy

 

[HammaMan]

I have 93e0 gas here that's priced the same as regular 93e10. If I blend with e85 it ends up priced about a cheap mid grade while turning into a 96e20 which pretty much every F150 is happy to produce its max power / efficiency with.

Corn subsidies for ethanol need to disappear. There are much better crops for ethanol that can be grown in inferior soil. Corn is about as low of a yield as it comes for ethanol. No reason to be using prime food ag land for fuel.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

I bought the truck new and have averaged 16.1 MPG running 87 over 26,800 miles. Normal mode.

I bought my truck new.
I have averaged 22.4 overall.
I use premium, (91-93 octane)
8000 miles
Normal drive mode.

 

[SWONT2.7]

No big surprise Randy. My 23 2.7 and my old 5.4 have only ever been filled with 91 or higher. . I had my 2009 5.4 tuned on 91 octane for 15 years. Every October I take about a 25% hit in fuel economy due to the winter blend of gas . It sucks but I can't change it. Add in cold weather, long idle times to get the ice off as my truck lives outside etc, and it's no surprise that my economy suffers drastically. Out of convenience I use petro canada about 80% of the time but when there is a Shell station handy I'll use that and get their 93. Our Sienna van with the 3.5 gets about 25% more mileage from a tank of 91 vs 87 and runs/idles smoother as did my H6 Outback 15 years ago. YMMV

 

[TarnishedCopper]

I have 93e0 gas here that's priced the same as regular 93e10. If I blend with e85 it ends up priced about a cheap mid grade while turning into a 96e20 which pretty much every F150 is happy to produce its max power / efficiency with.

Corn subsidies for ethanol need to disappear. There are much better crops for ethanol that can be grown in inferior soil. Corn is about as low of a yield as it comes for ethanol. No reason to be using prime food ag land for fuel.

 

[TarnishedCopper]

I agree. 100%! For many years the main concentration of our members in Congress from here in Iowa pushed hard for "Ethanol" and "Bio-Diesel." The push was justified as "it burns cleaner" and "conserves petroleum" which is hogwash. If it was so much better, we would be running engines burning pure alcohol. The only thing it did was to artificially inflate the price of corn for the farmers, and make every procuct made from corn or animals fed corn more expensive. The inflated corn prices ensured the members of Congress were re-elected.

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