93 Octane pump gas locations

[LogYZ450]

Hey guys, I just bought a 2025 F-150 Lariat “Dark Trails” edition with the FP700 Whipple Supercharger kit. I live in the Salt Lake City through Weber county in Utah.
As we know 91 is everywhere, but I cannot find any higher octane in pump gas. Do you guys have any hint as to where I can find 93-100 octane pump gas? Price is going to be higher but I’d like to save this engine from being on the edge. More power is better but that pre-detonation is what I want to be far from.

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[deepblack]

Just put in octane booster. Buy a case and keep a few bottles in the truck for fill ups. Then you can fill up anywhere.

 

[LogYZ450]

Just put in octane booster. Buy a case and keep a few bottles in the truck for fill ups. Then you can fill up anywhere.

In Whipple’s owners manual is specifically states to not use those octane boosters. They don’t work and can cause issues.

 

[deepblack]

In Whipple’s owners manual is specifically states to not use those octane boosters. They don’t work and can cause issues.

I understand not wanting to void your warranty if Whipple forbids it.

Not sure what you mean by “those” and “they don’t work”, but good octane booster added in the correct amount to increase your octane from X to Y definitely does work. It only increases octane so the fuel can be compressed more without detonating. What Whipple really means is they can’t trust their customers to do it right and they don’t want to replace superchargers for customers that put in 87 Octane gas plus some Amazon overseas lowest price octane booster.

 

[Buyer2021]

Do you guys have any hint as to where I can find 93-100 octane pump gas?

Using this website (FWIW) it looks pretty grim for 93+ when you enter Salt Lake City for the search.

Find 93 Octane Gas: Locate Gasoline Stations Selling Premium

Hitting the '-' to zoom the map coverage wider finally reveals a Sinclair at 720 N Main St in Spanish Fork claiming to have 94+ octane.

Have you asked the folks at Ed Kenley Ford for suggestions?

Good Luck!

 

[LogYZ450]

I just asked them and they said I have two options. Buy it by the drum from a performance shop or drive to Spanish Fork. Haha I will be doing neither. 91 it is!

has anyone had luck with VP octane improver? Not that it’s very practical or cost effective either…

 

[Buyer2021]

Not that it’s very practical or cost effective either…

Just curious ..... why did you buy the supercharged truck (what's your use for it)?

 

[CoryT]

Utah designates 91 as Premium. Most high elevation places won't sell 93.

If you check a list of U.S. states by standard octane ratings it will say that Utah is 85/88/91

 

[LogYZ450]

Just curious ..... why did you buy the supercharged truck (what's your use for it)?

I had a 2017 Ecoboost for 6 years and had to dump $13k into it within 2 years. Cam Phasers, oil pan leaked, trans would not shift correctly, it overheated like crazy when towing anything above 4000lbs and etc… What finally broke the camels back was all the turbo oil and coolant lines/fittings started to leak profusely. I just couldn’t keep up with everything that went wrong with this high strung 6cyl.

I bought the 5.0L Coyote because I missed everything about the V8. Sound, power curve, ease of maintenance and aftermarket support. The stock 5.0 doesn’t quite have the power output I want. It would have actually been a power downgrade from the 3.5L. So to sidestep that, in comes Whipple! 725BHP is straight up orgas…. (NVM family friendly) The SC 5.0 will have more than enough power to tow what I want it to tow and fun enough to tickle my need for speed. So far MPG is around 16 which is the same as my lifted 3.5L EB.
I honestly can’t see ANY downside going from the 3.5L EB to the 5.0L Whipple charged. (Aside from cost… that’s unavoidable)

 

[Buyer2021]

The SC 5.0 will have more than enough power to tow what I want it to tow .....

Price is going to be higher but I’d like to save this engine from being on the edge. More power is better but that pre-detonation is what I want to be far from.

Doesn't towing (engine working under increased load) increase the propensity for pre-detonation, making the higher-than-minimum-recommended (91) SC'd octane a much better choice if you want to "save this engine from being on the edge"?

I honestly can’t see ANY downside going from the 3.5L EB to the 5.0L Whipple charged.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion but given your stated towing goals and the difficulty, in your area, of sourcing the higher-than-91-octane gas that likely keeps the SC happiest under load, I might disagree in your case. The current 3.5EB is much improved since 2017 and IME pulls like a monster with widely available 91 octane when towing (89 octane is the minimum recommended).

Wishing you the best over the long term with your SC'd F150.

 

[Superstock 3740]

Here's what I would do. Little more work, but I did this to my Lingenfelter 383 Cu in. Corvette for years. Go to your local VP Dealer. Buy 5-gallon pails of their Unleaded Racing Fuel. It will most likely ( I forget) be 110 plus octane. Mix it half and half. With 91, even 1/3 mixture will improve the octane substantially. But try 1/2 mixture to start with. Come up with a nice funnel to pour it in. I have raced NHRA Superstock for 3 decades. I know a little bit about hot street cars and their fuel. Just try it. I will bet you that thing will come ALIVE with this set up. And smell awesome. There is nothing in this world that smells better than firing a street vehicle in the garage and backing out all while smelling the aroma of race gas.

 

[LogYZ450]

Doesn't towing (engine working under increased load) increase the propensity for pre-detonation, making the higher-than-minimum-recommended (91) SC'd octane a much better choice if you want to "save this engine from being on the edge"?

You're certainly entitled to your opinion but given your stated towing goals and the difficulty, in your area, of sourcing the higher-than-91-octane gas that likely keeps the SC happiest under load, I might disagree in your case. The current 3.5EB is much improved since 2017 and IME pulls like a monster with widely available 91 octane when towing (89 octane is the minimum recommended).

Wishing you the best over the long term with your SC'd F150.

I can’t tell if you are trolling me with the first paragraph or not? Yes running higher octane will prevent pre-detonation in any most any use case. However, modern engines are intelligent enough to pull power before anything bad happens. 91 is the recommended minimum for the SC. Meaning that it’s 100% safe to run 91 in my application. What I mean by that is I want to run higher than 91 to have that much more peace of mind when it’s 105 degrees outside and I’m pulling 4k-5k lbs up a hill. Which yes ABSOLUTELY both the 5.0 and 3.5EB can tow that amount of weight fairly easily. However the 3.5 will overheat on those hard pulls. Especially when you tune them for higher power levels. Mine was aggressively tuned but had an oversized Mishimoto radiator, CVF Titan V2 intercooler, Mishimoto oil cooler, and I ran a 170 degree thermostat. Still got to 240-250 degrees coolant temp fairly easily. I even put in a new pump and thermostat housing. Still, pushing 24lbs of boost just heats these little guys up. Especially when asking a lot from them.

Please don’t get me wrong, I LOVED that 2017. Dang near cried when seeing it on their lot again. I’d buy it all over again if in that situation. Me and that truck had gone through a lot together. I just outgrew the capabilities of it without putting another 10-15 grand into it to fix the transmission and find a way to keep those temps down. (Quite literally it was that situation like once or twice a year when it was +100 degrees outside.)

I understand I don’t have to run higher than 91. I just want to. Both to see if it makes a difference and just for fun. If it’s not possible, no biggie.

 

[Captain Dirty Beard]

You will not find 93 octane in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Montana.

add 5 gallons of E85 to a full tank of 91 Octane.

https://morepowertuning.com/pages/e...1Z5W_I1P4aiJtpDB9ESVuK96AXL6uHEz8kjP1ogFJGjfc

 

[Buyer2021]

I can’t tell if you are trolling me with the first paragraph or not?

Nope, an honest question / comment.

Yes running higher octane will prevent pre-detonation in any most any use case. However, modern engines are intelligent enough to pull power before anything bad happens. 91 is the recommended minimum for the SC. Meaning that it’s 100% safe to run 91 in my application. What I mean by that is I want to run higher than 91 to have that much more peace of mind when it’s 105 degrees outside and I’m pulling 4k-5k lbs up a hill.

That is exactly my point.

We both understand that with 91 the ECM will effectively limit power output by limiting effective ignition advance to that which the 91 will safely support without pre-detonation.

My thought was / is that when running in high load situations where effective ignition advance is pushed to its octane-limited maximum the engine is subject to greater heat buildup as you state. Running higher octane would keep the ignition advance more comfortably away from its octane limited maximum and yield less heat stress.

IOW, I think we're on the same page, I agree that running a higher than the 'base' recommended octane when facing higher load situations would be more desirable, whether with the 3.5EB or the 5.0SC.

The difference between the two seems to be that the 5.0SC runs at a higher effective 'base' ignition advance, prompting the requirement for a higher 'base' octane (91) for that engine than the 3.5EB (my EB's base recommend octane is 87, I mis-stated 89 in my previous post). Then, as the need to accommodate higher loads 'comfortably' increases, the octane recommendation goes up from their respective 'base' octane recommendations accordingly.

My 3.5EB owner's manual recommends 91 or higher when towing; fortunately, 91 is widely available as you point out, and at least in my region so is 93. FWIW I do transition from my daily-use 87 to 91/93 when towing the trailer described in my signature block in stressful conditions (e.g high Texas ambient temps / long steep grade pulls), and have never encountered any hint of untoward engine temps (I monitor actual degrees-F tranny and engine coolant temps, not the uncalibrated OE dash displays). That's a box-stock 2022 (distinct from 2017) 3.5EB engine with no 'performance mods' whatsoever.

My second-paragraph comments were based on the apparent recommendation for the 5.0SC of octanes in the range of 93+ when operating under higher loads, and the apparent regrettable difficulty of sourcing that in your region.

Again, none of this 'trolling', just an honest exchange of thoughts.

And again, I sincerely do wish the best for you and your 5.0SC. I've no doubt that it's a fun engine, especially when served the high-octane diet that it prefers.

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