Regular vs Premium Gasoline

[Hobkvet]

Man, you guys are like chemists and scientists lol- I put in 87 because that's what the salesman said, and the service manager said- BUT I'm gonna try a tank of Hi-Test and see if there is a difference. I have a basic 2023 STX with the V6 ecoboost. I have not towed anything in like 25 years and this is my first new Truck since 1980.

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[mredwin25]

Nice! So faster than stock on premium with your 87 tune?

absolutely

 

[Samson16]

absolutely

I’m curious as to how that works. Crap gas limiting boost pressure. Shift point magic? There must be some serious spark/valve timing jiujitsu going on. Impressive

 

[Samson16]

Man, you guys are like chemists and scientists lol- I put in 87 because that's what the salesman said, and the service manager said- BUT I'm gonna try a tank of Hi-Test and see if there is a difference. I have a basic 2023 STX with the V6 ecoboost. I have not towed anything in like 25 years and this is my first new Truck since 1980.

Welcome to the rabbit hole sir ?

 

[Captain Dirty Beard]

Man, you guys are like chemists and scientists lol- I put in 87 because that's what the salesman said, and the service manager said- BUT I'm gonna try a tank of Hi-Test and see if there is a difference. I have a basic 2023 STX with the V6 ecoboost. I have not towed anything in like 25 years and this is my first new Truck since 1980.

Anything with forced induction and relatively high compression ratio should use whatever the highest octane you can get. Sure, it "can" run on 87, but it isn't as efficient or as powerful, and when towing or accelerating hard, you may be up against the knock sensors pulling timing to prevent knock.

 

[Calson]

This is exactly what is stated in the Ford manual for those who take a few minutes to read it. 93 octane when towing and 87 octane when not towing. Not rocket science and putting 93 octane gas in the tank when not towing is great for oil company profits which hardly need our help, but does nothing for the performance of the truck.

Unless I am merging with freeway traffic there is zero need to burn the extra gas with hard acceleration. I would be burning 10-15% more gas and at 93 octane, paying 10% more at the pumps for a cost of 25% to save a few seconds of my time. That does not compute for me.

 

[UGADawg96]

The owners manual on page 228 states the following:

"For best overall vehicle and engine
performance, premium fuel with an octane
rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The
performance gained by using premium fuel
is most noticeable in hot weather as well
as other conditions, for example when
towing a trailer"

The engineer in this video starting around 7:42 said that, yes, you can run 87 in an ecoboost engine, but horsepower/torque will be reduced:

 

[Suns_PSD]

Man, you guys are like chemists and scientists lol- I put in 87 because that's what the salesman said, and the service manager said- BUT I'm gonna try a tank of Hi-Test and see if there is a difference. I have a basic 2023 STX with the V6 ecoboost. I have not towed anything in like 25 years and this is my first new Truck since 1980.

In other vehicles (for me) it has taken a few tanks for the relearning process to occur to adapt to higher Octane, going to lower octane happens faster.

 

[Samson16]

87 octane when not towing

Oops ?
Guess that’s what you were hoping it said. What’s in the box?

 

[nomarhits400]

The owners manual on page 228 states the following:

"For best overall vehicle and engine
performance, premium fuel with an octane
rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The
performance gained by using premium fuel
is most noticeable in hot weather as well
as other conditions, for example when
towing a trailer"

The engineer in this video starting around 7:42 said that, yes, you can run 87 in an ecoboost engine, but horsepower/torque will be reduced:

There’s a couple folks here I wish would take those words at face value ?

 

[Super Dave]

Hi Gang, Ok here is my story on this. I have a 2018 5.0 Mustang Track only car. Had to put some 85 octane in her at the track, could not get it to go over 129mph in the straight. Burned it out filled up with 91 octane the same day, was able to hit my usual 134mph in the straight, so yes more octane makes my Mustang Happy, Happy, Happy....

 

[Chili]

Depends if the extra getup is worth $5 a tank. $15-20 if you don't have a Costco

 

[Davexxxx]

I'm old enough to remember calling it Ethel.

People bitch about ethanol in fuel but insist on using premium

On a recent, 10 state, 5K mile trip, I found that fuel types and blends are pretty highly locale dependent and not every pump, has 3 or more choices. Some had blends I'd never even heard of, let alone had any experience with.

In my day to day, I run 87 (the lowest locally available), get low to mid 20s mpg and have more power than I have use for, with no noticeable deficiencies.

I once used 93 on a short-ish RV trip (7K lbs (+-)) and towing mileage actually went down. With the premium pricing, that can leave a bad taste in a fella's mouth.

On this trip, pulling the same load, I used 87 in the flats and 93 (if I could get it) in the Rockies. Mileage was markedly better in the mountains but I mainly attribute that to the terrain, allowing free recharges of the hybrid's batt and more variable winds.

Just now, per gasbuddy, my usual haunt for tier 1 fuel, is priced at 3.02 for 87, 3.27 for 91 (+8.3%) and 3.52 for 93 (+16.6%). All will have up to 10% ethanol, as per normal in my state.

With no noticeable downside to using 87, I'd want to expect corresponding increases in mpg. I may play with it a bit, since my daily driving costs are so low but when I was driving 100-200 miles a day, that extra 15 bucks per tank full, added up pretty quickly.

 

[Kodiak]

Fill it up, Ethel.

Sure bud but don't call me Ethel.

 

[BMCGC]

I got over the need for speed years ago. My normal driving is in town, no load, 5-7000 miles a year. 87 works fine for me. I only fill up every 3-5 weeks. I am going to the Talladega race in Oct, that will be my first road trip in the PB. 200 miles each way. I think I will run 87 on the way out and 93 on the way back home. The elevation difference is 280', so it should be similar conditions both ways.

Will I see a mileage difference?

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