Regular or Premium Gas

[jjs461]

I noticed in parts of Western states in octane regular was 85.5 or 86 I went with the midgrade 88 with no ill effects, I didn't want to chance anything below 87 octane. The Hess stattion around the corner from me in Philadelphia is $3.56 per gallion for regular 87

 

[2nd X]

San Antonio Texas is at $3.44 also if you use the middle grade it is cheaper if you mix yourself, no refiner produces the middle grade it is mixed at the pump usually more unleaded than super (60/40).

 

[tazcubed]

For the Explorer Sport with the V6 Ecoboost: OK, I've looked through the manual and it indicates that the fuel can be 87 octane. Brochures and other places indicate it should be 91 - no labels on the fuel cap specify fuel type. Can I get a solid answer from Ford as to which it should be? Until I get an answer I'll run it on 91.

 

[peterk9]

For the Explorer Sport with the V6 Ecoboost: OK, I've looked through the manual and it indicates that the fuel can be 87 octane. Brochures and other places indicate it should be 91 - no labels on the fuel cap specify fuel type. Can I get a solid answer from Ford as to which it should be? Until I get an answer I'll run it on 91.

When looking at the Sport on the Ford Canada website and all its features/option etc., it states Premium fuel is recommended. You can run it on 87 octane but you will not get the optimum performance out of the engine which in a way defeats the purpose of it, in my opinion.

Peter

 

[tazcubed]

When looking at the Sport on the Ford Canada website and all its features/option etc., it states Premium fuel is recommended. You can run it on 87 octane but you will not get the optimum performance out of the engine which in a way defeats the purpose of it, in my opinion.

Peter

That's essentially what I took away from it all as well. I'd just like to see something from Ford because it certainly seems contradictory to an extent. Most turbocharged engines require higher octane and one can void applicable warranties by running lesser fuels because of knocking. The Explorer Sport runs quite nicely on the 91. A few HP lost on occasion might save a few bucks but not worthwhile if it affects the durability of the engine itself.

 

[VinceL]

I would also track mileage when comparing the two fuels. Our Forester XT came with a recommendation on using premium. Out of curiosity, we asked the service manager about using regular in it. He said it would run fine, but that we would lose some power.

When gas got so expensive a while back, my wife started putting regular in it to save some money. When you drove it, you could tell it had lost some of its oomph. As a practice, we track the mileage in our cars and I noticed her mileage was just terrible (not that the ever got great mileage, but it was noticeably worse). That is when I found out she was using regular in the car. So we went back to premium for a few tankfuls and the mileage came back up. After comparing the loss of mileage to the increased cost of premium, it actually cost us less to put the more expensive gas.

Of course, the Ecoboost engine has more advanced fuel delivery and computer controls, so the difference may not be as noticeable, but I would be curious to know if using the two different fuels affected overall mileage?

 

[msmccargar]

I would also track mileage when comparing the two fuels. Our Forester XT came with a recommendation on using premium. Out of curiosity, we asked the service manager about using regular in it. He said it would run fine, but that we would lose some power.

When gas got so expensive a while back, my wife started putting regular in it to save some money. When you drove it, you could tell it had lost some of its oomph. As a practice, we track the mileage in our cars and I noticed her mileage was just terrible (not that the ever got great mileage, but it was noticeably worse). That is when I found out she was using regular in the car. So we went back to premium for a few tankfuls and the mileage came back up. After comparing the loss of mileage to the increased cost of premium, it actually cost us less to put the more expensive gas.

Of course, the Ecoboost engine has more advanced fuel delivery and computer controls, so the difference may not be as noticeable, but I would be curious to know if using the two different fuels affected overall mileage?

Vince

Have you run any premium in the Gray Ghost and done any comparisons?

 

[13Sport]

For the Explorer Sport with the V6 Ecoboost: OK, I've looked through the manual and it indicates that the fuel can be 87 octane. Brochures and other places indicate it should be 91 - no labels on the fuel cap specify fuel type. Can I get a solid answer from Ford as to which it should be? Until I get an answer I'll run it on 91.

The spec sheet, as well as Cory confirmed in another thread a couple of months ago. The vehicle will run fine on 87, you get better mileage and performance with 91.

 

[VinceL]

Vince

Have you run any premium in the Gray Ghost and done any comparisons?

Never have. Never saw a reason to. Being a normally aspirated engine, I don't see how using a higher octane would make that much difference. I can't imagine the few engine control tweaks that the ECU might attempt would result in any appreciable gains. Pretty much need to chip a car to get any real benefits.

 

[plumbago]

The spec sheet, as well as Cory confirmed in another thread a couple of months ago. The vehicle will run fine on 87, you get better mileage and performance with 91.

This is true, but you will not see better mileage unless you make sure you are using NON alcohol fuel.....Plum

 

[zackcrazy]

You will notice ZERO benefits just switching from 87 to 91 fuel. Getting a good tune would be a differant story. Unfortunetly I have e-mailed just about every company that does programming I can find and no one has a tune for the 2013 Sport yet.

 

[13Sport]

You will notice ZERO benefits just switching from 87 to 91 fuel. Getting a good tune would be a differant story. Unfortunetly I have e-mailed just about every company that does programming I can find and no one has a tune for the 2013 Sport yet.

I don't know that you would get ZERO benefits.. if you continually run 87 the engine will retard timing to compensate for detonation, especially w/ turbos raising the compression so high. Over 3 or 4 tanks you will likely lose 5 to 10hp on 87, will that be largely noticeable? Probably not, but it is a benefit to run higher octane gas if for nothing but engine health (reduced sediment, cleaner burning, etc). And I do believe over the course of multiple tanks you would see 1+ mpg difference in economy, I don't see how you could not, turbos cause so much heat that there would be no way to avoid detonation on 87 w/out retarding the engine in some way.

I do agree with a tune giving you huge gains, but I don't know anything about the internals, or the drivetrain components to know whether they can handle those gains. I thought I read somewhere that the transmission (in order to keep a smooth, luxury style ride and shifting) was a point of weakness for more power? I'm sure the engine itself is capable of at least another 100hp, and 100ft/lbs with just software, it's everything else I'm worried about.

 

[13Sport]

and no one has a tune for the 2013 Sport yet.

I thought Livernois said they had a tune, just no car to test it on.

 

[MikeFreas]

I don't know that you would get ZERO benefits.. if you continually run 87 the engine will retard timing to compensate for detonation, especially w/ turbos raising the compression so high. Over 3 or 4 tanks you will likely lose 5 to 10hp on 87, will that be largely noticeable? Probably not, but it is a benefit to run higher octane gas if for nothing but engine health (reduced sediment, cleaner burning, etc). And I do believe over the course of multiple tanks you would see 1+ mpg difference in economy, I don't see how you could not, turbos cause so much heat that there would be no way to avoid detonation on 87 w/out retarding the engine in some way.

I do agree with a tune giving you huge gains, but I don't know anything about the internals, or the drivetrain components to know whether they can handle those gains. I thought I read somewhere that the transmission (in order to keep a smooth, luxury style ride and shifting) was a point of weakness for more power? I'm sure the engine itself is capable of at least another 100hp, and 100ft/lbs with just software, it's everything else I'm worried about.

What is the compression ratio of the engine? Isn't it direct injection? Ford engine guys are smart enough to know most people are not going to run 91 or better and design the engine/ECU to handle regular.

While it is true you may see less power with 87 I don't believe it will do any harm to the engine. Quality knock sensors, wide band O2 sensors, and direct injection of fuel all help keep the knock monster away.

 

[zackcrazy]

They said they have the software but when I sent them my box code they said they dont have the strategy yet.....so I am waiting.

 

[VinceL]

The reason that there is a loss of power is due to re-tuning the engine to avoid damage.

 

[zackcrazy]

Originally Posted by 13Sport .... if you continually run 87 the engine will retard timing to compensate for detonation, especially w/ turbos raising the compression so high

Turbo's dont raise compression, just air pressure to the intake. Also the compression on the EB V6 is less than the standard V6.
10.0-1 and 10.8-1 respectively

 

[13Sport]

Turbo's dont raise compression, just air pressure to the intake. Also the compression on the EB V6 is less than the standard V6.
10.0-1 and 10.8-1 respectively

A turbo's job is to compress air =P It raises the net compression of engine under full boost, which is why a boosted engine SHOULD have a lower compression ratio than an NA engine to be prepared for the higher net compression when the turbos come on fully.

 

[zackcrazy]

Yes....it adds boost to the engine intake which will effect compression after, but engine compression is a ratio stated by manufacturers before turbos and superchargers. Too many variables to put a number on anything else.

 

[tazcubed]

I don't know that you would get ZERO benefits.. if you continually run 87 the engine will retard timing to compensate for detonation, especially w/ turbos raising the compression so high. Over 3 or 4 tanks you will likely lose 5 to 10hp on 87, will that be largely noticeable? Probably not, but it is a benefit to run higher octane gas if for nothing but engine health (reduced sediment, cleaner burning, etc). And I do believe over the course of multiple tanks you would see 1+ mpg difference in economy, I don't see how you could not, turbos cause so much heat that there would be no way to avoid detonation on 87 w/out retarding the engine in some way.

I do agree with a tune giving you huge gains, but I don't know anything about the internals, or the drivetrain components to know whether they can handle those gains. I thought I read somewhere that the transmission (in order to keep a smooth, luxury style ride and shifting) was a point of weakness for more power? I'm sure the engine itself is capable of at least another 100hp, and 100ft/lbs with just software, it's everything else I'm worried about.

So following the chain of thought, would 94 octane result in any additional power? I believe that running 87 would lower power to protect the engine because of potential knocking, but I've also read a thread somewhere in here where it's stated that running 87 also lowers MPG. The idea of lowering one's MPG because of a lower grade of gas doesn't make sense, although with direct injection I'm less sure of that answer.

The tranny is the weak part of this setup and has been stated by Ford during an interview as part of the reason why the torque is so much lower than the in the F-150 (the Explorer transaxle vs the F-150 direct transmission to the backend). Otherwise, this vehicle would be much more tunable.