Regular or Premium

[Courtney Victoria Seaton]

I have a 2007 Ford Explorer 4.6L V8 6 Speed automatic transmission.

I am wondering if I should be putting regular or premium gas in it?

 

[swshawaii]

Choosing the right fuel
Use only UNLEADED fuel or UNLEADED fuel blended with a maximum of 10% ethanol. Your vehicle was not designed to run on E85 fuels that are blended with a maximum of 85% ethanol. The use of leaded fuel is prohibited by law and could damage your vehicle. Do not use fuel containing methanol. It can damage critical fuel system components.

Octane recommendations
Your vehicle is designed to use “Regular” unleaded gasoline with pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87. We do not recommend the use of gasolines labeled as “Regular” that are sold with octane ratings of 86 or lower in high altitude areas

Owners Manual (Page 342)
http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/catalog/owner_guides/07expog2e.pdf

 

[Partsman109]

I use regular (87 octane) in my 2007 Limited 4.6 V8 with 6 speed automatic trans.
When I first bought it I used 93 octane and didn't really notice much difference other than I was getting gas more often.

 

[08EddieCA]

I seem to squeeze a mile or a mile and a half better mpg with 89. It could also be that the overused term of "tier1 gas" that I always use is very compatible with my engine. I might try 87 and I might get the same mileage.

 

[jd4242]

Normally they call for higher octane because of the compression to prevent detonation . .using a lower octane will cause detonation and cause timing to be removed hurting performance and milage . .

 

[MNgopher]

Good quality 87 octane is all that engine combo needs. I've gotten no change in fuel mileage between 87, 89, and 91 octane gas, all E10. Fuel mileage goes up around 5% on non-ethanol gasoline (usually a 91 octane in this area).

Different story in the newer ecoboost world on newer generations (like the 2.7 in my new F150), but for the 3V 4.6, 87 octane is all she needs...

 

[chapsdeva]

Unless you are experiencing pinging or drivability issues using the higher octane gas is not necessary. Definitely won't hurt anything, but no need to spend the extra money.