Who's using premium gas and who's using basic gas?

[Tosh]

I've been driving diesel for the past 15 years, and have felt the need to learn more about modern gasoline formulations I hope to own a Powerboost sometime later this year.

I thought this article was very interesting

https://www.enginelabs.com/engine-t...ump-gas-getting-higher-octane-for-less-money/

In the last 4 gas powered trucks I drove, they all ran better on 91 octane, and the old 4.0 Jeep ran great on 93 with a tune. I believe high(er) octane gas is better for the engine

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[jb55]

Ford manual "recommends" 91 or better, so I run 93. It was $2.95 the other day at Kroger here in Ga. I have the 5.0 for reference.

 

[yamamanr1m]

Always using Premium in my 3.5 EcoBoost. To be sure to have the most of the power when I need to tow trailers...

 

[Rkh51]

Yes! For us California residents, please don’t post gas prices without a trigger warning!

move out sorry I just don’t like cali policy

 

[Scoop]

Engines not specifically designed to take advantage of higher octane fuels will NOT see any improvement in performance or efficiency, nor does it reduce pollution, if you run higher octane fuels. Engines are designed and engineered around the best gasoline they can handle, period.

Turbocharged motors (e.g., the Ecoboost) do benefit from higher octane fuels, because they are designed to do so. But if your NA motor is designed to run on 87 octane, then running 89, 92, 93 or similar octane fuel will accomplish little more than emptying out your wallet for no reason.

Nearly 7 out of 10 vehicles on the roadway require regular (87) gasoline. 16 percent require premium fuel. 10 percent require mid-grade. The remaining 4 percent are alternative energy vehicles.

What's FAR more important than octane is finding and using fuel that meets TOP TIER standards. This should explain what that means: https://www.carfax.com/blog/top-tier-gas-medicine-engine

 

[spectre446]

Engines not specifically designed to take advantage of higher octane fuels will NOT see any improvement in performance or efficiency, nor does it reduce pollution, if you run higher octane fuels. Engines are designed and engineered around the best gasoline they can handle, period.

Turbocharged motors (e.g., the Ecoboost) do benefit from higher octane fuels, because they are designed to do so. But if your NA motor is designed to run on 87 octane, then running 89, 92, 93 or similar octane fuel will accomplish little more than emptying out your wallet for no reason.

Nearly 7 out of 10 vehicles on the roadway require regular (87) gasoline. 16 percent require premium fuel. 10 percent require mid-grade. The remaining 4 percent are alternative energy vehicles.

What's FAR more important than octane is finding and using fuel that meets TOP TIER standards. This should explain what that means: https://www.carfax.com/blog/top-tier-gas-medicine-engine

Suprised to see that RaceTrac is not on there. Maybe that's why they're always cheaper than other gas stations.

 

[Smitdog]

https://toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

 

[kenpitt]

I have about 3500 miles on my 3.5 EB and most of it has been 87 octane. But, a few weeks ago was filling up at Costco and we had a day trip planned for the next day so I filled with 93. I got about 1.5 mpg (20 mpg for the tank) better on that tank so I filled the next tank with 93 as well for my regular mixed driving. Same thing, about 1.5 mpg better. last tank I filled up with 87 and so far has been back down to about 17-18 but lots of short trips on this one. It’s impossible to really do a side by side comparison on MPG but it does seem to get about 8-10% better mpg with the 93. Around her the 93 is more than 10% increase from 87 so not really more economical. But, with 93 in sport mode it does seem to have a little more punch.

Sport mode in any gas will give you more punch I believe. So I'm asking myself to get 10 percent better mpg, do I want to pay 20 percent more for the gasoline. As long as I'm not hurting the vehicle and it's under warranty I think I will stick with regular. Do you think this foolish?

 

[kenpitt]

Just under 5K miles been using 87. I have always used 87 on my vehicles I just can't get myself to pay the higher prices. I have had zero problems, and my last two vehicles where both had high miles when I got rid of them. I drive at least 315 miles a week to and from work, not counting weekend work and when I get called in at night.

I have the same mindset as you.

 

[spectre446]

Sport mode in any gas will give you more punch I believe. So I'm asking myself to get 10 percent better mpg, do I want to pay 20 percent more for the gasoline. As long as I'm not hurting the vehicle and it's under warranty I think I will stick with regular. Do you think this foolish?

is higher octane gas better for the longevity of the engine? are you keeping the truck long term?

 

[kenpitt]

is higher octane gas better for the longevity of the engine? are you keeping the truck long term?

Yes

 

[imnuts]

Engines not specifically designed to take advantage of higher octane fuels will NOT see any improvement in performance or efficiency, nor does it reduce pollution, if you run higher octane fuels. Engines are designed and engineered around the best gasoline they can handle, period.

Turbocharged motors (e.g., the Ecoboost) do benefit from higher octane fuels, because they are designed to do so. But if your NA motor is designed to run on 87 octane, then running 89, 92, 93 or similar octane fuel will accomplish little more than emptying out your wallet for no reason.

Nearly 7 out of 10 vehicles on the roadway require regular (87) gasoline. 16 percent require premium fuel. 10 percent require mid-grade. The remaining 4 percent are alternative energy vehicles.

What's FAR more important than octane is finding and using fuel that meets TOP TIER standards. This should explain what that means: https://www.carfax.com/blog/top-tier-gas-medicine-engine

While regular (87 octane) is fine for most day-to-day situations, premium (91+ octane) is better for high load situations, even if a car isn't specifically tuned for it. In hot weather, is even more likely to show a benefit in high load situations. Also, just because the car still runs doesn't mean you're getting everything out of it. If the ECU is pulling timing, you'd likely get a benefit.

I never know when I may need to floor it to merge into traffic, so I plan on running premium of my truck ever makes it out of Dearborn. You'd likely also see a benefit when towing/hauling as well, though that will be less often for me.

 

[Tosh]

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a28565486/honda-cr-v-vs-bmw-m5-ford-f-150-dodge-charger/

it matters less for some, more for others...

 

[spectre446]

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a28565486/honda-cr-v-vs-bmw-m5-ford-f-150-dodge-charger/

it matters less for some, more for others...

For those too lazy to click, here's the pertinent part. Basically yes it makes a difference in speed/power but not much for fuel economy

At 128.7 horsepower per liter, the F-150's high-output V-6 engine is more power dense than a Porsche 911 Carrera's twin-turbo flat-six. Naturally then, the Ford hauls ass as effortlessly as it hauls a half-ton of manure. When fed 93 octane, this 5594-pound, self-propelled wheelbarrow will crash 60 mph in 5.3 seconds.

Power at the wheels dropped from 380 to 360 horsepower with the change from 93 to 87 octane. That difference seemed to grow, and we could even feel it from the driver's seat at the test track. Compared with premium fuel, regular feed sapped the F-150's urgency both leaving the line and in the meat of the tach sweep. The rush to 60 mph softened to a still-blistering 5.9 seconds, and the quarter-mile stretched from 14.0 to 14.5 seconds, with trap speed falling 4 mph. Tapped into the Ford's CAN bus, we recorded a peak boost pressure roughly 1.9 psi lower during acceleration runs on regular gas, down more than 10 percent compared with the 18.1-psi peak on premium. The high-octane gas also helped when soft-pedaling the accelerator, elevating 75-mph fuel economy from 17.0 to 17.6 mpg. That won't make a financial case for running 93 octane, but then you didn't buy the expensive engine as a rational choice. You can think of this EcoBoost engine's more aggressive high-octane tune as a sort-of sport mode that can be switched on or off with every fill of its 36.0-gallon tank.

 

[Jaylars]

I'm at 2300' so 91 is what our premium fuel is here in Idaho. Historically, I find it more important to use Top Tier fuel than crap fuel and don't worry about the grade.

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