Is anyone else really affected by winter blend?

[t4thfavor]

Wow, 25 mpg on 87 octane. That's impressive. First time I've seen anybody write that.

In our case, we're not running the 91 octane top tier fuel because our Ranger has experienced issues with mileage or poor performance, I'm simply doing it because the manufacturer recommends this in the owners manual.

Because the OP's Ranger was having MPG and Performance issues I merely thought he might want to try 91 octane to see if that remedied the issues his truck is experiencing.

Since the cold has set in, it's a solid 23, but prior to that, it was certainly able to hit 25mpg without being a grandpa. It's "Designed" to run 87, and will perform better on 91-93, in other news water is wet, and turbo motors like cold weather.

I fill up 2-3 times a week too, so $.50-1.00 ads up pretty fast. I had a Focus ST prior to this, and I used 93 exclusively due to tuning requirements. Back then the price gap was "only" $.20-.50 which was mostly acceptable at 26+ mpg.


Edit: as of today the truck has 20,9XX miles on the ODO.

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[Deleted member 1634]

Wow, 25 mpg on 87 octane. That's impressive. First time I've seen anybody write that.

In our case, we're not running the 91 octane top tier fuel because our Ranger has experienced issues with mileage or poor performance, I'm simply doing it because the manufacturer recommends this in the owners manual.

Because the OP's Ranger was having MPG and Performance issues I merely thought he might want to try 91 octane to see if that remedied the issues his truck is experiencing.

I'll say that I've gotten well over 25 mpg with 87. When driving places other than my work commute in the summer I would average around 26mpg. One trip we took it got 28mpg on the way out and 27mpg on the way back. I know one guy on here has broken the 30mpg ceiling a couple times.

 

[VAMike]

In our case, we're not running the 91 octane top tier fuel because our Ranger has experienced issues with mileage or poor performance, I'm simply doing it because the manufacturer recommends this in the owners manual.

Except that it doesn't. The manual says you'll get more power with higher octane, but if you're getting enough power with 87 there's no point in wasting money on the higher octane gas.

 

[HenryMac]

Except that it doesn't. The manual says you'll get more power with higher octane, but if you're getting enough power with 87 there's no point in wasting money on the higher octane gas.

There is so much more involved in "best overall vehicle and engine performance" than just power. That's why the word "Power" isn't mentioned at all.

 

[doug910]

Wow, 25 mpg on 87 octane. That's impressive. First time I've seen anybody write that.

In our case, we're not running the 91 octane top tier fuel because our Ranger has experienced issues with mileage or poor performance, I'm simply doing it because the manufacturer recommends this in the owners manual.

Because the OP's Ranger was having MPG and Performance issues I merely thought he might want to try 91 octane to see if that remedied the issues his truck is experiencing.

I think you're missing my point. My engine is not knocking - if I had knocking issues, I would immediately put in higher octane and go to the dealer.

I was just trying to get a feel for other people's experiences to see if my mpg drop was an anomaly or not. As a matter of fact, I put in 93 octane the other day because I was going to an off road park and I knew I would be stressing the engine more than normal. On my way home, I didn't notice much of a difference. 93 octane is not miracle juice and I don't like wasting my money.

 

[HenryMac]

I think you're missing my point. My engine is not knocking - if I had knocking issues, I would immediately put in higher octane and go to the dealer.

I was just trying to get a feel for other people's experiences to see if my mpg drop was an anomaly or not. As a matter of fact, I put in 93 octane the other day because I was going to an off road park and I knew I would be stressing the engine more than normal. On my way home, I didn't notice much of a difference. 93 octane is not miracle juice and I don't like wasting my money.

I never thought it was knocking, I merely thought that perhaps the mpg and performance issues you were experiencing might be helped by the higher octane fuel.

 

[VAMike]

Yet another misleading post by VAMike. There is so much more involved in "best overall vehicle and engine performance" than just power. That's why the word "Power" isn't mentioned at all.

Please, then, do give us a better definition of "performance gain" that applies to towing? Using basic knowledge of what higher octane fuel does in an engine would help. And no, nothing I said was misleading--the only thing the manual says about higher octane fuel is in regard to "performance". If you're happy with the "performance" of your vehicle on 87, then 91 is a waste. It clearly states that the engine is designed to run on 87, so if you run on 87 the engine will be fine, except for potential "performance" changes that don't matter much if you don't notice them.

Surely if they meant to say "better fuel economy" then they would have just said that.

 

[T-Wrecks]

I have found that my truck doesn't need anything more than 87 octane either, since I don't drive it anywhere near the the limits to which higher octane might affect the performance.
Two main reasons...
1] I want to keep my driver's license!
2] I don't tow anything which even approaches the rated limit.

However...
Regional formulations may require "premium" , though not necessarily higher octane, such as High Altitude, for turbocharged engines.
Meanwhile Top Tier 87 octane RBOB will do just fine for midwest folks like us.
I went to Backus recently towing my Scamp, so while in MN I tried regular (non ethanol) gasoline, which to my surprise made no noticeable difference in performance either.
It certainly has in my other normally aspirated, MPFI engines.

LOL. You have to wonder how many people here know where Backus is, or what RBOB or C3, C4 are! I'm guessing you are a chem engineer who likes to fish. BTW - if you bought non-oxy in MN it was 91. In WI you can get non-oxy 87.

 

[Roofhopper]

Definitely noticed a major hit to mileage, went from a steady 22 MPG to 17.8 across the past 2 fill ups. Mostly Shell fuel sometimes Sunoco, always 93 octane

 

[fordman89]

Feeling the winter blend pain, too. Went from a solid 22 MPG to about 19 MPG. Using regular 87, no mods. I'll see what tomorrow's fill-up brings, and it is looking a little better. I am remote-starting on some mornings but really no more than 5 minutes idle time when I do. I'm sure that"s not helping things.

 

[ch47dmechanic]

Yep. Last tank was an average of 15.9. Welcome to the winter blend blues...

 

[Hounddog409]

Hey guys, ever since it got cold here in MI and we (presumbly) switched to winter blend, my MPG's have tanked and power seems to be down as well. I know that some engines are more affected by winter blend than others, but it seems pretty severe.

I usually averaged about 21 mpg or so per tank this summer, I'm now averaging about 16-17 mpg per tank. I remember when I first got my Ranger in January, fuel economy wasn't stellar (about 19-20 mpg), but I assumed it was because of engine break in. Come March and 3000 miles on the odometer, I stabilized in the low 20s. Since then, I have gone up a tire size so I lost about 1-2 mpg there, but the mpg drop now seems pretty severe. Anyone else have any experience with Ecoboost engines on winter blend?

I went from 26.4 to 24.4 so far with winter mix.

I went to 93 octane. Helps power some and hopefully MPG.

Cheap gas sucks. Hate the winter mix

 

[FULLSCALE]

I’m happy I’m not alone... I thought something was wrong with my truck!

 

[Floyd]

I went from 26.4 to 24.4 so far with winter mix.

I went to 93 octane. Helps power some and hopefully MPG.

Cheap gas sucks. Hate the winter mix

Its not really cheap gas...
The winter gas will stabilize as the ambient temperature drops and the fuel economy issue will mitigate.
If the vapor point was left too high (summer grade) then problems would surface as the average temperature drops.
This problem is generally only transitional and will happen again in the spring for a while.
Of course fuel is only one factor of seasonal fuel economy changes.

 

[LIMITY]

I too am a victim of this terrible blight. It really hammers home how small my 18 gallon tank is.

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