Dyno'd power difference between regular gas (87 octane) and premium gas (92 octane)

Xfitter

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Thought this would make for a good separate thread. The owners manual says you can run regular gas (87 octane) in the 2.3L ecoboost Ranger, so that leads to the natural question if higher octane gas would yield more power. The easy answer is yes, but how much power difference?

Tuners have performed comparison dynos on Ecoboost Mustangs to test this. Here's one that led to a 22 whp / 4 wtq difference between 87 octane and 92 octane, with peak difference above 4500 rpm.

Initial Testing - 87 vs. 92 Octane

Our 2016 EcoBoost Mustang is a base 6AT model with a 3.15 rear gear. To start off our testing, we wanted to see the power difference on the as-delivered from the dealer 87 vs. 92 octane pump gas. Due to the factory 120mph speed limiter interrupting 4th gear pulls, these runs were done in 3rd gear.

When switching fuel octane, it takes some time for the PCM to adjust ignition timing to take advantage of the higher octane. This value is known as OAR - Octane Adjust Ratio and is a multiplier. It starts at 0 and learns from there based on knock feedback towards +1 for less than optimal fuel and towards -1 for high quality fuel. Our car was driven for 2 weeks after the change from 87 to 92 octane to ensure it was at -1 OAR and then the comparison pulls were made.

NOTE: The majority of EcoBoost Dynojet charts we’ve found online are in STD correction factor, so we will be posting our charts in STD for ease of comparison.

92_vs_87.png


We saw large gains above 4,500rpm as a result of added timing with the better quality fuel, with peak to peak increases of +22whp/+4wtq. The sharp drop in power that occurs at high rpm (5500-6000rpm) is largely the result of extremely rich AFR's (air-fuel ratio) as the catalyst protection strategy comes into play and the factory PCM mapping starts commanding additional fuel to keep things cool.

https://www.speedfactoryracing.net/mustang-ecoboost-dyno-data
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EcoRanger

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In my area we have 93 octane gas and I us it exclusively in my 15 Ecoboost Mustang convertible and she runs so good. One time I was travelling and was forced to get 87 octane let me tell you it makes a big difference is performance.
 

Tomsriv

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Often it is a seat of the pants feel that makes the difference. I have heard and seen some evidence that better octane gives better mileage. When you are paying about 5 dollars more per tank of premium you have to weigh the value. For me the low rpm torque and throttle response is important and if it feels more responsive below 3500 rpm then I would probably run it.
 

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Totally agree! My 2017 Fusion Sport ran a 13.8 on 87 and a 13.5 on 93. Both stock, both within 24 hours. MPG was 2-3mpg higher with 93 too. My 2017 FiST also felt a lot stronger on 93. I only kept it stock for about 4000 miles though. I ended up going with the 93 Mountune and now it BURNS tires hitting (not shifting) while in 2nd gear. ;) Next upgrade is wider sticky tires; it's not a fast car but is fun to drive and toss around and is a good commuter. Can't wait to see the capability of the Ranger 42 days until delivery for me.
 

WXman

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Neat-O.

Since the Ranger has 3.73 gears, taller tires, different transmission, and a different cam/tuning profile to detune it for truck use, I'd say that the same testing on a Ranger would yield vastly different results than what we see above. But, it's still cool nonetheless.

Hopefully later this year somebody will do this test on a Ranger.
 
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Bubbabiker

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Good to see they are going to offer a auto octane tune for the 2.3L.
 

MT19RANGER

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t4thfavor

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rangerdanger

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You're going to also need the tuning "computer" Like a SCT Livewire, or whatever they prefer. I had a COBB APv3 which was basically for tuning and logging only, and it was 400$ with no custom tuning included. Looks like they are using the HP Tuners NGAGE device which looks to cost around 450USD. The tunes would be in addition to that device.
Of course you still need the tuner computer, but $250 for their own labor is pretty cheap.
 

t4thfavor

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Welcome to Ecoboost, they are pretty easy to make power with, and the "real work" was all paid for by people with RS's and Mustangs :)
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