Regular gas (87 octane) for the 2.3L EcoBoost confirmed?

[rangerdanger]

I was browsing the 2019 Ford Ranger owner's manual and came across this page about fuel and refueling.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...l-quick-reference-guide-packaging-guide.1071/

Sponsored

 

[Stic-o]

That would be amazing!


But I doubt it...

 

[FelixDaCat]

Seems like it! The 2019 Ranger tech specs just posted says 87 octane.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/2019-ford-ranger-tech-specs.1072/

 

[Smithers]

So I was reading through the manual yesterday for this and this is the important paragraph I came across.

"For best overall vehicle and engine performance, premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The performance gained by using premium fuel is most noticeable in hot weather as well as other conditions, for example when towing a trailer. See Towing (page 208)." - Page 137

So in every other location but this one it says 87 octane which to me means it's tuned for 87 but will run better (at least slightly) at 91.

 

[jsphlynch]

So I was reading through the manual yesterday for this and this is the important paragraph I came across.

"For best overall vehicle and engine performance, premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The performance gained by using premium fuel is most noticeable in hot weather as well as other conditions, for example when towing a trailer. See Towing (page 208)." - Page 137

So in every other location but this one it says 87 octane which to me means it's tuned for 87 but will run better (at least slightly) at 91.

In agreement with this, I had seen a speculation elsewhere that 87 will be suitable for the engine, but the performance specs that Ford released are based on higher octane fuel.

 

[Stic-o]

Yeah, my '15 focus st could run on 87, but I always used 91, and even had to start using the the better brand gas stations, otherwise when I used the cheaper gas stations, even Costco. I would get a check engine light. Light was on for 90% of the first 25k miles, because of carbon build up on the injectors. Only way to fix it was better gas, and stick your foot in it to burn it off. Ford had no fix for it (still don't) unless they.....wait for it..... detuned the car.

This now explains the hp ratings. At least they learned

 

[LoneStarFlatLanders]

So I was reading through the manual yesterday for this and this is the important paragraph I came across.

"For best overall vehicle and engine performance, premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The performance gained by using premium fuel is most noticeable in hot weather as well as other conditions, for example when towing a trailer. See Towing (page 208)." - Page 137

So in every other location but this one it says 87 octane which to me means it's tuned for 87 but will run better (at least slightly) at 91.

Older BMW (pre-turbos) owner's manuals are like this too. The car can run on 87 but they recommend 91 or better for optimal performance and fuel economy.

 

[rangerdanger]

Older BMW (pre-turbos) owner's manuals are like this too. The car can run on 87 but they recommend 91 or better for optimal performance and fuel economy.

But with premium gas (91 Octane) usually 20-30 cents more per gallon than regular, any increased fuel economy with premium gas is negated by the higher cost.

 

[Schafies]

My take on the 87/91 octane is with the price of this truck if you have to borrow the money to get it you'll need the 91 to pull the huge payment book around. If paying cash 87 will be fine.:cwl:

 

[R G]

Octane has nothing to do with mileage, it is strictly a question of detonation control. Running a lower octane gas means the the computer will pull timing, or otherwise run in a slightly detuned state. With higher octane fuel, the engine can sustain heavier loads while making more power (which by its very nature means more fuel, not less).

As long as it doesn't throw codes when running on 87, the beauty here is you can run cheap gas when commuting on level ground, and then switch to the good stuff when towing or doing something which requires heavy application of throttle.

But as I said before, this is not a question of mileage. I'm thrilled the car will run on regular, or even mid grade. Save the more expensive good gas for times when it's needed.

 

[FelixDaCat]

Octane has nothing to do with mileage, it is strictly a question of detonation control. Running a lower octane gas means the the computer will pull timing, or otherwise run in a slightly detuned state. With higher octane fuel, the engine can sustain heavier loads while making more power (which by its very nature means more fuel, not less).

As long as it doesn't throw codes when running on 87, the beauty here is you can run cheap gas when commuting on level ground, and then switch to the good stuff when towing or doing something which requires heavy application of throttle.

But as I said before, this is not a question of mileage. I'm thrilled the car will run on regular, or even mid grade. Save the more expensive good gas for times when it's needed.

Well explained And with the Ranger not being a sports car you shouldn't usually need higher than 87 octane.

I wonder if any tuners or owners have dyno'd the Ecoboost Mustang to see how much timing is pulled when running 87 vs 91/93 and how much less power it's putting down. I imagine that'd give us a good idea of power delta when running different octanes on the Ranger too.

 

[Xfitter]

I wonder if any tuners or owners have dyno'd the Ecoboost Mustang to see how much timing is pulled when running 87 vs 91/93 and how much less power it's putting down. I imagine that'd give us a good idea of power delta when running different octanes on the Ranger too.

Yeap tat's exactly what some tuners have done. Here's one by Speedfactory where they dynode Ecoboost Mustang running 87 and then 92. The biggest gains for 92 octane vs 87 octane was above 4500 RPM, with a peak increase of +22 whp / +4 wtq when running 92 octane.

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.

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

Sponsored