Regular or Premium Fuel?

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi,

I use Regular 87 octane, but will use premium when at high altitude, like Flagstaff AZ or Denver CO.

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[FX4Greg]

I use 91. Page 136 of the owners manual says 87 is the minimum required but if you continue reading on page 137 it says
"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"

 

[Bubbabiker]

Curious if anyone has tried E30?

 

[VAMike]

Curious if anyone has tried E30?

I'm unlikely to do so since the truck says e0-15

 

[DrRoger]

I have not received my ranger yet, but plan on using "regular" except when towing a trailer.

 

[chasvs]

REGULAR!

 

[TimberWolf2018]

Regular for me now... Recently A Canadian News show did a story on this exact question. They Dyno tested a ton of vehicles. No change in Milage, no change in Horsepower, no change in torque. As this information becomes more common knowledge and the smoke settles we will discover that less than 10% of vehicles show any difference at all. They are all high end Porche type vehicles.

 

[Floyd]

Regular for me now... Recently A Canadian News show did a story on this exact question. They Dyno tested a ton of vehicles. No change in Milage, no change in Horsepower, no change in torque. As this information becomes more common knowledge and the smoke settles we will discover that less than 10% of vehicles show any difference at all. They are all high end Porche type vehicles.

I have documented my mileage on my Transit Connect and it consistently gets About 2MPG better when towing my Scamp using 92-93 octane over using 87 octane RBOB.
Any difference is negligible in normal driving when not towing.

Not sure about Canada but here in the States, journalists are among the least reliable sources of information available.

It stands to reason that modern vehicles with knock sensors and electronic engine controls would do better on higher octane under a load.
Moderate throttle and light loads would not constitute sufficient demand for higher octane to produce adequate power, thus no real difference in performance or mileage.

 

[TimberWolf2018]

I have documented my mileage on my Transit Connect and it consistently gets About 2MPG better when towing my Scamp using 92-93 octane over using 87 octane RBOB.
Any difference is negligible in normal driving when not towing.

Not sure about Canada but here in the States, journalists are among the least reliable sources of information available.

It stands to reason that modern vehicles with knock sensors and electronic engine controls would do better on higher octane under a load.
Moderate throttle and light loads would not constitute sufficient demand for higher octane to produce adequate power, thus no real difference in performance or mileage.

Well, "MarketPlace" is Canada's equivalent to 60 minutes. It is a well respected " News Show" that does a lot of investigative reporting, and have broken some major stories like this in the past.

That difference you mention under towing conditions makes sense to me. When vehicle engineers are interviewed about it they say it is because our new engines now tune themselves on the fly regardless of the fuel we give them. They literally interviewed a dozen consumer watchdogs and all of them said the same..... for over 90% of drivers and 90% of vehicles premium fuel makes no difference over the life of your vehicle. But will save you 10-20 bucks each time you fill.

 

[FX4Greg]

Well, "MarketPlace" is Canada's equivalent to 60 minutes. It is a well respected " News Show" that does a lot of investigative reporting, and have broken some major stories like this in the past.

That difference you mention under towing conditions makes sense to me. When vehicle engineers are interviewed about it they say it is because our new engines now tune themselves on the fly regardless of the fuel we give them. They literally interviewed a dozen consumer watchdogs and all of them said the same..... for over 90% of drivers and 90% of vehicles premium fuel makes no difference over the life of your vehicle. But will save you 10-20 bucks each time you fill.

Could it be that 90% of the vehicles aren't turbo or supercharged? Ford even states on pg 137 of the owners manual 91+ is recommended for best engine performance. The new motors do have knock sensors. If they detect knocking/pinging which can damage the engine it retards the timing to protect the engine. Retarding the timing reduces power and mileage. Putting premium gas in a vehicle designed to only use 87 is a waste of money. But the 2.3T in the Ranger was designed for 91+.

 

[t4thfavor]

Could it be that 90% of the vehicles aren't turbo or supercharged? Ford even states on pg 137 of the owners manual 91+ is recommended for best engine performance. The new motors do have knock sensors. If they detect knocking/pinging which can damage the engine it retarded the timing to protect the engine. Retargeting the timing reduces power and mileage. Putting premium gas in a vehicle designed to only use 87 is a waste of money. But the 2.3T in the Ranger was designed for 91+.

"Best engine performance" doesn't mean it won't perform properly on 87. I put 100K Miles on a focus ST, and could barely tell the difference until after getting the aftermarket tune installed. I did notice maybe a 1mpg improvement on 93 over 87, but it's AT LEAST $.60 more than 87, so any gain is quickly put into the oil barons pockets.

I do notice some low speed shudder in the truck, which I attribute to the ECU pulling spark due to knock, so I will probably be running 93 when towing heavy, probably...

 

[Floyd]

Could it be that 90% of the vehicles aren't turbo or supercharged? Ford even states on pg 137 of the owners manual 91+ is recommended for best engine performance. The new motors do have knock sensors. If they detect knocking/pinging which can damage the engine it retards the timing to protect the engine. Retarding the timing reduces power and mileage. Putting premium gas in a vehicle designed to only use 87 is a waste of money. But the 2.3T in the Ranger was designed for 91+.

My TC is a 2.5L normally aspirated 4CYL with multi-point fuel injection and performs as stated in my post above.
Modern fuel management systems are not from your grandfather's Oldsmobile anymore, fuel matters in all modern engines as does throttle input and vehicle load.

 

[DrRoger]

I will stick with 87 until I need the extra power pulling a trailer. Then I will go for 91+

 

[rdm3671]

Leaning towards 91 octane, ethanol free (truck delivery is still a month or so away). I put it in my mower/snowblower, might as well put it in my daily driver. Currently only 40 cents more per gallon.

 

[tugger]

I am on my first tank from dealer assuming its regular. I am going to try premium for a couple of tanks and see? Premium does have more additives which is better for the engine according to Ford.

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