Regular or high test gasoline
I have a 24' motor home with a Ford V10 gas engine. Was wondering if anyone has gave it an honest test for gas mileage using high test vs regular. Is it worth the money difference ?
Forum Discussion
- In our 35ft v10 with the 310 hp we got the same mileage with premium grade as we did with the regular grade gas.
- Motor calls for "regular" (87 octane) that's all it needs. Getting "premium" (92 octane), IMO, you're just throwing money away. As far as pinging goes,,,the computer takes care of that in a nano-second...by retarding the timing until it no longer "senses" a problem.
- Now there are exceptions and I'll cover one or two of 'em but every expert, EVERY EXPERT I have heard from (And there have been a lot of them) say the same thing READ THE MANUAL.. Most modern engines are designed to run on REGULAR Gasoline and if this is the case paying for Mid Range or Premium is a waste of money.
HOWEVER.... Exception one.. At very high altitudes they lower the octane of Regular.. When I got gas at altitude the engine did not run well.. Switching to Mid Grade to maintain the minimum octane rating would likely have been a good idea and next time I'm in the mountains,, that is what I will do.
Exception two: This was a car, a 1997 with a carburetor not a modern computer controlled EFI job Turns out the factory carb was faulty.
I keep MPG records. Every fill up (Which reminds me I need to do a calc or 2) And that car got much better MPG on Mid-range... ENough to make it the best bargain.. It also did better after waxing, way better.
on the motor home.. Waxing.. Same result. Better MPG.. Way better. - Underneath, your RV is a TRUCK! Commercial box truck owners/drivers sure don't spend the extra for Super.
