octane rating and engine performance
In Texas, the minimum octane rating is 87. On a recent trip to Glacier, I noticed a lot of the fuel in states like CO, WY and MT, the octane was 85, and you had to buy the mid-grade to get 87 and abov...
Forum Discussion
4x4ord wrote:noteven wrote:
I drove a company F150 3.5 ecoboost that cost less money per mile for fuel running 91 vs 87.
This is from the owners maual for the ecoboost engine:
We recommend regular unleaded gasoline with a pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87. Some stations offer fuels posted as regular with an octane rating below 87, particularly in high altitude areas. We do not recommend fuels with an octane rating below 87.
To provide improved performance, we recommend premium fuel for severe duty usage, such as trailer tow.
Maybe the engine in your company F150 is all carboned up from using the wrong fuel. If the engine is healthy there is no way its going to be saving you money using premium.
So Shell V-power 91 carboned up a ecoboost during our economy test? Those dirty rats!
We interpreted the manual wording above to mean 87 is design minimum, don’t use 85, and engine performance can be optimized using 91. Seemed to work.
In today’s age of consumer protection a company would be quickly harassed for “requiring” a more expensive propellant when they can program an engine to run on “regular” so the consumer can choose.
