Fuel Requirements | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models

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Fuel Requirements

  • Thread starter Thread starter guysfun
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guysfun

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I think the requirement for high test gas should "go away." I had a 1998 5.9 Limited Jeep Grand Cherokee and AMC gave the dealer a servie bulletin with retune instructions. They even included a new label for inside the fuel tank door with specs requiring only 87 octane fuel. I these days of high fuel cost and the need for conservation, It amazes me FORD has not yet addressed this issue. Even our Cartia model Towne car requires only 87 octane. I also feel the practical need for horsepower can easily be met with a detuned engine! Please advise a thumbs up or down vote on this issue. Thanks, Guy Giordano at Harveys cLake, PA.

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Maybe it's just me, but I am of the opposite opinion. I couldn't care less about the fuel costing 20 cents a gallon more for my $40,000 top down jewel. What I would rather see is more horsepower. I have can't wait for someone to offer a supercharger or other type of big horsepower gain device. I guess I just have the need for speed and don't spare the horses.
 
Hey, I did not propose a change in design specs ... only an optional change! Not everybody wants to pay 20 cents extra for every gallon of fuel they use. In my experience with the Jeep 5.9 Limited, I never noticed a power change at all! I love my T-Bird for its style and nice ride, I don't need any extra horsepower (personally). Remember, the detune specs would be optional ... and reversable!

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Originally posted by whvt01:
If they can't afford premium fuel why are
they looking at this caliber of car
Click to expand...

Just because you can afford the car does not mean you are not frugal. 40,000 after all is not THAT MUCH money in today's world. From my experience in automotive sales, only a small portion of the buyers of cars in the 30,000 - 40,000 price range are exceptionally wealthy. The rest are just people with decent jobs making a prety good living.

People have been spending 30,000-45,000 for SUVS for quite some time, and I'm sure they would not be excited to put 93 octane fuel in them.
 
Agreed! I've had a 5 or 6 new Jeeps and Broncos ... nary a one needed high test and I did not make the mistake of putting it in when not required.
Did you all know that 2002 was the first year Cadillac modified (permantly) its great 32-V engine to use only 87 octane fuel? Also, the FORD T-Bird is really a bargain barrel sports car from a comparitive pricing standpoint. It seems quite natural for a frugal buyer to be frugal (not to mention environmentally sensitive) when buying fuel ... much more so than a Cadillac owner for sure! Guy
 
To detune the tbird engine to the same HP/L as your 5.9 at stock HP of 245 (probably 225 after detune)would bring the Tbird down to 149-162 HP. Might as well buy a Miata and save $15-20K. I would really miss that much HP. That engine was barely into needing premium. If you have got A LOT of engine space you can put a detuned, low compression,large displacement engine in and still get acceptable performance on regular gas. In a tight space it has got to be compression,turbo or blower. Higher compression is a lot cheaper ($100 or so a year for premium fuel driven 6-8K mi/year ) to get the same performance in the same space. I really don't think Ford is all that interested in the small part of an already small market segment that would be interested in a LOW HP economy version of their wonderful 2 seater. Personally I think $100 or even $200 a year, $8-16 a month, is cheap for another 100 HP. WHOOPEE
 
Twenty cents per gallon more for premium unleaded versus regular unleaded times 20 gallons is a whopping $4.00 more to fill an empty tank. You can't even buy a Whopper value meal at Burger King for that much. Our T-Birds are rated as LEV (Low Emission Vehicles), using regular unleaded still leaves our cars in the LEV class and not the ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) class. So all you have gained in using regular unleaded is lowering the horsepower but not the emissions enough to even move the cars rating to a cleaner catagory. Keep the higher octane coming!

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Yellow/Yellow Prem. 02 Bird w/full accent
1999 F150 Super Cab 4x4 Off Road
1998 Taurus SE Sport 24V
 
In Iowa we have gasohol which is corn alcohol blended with gas to raise the octane level and reduce the polution. 90 octane costs less than unleaded and is only one octane point less than our premium gas 91 octane. The bird runs great on gasohol
 
Double reply: I think the assumptions made for this remark are simply wrong,"Personally I think $100 or even $200 a year, $8-16 a month, is cheap for another 100 HP. WHOOPEE" It is ludicrus to think droping octane from 91 to 87 will cost that much horsepower.
>The second reply is to the immediate past comment by Leon.
Leon: You better not let Ford find out you are burning less than 91 octane fuel or your warranty might not be honored if you have an engine problem. They have ways of finding these facts out! It happened to a Caddilac owner prior to GM downgrading fuel requirements to 87 in their $55,000 and $60,000 Caddilac "Northstar" engines. Now the Northstar requires only 87 octane ... so folks in the mid-west who can't buy anything higher than 87 can now own Caddilacs.
Best wishes from another new T-Bird lover, Guy


LON O'CONNELL
 
Guysfun, Just curious as to why my name is listed at the bottom of your last post as a signature? The one below where you were talking about low octane in a Caddy? No problem, just curious.

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Yellow/Yellow Prem. 02 Bird w/full accent
1999 F150 Super Cab 4x4 Off Road
1998 Taurus SE Sport 24V
 
Well, it can possibly be a result of my copying off the part of your prior remark to use as a paste topic, I saw that but I did not realize what I was looking at. It had to come along with the text when I asked for a reply. I don't really know Len. It was not my intention to mess up the interpretation of who was saying what ... if you know what I mean.
Thanks, Guy.
 
Well, it can possibly be a result of my copying off the part of your prior remark to use as a paste topic, I saw that but I did not realize what I was looking at. It had to come along with the text when I asked for a reply. I don't really know Len. It was not my intention to mess up the interpretation of who was saying what ... if you know what I mean.
Thanks, Guy.
 
What is that in reference to? I assume your talking to me. I'm Guy Giordano. I do have a yellow 02 with all the options available on the premium model. I regard myself as frugal too ... that is why I was able to simply write the dealer a check for the car at window sticker price. I guess I am in the minority but I just can't see wasting 20 cents a gallon on fuel when the car could have been designed to run on egular gas. I don't think the "this caliber of car" word usage means beans either. This is a great car but it is really a low budget, good deal special compared to the other cars out there. So perhaps a person paying 40K is entitled to be frugal when he passed up on buying the Viper V-10 at 70K and the 55K Corvette convertible. We have a truly great car in the T-Bird but it needs lots of options added to equal the caliber of the homeland alternatives. To me this caliber talk can be boiled down like this: The bird is about 22 caliber, the Vette is a 30-30 and the Viper is a 300 Magnum. We also have a list of options going ... check them out for fun. Ps: I love having people twist their necks to stare at the beauty of my 22, maybe it's a 22 magnum! Thanks, Guy.

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The gasohol that the tbird gets is as good as premium. We burn it in our race car and it doesnt slow us down. One octane point from 90 to 91 is not going to make a difference.And of all the cars and trucks I have owned I have never had a fuel or engine problem.
 
Don't forget now, all I said was beware of the manufacturer finding out if you have an engine problem. I know that Caddilac refused to pay to fix this old woman's engine because she ruined the valves or something with low octane fuel. No contradiction intended ... just a heads up! g.
 
Leon, hello from a fellow Iowan,
I too use the gasohol and according to the pump sticker it's 91 octane.
Is the pump sticker wrong? Is it really 90%?
I haven't found any higher octane gasohol. But my car runs great on it!

Being a former mini van owner and other family car owner for the past 25 years. Just the experience of driving such a car at the t-brd is absolutely the best.
 
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