Octane

[sauernote]

I haven't taken delivery of my bird yet but have a couple of questions about gasoline. What octane does Ford recommend? Also, what are your experiences with regular, mid, or premium fuel?
Thanks

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[gmadams]

The octane recommended is 91 minimum. I don't have my car yet so I don't have any experience with using other octane gas.

 

[RTBRD_aka_jodrod]

To date I have only used 93 octane, min listed by Ford is 91. There have been other discussion on this subject. The car should function fine with the lower octanes but the engine computer will retard the spark and the engine power will decrease. My thoughts: I spent $40K on a car and I am not going to worry about a few cents on gasoline.

 

[Birdman93]

Minimum octane on my 93 LX 5.0L HO is 89-but I use 92 or better-I actually get better mileage with the High-octane fuels-was in Chicago over the weekend, and on the trip out and back I pulled 29mpg at 75 mph-not bad for a V8 with 128K miles on her.

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[Gobird]

I haven't used anything lower then 91 so I guess I can't answer your question. I know that all I used on my T-Bird turbo and super coupes was high test and I will use the same on this one. I did use regular on my 95LX 4.6 V-8 but that is what they called for on that one.

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02 T-Bird 9293
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150 4x4
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
a dog a cat and a couple hundred fish in my pond

 

[sauernote]

Thanks for the replies to a new member's question.

 

[tbird]

Originally posted by sauernote:
I haven't taken delivery of my bird yet but have a couple of questions about gasoline. What octane does Ford recommend? Also, what are your experiences with regular, mid, or premium fuel?
Thanks

I have read articles, and talked to many mechanics regarding this issue. You should use the octane rating in your owners manual unless you have an old car that is knocking. If it says 87, use 87. If it says 89 use 89, 91/92 use 91/92. There is a reason they arrived at those numbers. Putting high octane fuel in an engine designed to run on 89 can be counterproductive. Also, mileage gained from higher octane fuel is not enough to ever offset the difference in prices from the lower octane fuel.

If you have an 87/89 octane engine, you are wasting your money by putting high octane fuel in your car.

 

[LON O'CONNELL]

Not so sure that is true with all vehicles. My 99 F150 4x4 Off Road calls for 87 octane. If I fill up with 25 gallons of 87 octane at 1.279 it costs $31.98 and I only get 10.0 MPG in town which equals 250 miles. This calculates out to .12792 cost per mile. When I fill up with 91 octane my in town mileage jumps to 13.0 MPG or 325 miles per tank. At 1.349 per gallon that comes to .10378 cost per mile. This reflects a savings of just over two cents per mile (.2317) I can't say this is true with all vehicles but it calculates to a savings for me in my truck.

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Yellow/Yellow Prem. 02 Bird w/full accent
1999 F150 Super Cab 4x4 Off Road
1998 Taurus SE Sport 24V

 

[NEWBIRD]

DITTO LON. THIS IS ALSO TRUE FOR A LOT OF CARS. (WHY PUT BEER IN A CHAMPAIGN GLASS)

 

[Birdman93]

If I run 87 octane, my mileage runs around 16 city, 20 hwy. I won't run 89 octane here in Iowa-it is all methanol blend. The klast time I ran methanol in my car I managed a pitiful 178 miles on a 16 gallon tank.

One hint for everyone-do NOT run methanol! it will damage injectors, pumps and O2 sensors. I learned this one from a mechanic who works on my cars when it is too much trouble to do it myself. The gasoline used for the blend is a lower grade, and can really play havoc with your car!

 

[greyfox11]

Originally posted by LON O'CONNELL:
If I fill up with 25 gallons of 87 octane at 1.279 and I only get 10.0 MPG in town. When I fill up with 91 octane my in town mileage jumps to 13.0 MPG. At 1.349 per gallon.

Note: I edited the above "quote".

This certainly falls into the YMMV (your mileage may vary) category. EVERYTHING I have ever read written by automotive experts relating to octane/fuel economy says 2 things. 1- Use the octane called for in the owner's manual. 2-Using 91 octane in a car calling for 87 is a waste of money.

Lon, I don't for a second doubt your figures. Just surprises me that you get 30% better mileage with the higher octane fuel.

Another big surprise is the small difference in prices of regular and premium. Here in California regular is about 1.679, mid-grade (89) is 1.779 and premium is 1.879. 20 cent spread from regular to premium.

Having said all of that, I put premium in all of my cars. Just makes me feel better.

No Offense intended.

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[LON O'CONNELL]

By the way I mentioned in town driving only because the increase in highway mileage is minimal. I averaged about 15.3 with 87 octane and 16.0 with 91 octane. But here in Amarillo my guess is that 85 to 90% of my driving is in town on surface streets. My drive to work is 3/4 of a mile and my return trip home is a mile & a half. Have to drive to the next underpass below I-40 and u-turn to head back home. That gives me a whooping 11.25 miles of driving to & from work for the week. LOL

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Yellow/Yellow Prem. 02 Bird w/full accent
1999 F150 Super Cab 4x4 Off Road
1998 Taurus SE Sport 24V

 

[tr cruiser]

Originally posted by Birdman93:
One hint for everyone-do NOT run methanol! it will damage injectors, pumps and O2 sensors. I learned this one from a mechanic who works on my cars when it is too much trouble to do it myself. The gasoline used for the blend is a lower grade, and can really play havoc with your car!

That doesn't bode well for California where methanol blends are deemed the likely replacement next year for MTBE fuel additives currently used to reduce auto emissions.

 

[NuttyGambler]

Uhmmm... popppy cock.

Up here in good ol' ag country.... Most/Many people only run alcohol. No problems at all. Much better natural fuel then the problem you city folks created with your MTBE. I am talking modern cars there were issues with old cars. NOW if you are talking the Heat type additives YES don't go there... bye bye aluminum heads. In the winter I am sure to run alcohol as it does reduce any chance of freeze ups as well no need for the Heat.

One thing of interest the alcohol fuel has a 90 rating min. So is it safe to assume it is 91? at $0.10 don't know if it is worth it, did try one tankful and didn't notice any difference at all in performance.

Gas milage? What is that?

 

[Birdman93]

Nutty-

Here in Iowa the fuel they blend with methanol looks like it came out of a rusty barrel.

I just thought I'd pass on what he told me-the man was being very genuine in what he told me-he replaces about 50-60 O2 sensors and about 40 injectors a month, due to the damage from using methanol blended fuels-he said they aren't necessary with today's fuel injection engines.

 

[Howlee]

They have known that the alcohol in the fuel has not been need for a while. :MAD But the Federal law says they have to use something to "oxygenate the fuel for cleaner burning (or something like that) in the fuel, and the some States (i.e. corn belt) have forced the issue and we now have a use for all the corn that was being stored and paid for with all of our tax dollars. Right now it is a dead issue, for the corn states have voted Republican in the last election.

There are stories about this in our local papers once in awhile, when the MTBE in the ground water is brought up.

Oh well, it's a great country and I'd rather being arguing about the alcohol in our fuel then what is going on else where in the world. Just another opinion that we all know what we can do with, I think I'll go out for another ride, for the sun is out.

Thanks John

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Blue/Blue Prem. w/full accent
In my Garage as of 1/25 #6333 LIC: BLU TB

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[tbird]

Do you have the 4.6? My 97 got much better gas milage.

 

[Birdman93]

tbird-

was the 4.6 question for me? Because I have the 5.0L HO in my 93-essentially the same motor as the 93 SVT Cobra, but with iron heads instead of aluminum. Ford decided that the V8 used prior to the 93 didn't have enough bottom end-so they configured a 5.0 from the Cobra with derated heads and intake-made for a combo putting out 248HP and 335ft-lbs. Apparently Ford fudged a little on the ratings-a local shop in Cedar Rapids just installed a chassis dyno-I made three runs, and they all came up with the same numbers, plus or minus 5%. And those numbers were obtained with an engine that has 129K miles on her!!

Using 92 or 93 octane, I regularly hit 24 city and 29-31 highway.

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