87 Octane?

[LADemien]

Living in South Florida, we've experienced fuel supply disruption as a result of the record-breaking rainfall that affected Ft. Lauderdale a week and a half ago. As a result, certain stations are completely out of fuel or are only limited to the cheapest grade, 87 octane. After work, I decided to head to a fuel station since I was only on one bar and the fuel light popped on. I went to a Mobil about a mile down the road. The only grade they had was 87 octane so I bit the bullet and filled with it anyway. Ever since I got my Maverick, I've only put 89 octane which makes it run optimally. After putting 87 in for the first time however, the car was not happy about at all. It keeps sputtering, bucking, and seems sluggish on acceleration. Even the engine note sounds a little different, like it has a deeper tone. I told my dad about it and suggested getting octane booster at an auto parts store. I'll give it a try but I'm writing this because I'm questioning whether or not to ever use 87 octane again despite the vehicle being rated for it. I've read the Ecoboost engine is made to run on 87 but I'm sure it's only if you're not looking for optimal performance, fuel economy, or driving range. Premium is not required, however, but I'm definitely starting to see the positive affects it does have on an engine.

Does anyone else run 87 octane in their Mavericks, Ecoboost or Hybrid? If so, what are the results? Anyone else having performance issues with cheaper grade fuel?

87 Octane is all I have ran in my 2022 Maverick 2.0. I have had zero sputtering or engine troubles. Mileage on the highway is in excess of 30mpg and 24 in city driving. Sounds like maybe you got some of that South Florida rain in your gas tank.

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[Sykotyk]

As others have said, you seem to have gotten bad gas. Octane doesn't matter. You have either water contamination or they've emptied their tank and had a lot of sediment that's been stirred up that their filters didn't catch.

Unless you're running a high end car, anything higher than 87 is just buyers choice.

 

[redskins5]

I have a Hybrid mavrick and a Hybrid F-150. I run 87 in both I have had the Hybrid f-150 going on three years now and the MAvrick about 6 months, I have no issues with either. I have ran premium in both and there is not enough of a diffrence to justify the cost. I run High Octane in my HArley because that is what it calls for and when I run a lower octane in it you can tell the diffrence

 

[14mustangNJ]

That's definitely bad gas. I never experienced sputtering or pinging on 87 myself and this is 87 from multiple states and even Canada.

87 Octane does result in noticeable lag in throttle response, slower downshifts for passing and less noticeable torque in overall acceleration from my experience. However, it runs fine even loaded with passengers, gear and running the AC or Heat with no change in engine smoothness or engine noise from what I can tell. I just prefer the slightly better performance of 93 myself and the cost is a non-factor to me.

You may need to run a water remover or potentially take it into a dealer to get looked at if its bad enough. I've had both waste oil and water cause similar symptoms in other vehicles.

 

[rlhdweman]

I"ve been running 87 on my FX4 Mav with no issues since day one. I only go to 93 when I tow. I wonder if your station had water in the fuel due to the flooding. Now a days you don't see that as much due to better filtering and water separators in their systems.

It's not the filters or water separators, since the introduction of ethanol in fuel, any moisture in the underground tanks is absorbed by it & it ends up in your tank, a little you probably won't notice, but with the OP's flooding situation it's most likely that water was introduced somewhere between the tanks that fill the delivery truck & the underground tanks at the station & it's more than the ethanol can absorb, so now the OP has water in his tank possibly from phase separation.

 

[dadd75]

Only use 87 octane since I bought my truck. Just six months old this week, averaging 283 miles a month, and 42 mpg overall. Have a hybrid and really like the mpg. Best I got is 75 mpg going low speed through subdivisions for about 5 miles.

 

[Vols44]

Since the quality of 87 octane can't be measured one thing I avoid is old stations. Our local Costco is less than a year old and the only other place is new and purposely prices their gas a nickel under the surrounding stations to up their business.

 

[GPSMan]

That's definitely bad gas. I never experienced sputtering or pinging on 87 myself and this is 87 from multiple states and even Canada.

87 Octane does result in noticeable lag in throttle response, slower downshifts for passing and less noticeable torque in overall acceleration from my experience. However, it runs fine even loaded with passengers, gear and running the AC or Heat with no change in engine smoothness or engine noise from what I can tell. I just prefer the slightly better performance of 93 myself and the cost is a non-factor to me.

You may need to run a water remover or potentially take it into a dealer to get looked at if its bad enough. I've had both waste oil and water cause similar symptoms in other vehicles.

You know what removes water? Alcohol including ethanol.

 

[Senior Master Ford Guy]

Sounds like bad fuel for sure, but here's a little " education" on Octane: octane is a rating of a fuels stability and resistance to combust under pressure( without a spark). The higher the number, the higher combustion pressure required to combust the fuel. If you run higher than the recommended octane rating you are wasting money twofold: first is the obvious waste by paying higher price for fuel. Secondly, because higher octane is a higher resistance to combustion, your engine is not combusting the complete shot or spray of fuel from your injectors, because it is not designed to burn this higher octane fuel. This unburned fuel skews your oxygen sensors into thinking your engine is actually running lean( they don't see the proper amount of hydrocarbons and see an excess amount of oxygen) , therefore the powertrain control module richens the fuel mixture to counter this perceived "lean" condition and now you are using more fuel which equates to less mpg. Over my years as a technician another argument I've heard about using higher octane is " my engine runs better and cooler with higher octane". Although the running better part is pretty much a perceived falsity, an engine can run cooler with higher octane fuel because as previously stated, there is unburned fuel in the combustion chamber which " quenches" the normal combustion temperatures leading to a cooler running engine. Long story short( woops too late), use what the manufacturer designed your engine to use, that is what it is calibrated for( unless you install an aftermarket tuner ). Octane rating is simply a rating of fuels resistance to combust under pressure, it has nothing to do with fuel " quality", there is no magic power in higher octane fuel, nor is there a sensor that tells the pcm it can lessen the milliseconds that your injector is open to give you better fuel economy. If there were, the government would have forced oil companies to stop making 87 octane and only make 93( or higher) a long time ago, and auto manufacturers would have also joined in as this would have raised their CAFE ratings to appease the government. Neither( the manufacturers or the government) would have cared about the fact that we would then be paying higher prices for fuel.

 

[jmg]

ive Always been told that most turbo engines need to run on 91-93 octane for optimum performance , so thats what i do

 

[Fitzovich]

I run 87 in my ecoboost. But I only get it from Costco, or if on a road trip, Chevron. I have experimented with premium and found it wasn't worth the $ difference. Slightly better MPG but I couldn't tell a difference in performance.

Same here, I fill up at Costco,

 

[dalola]

Sounds like bad fuel for sure, but here's a little " education" on Octane: octane is a rating of a fuels stability and resistance to combust under pressure( without a spark). The higher the number, the higher combustion pressure required to combust the fuel. If you run higher than the recommended octane rating you are wasting money twofold: first is the obvious waste by paying higher price for fuel. Secondly, because higher octane is a higher resistance to combustion, your engine is not combusting the complete shot or spray of fuel from your injectors, because it is not designed to burn this higher octane fuel. This unburned fuel skews your oxygen sensors into thinking your engine is actually running lean( they don't see the proper amount of hydrocarbons and see an excess amount of oxygen) , therefore the powertrain control module richens the fuel mixture to counter this perceived "lean" condition and now you are using more fuel which equates to less mpg. Over my years as a technician another argument I've heard about using higher octane is " my engine runs better and cooler with higher octane". Although the running better part is pretty much a perceived falsity, an engine can run cooler with higher octane fuel because as previously stated, there is unburned fuel in the combustion chamber which " quenches" the normal combustion temperatures leading to a cooler running engine. Long story short( woops too late), use what the manufacturer designed your engine to use, that is what it is calibrated for( unless you install an aftermarket tuner ). Octane rating is simply a rating of fuels resistance to combust under pressure, it has nothing to do with fuel " quality", there is no magic power in higher octane fuel, nor is there a sensor that tells the pcm it can lessen the milliseconds that your injector is open to give you better fuel economy. If there were, the government would have forced oil companies to stop making 87 octane and only make 93( or higher) a long time ago, and auto manufacturers would have also joined in as this would have raised their CAFE ratings to appease the government. Neither( the manufacturers or the government) would have cared about the fact that we would then be paying higher prices for fuel.

All true. The problem with these threads is a lack of understanding by some that the Ecoboost Maverick & the Hybrid Maverick have different fuel specs, and will react very differently as such. Anything beyond 87 for the hybrid is completely unnecessary, as you explained above. The EB however, will respond very favorably with higher octane gas, especially under load and when max performance is desired. For those who wonder why this is, just think about (simplistically) cylinder pressure during combustion.....much higher with an FI engine (typically..), hence the benefit of the higher octane fuel, as it corresponds to this pressure (heat) , along with valve & ignition timing.

Bottom line, stop arguing about fuel as if all Mavericks are the same!

 

[JimParker256]

Yes you correct 87 is garbage fuel I’ve learned years ago when I used 87 octane and saw the affects of low octane fuel how sluggish the engine ran. So I experience the same poor performance you did I only use 89 octane mid grade unless I’m towing, driving in the mountains then it’s 91 octane.
You want to check the performance of each fuel grade this is what I do first fill the tank with 87 octane from full tank to empty then do the same with 89 full to empty then 91 full to empty when entering a freeway smash the gas peddler to the floor if the freeway is at 65+mph then take performance notes. You will see a difference. Love to hear an engine scream with tachometer up at 7500 what a feeling.

Look, I love hearing an engine rev as much as anyone. I rode Honda and Yamaha motorcycles that revved to almost 10,000 RPM and it was fun and exciting to ride them... That said, your profile shows you own a Hybrid, and from what others on this forum (who have instrumented their Mavericks to collect TONS of sensor data) the 2.5L engine in the Maverick doesn't rev anywhere NEAR 7500 rpm, so I'm not sure exactly how you're hearing it "scream" at that RPM (much less confirming the RPM, since there's no tachometer)...

I suspect you're experiencing what is know as the "placebo effect" – you believe it's going to happen, so you "see" the difference. Have you ever done instrumented tests to confirm your assertion?

Aside from that, it is well-established FACT that higher octane fuel does NOT contain any more thermal energy than lower-octane fuels. They merely provide improved resistance to knocking (pre-ignition and/or detonation) for high-compression engines. If your engine isn't knocking with 87-octane fuel, using higher-octane fuel won't make it somehow more powerful...

Of course, if you DO have am engine that IS tuned by the factory to require higher octane fuel (as did my supercharged Mercedes a few years back, where the owner's manual said "93 octane Minimum), then running lower-octane fuel will cause performance to degrade, because knocking will occur, and the computer will change the spark timing to eliminate that knocking tendency, which DOES lower the engine's power output and reduce it's efficiency.

 

[JimParker256]

For the EB - Manual states 85 octane will void the warranty. Been using 91 from Costco - @ Elevation the truck seems to drive smoother/more power than 88.

The manual calls for 87 octane or higher, so I would not run anything below 87 octane - period. It's the folks claiming that 91 octane is required for the Ecoboost (even if they concede that 87 is OK for the hybrid) that get under my skin... There is one section in the Owner's Manual that provides the only guidance for the Maverick - there's no "Hybrid" versus "EcoBoost" section when it comes to fuel grade selection. Here's the quote taken directly from the Maverick Owner's Manual (page 172 in both '22 and '23 manuals).

SELECTING THE CORRECT FUEL​

​

Your vehicle operates on regular unleaded gasoline with a minimum pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87.​

​

Some fuel stations, particularly those in high altitude areas, offer fuels posted as regular unleaded gasoline with an octane rating below 87. The use of these fuels could result in engine damage that will not be covered by the vehicle Warranty.​

​

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. See Towing a Trailer (page 263* ). ​

* page 263 is for the '22 manual. It says page 267 in the '23 version.​

​

Clearly, 85 octane is not acceptable (and yes, it could void your engine warranty). So if your only choice is between 85 and 91 octane fuels, then 91 octane would be the only reasonable choice.

But in my limited experience with stations offering 85 octane fuel, they usually offer a mid-grade gasoline blend that is either 87, 88, 89, or even 90 octane. Any of those would be equally acceptable to the 91 (or 93+) octane that generally costs substantially more.

Now if I were towing a trailer - especially towing at higher altitudes - I would probably use 91 octane or higher. Otherwise, I'm sticking with 87 octane – or the next higher grade above 87 octane, if the station's "regular" gas is below 87...

 

[Nw_adventure]

The manual calls for 87 octane or higher, so I would not run anything below 87 octane - period. It's the folks claiming that 91 octane is required for the Ecoboost (even if they concede that 87 is OK for the hybrid) that get under my skin... There is one section in the Owner's Manual that provides the only guidance for the Maverick - there's no "Hybrid" versus "EcoBoost" section when it comes to fuel grade selection. Here's the quote taken directly from the Maverick Owner's Manual (page 172 in both '22 and '23 manuals).

SELECTING THE CORRECT FUEL​

​

Your vehicle operates on regular unleaded gasoline with a minimum pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87.​

​

Some fuel stations, particularly those in high altitude areas, offer fuels posted as regular unleaded gasoline with an octane rating below 87. The use of these fuels could result in engine damage that will not be covered by the vehicle Warranty.​

​

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. See Towing a Trailer (page 263* ). ​

* page 263 is for the '22 manual. It says page 267 in the '23 version.​

​

Clearly, 85 octane is not acceptable (and yes, it could void your engine warranty). So if your only choice is between 85 and 91 octane fuels, then 91 octane would be the only reasonable choice.

But in my limited experience with stations offering 85 octane fuel, they usually offer a mid-grade gasoline blend that is either 87, 88, 89, or even 90 octane. Any of those would be equally acceptable to the 91 (or 93+) octane that generally costs substantially more.

Now if I were towing a trailer - especially towing at higher altitudes - I would probably use 91 octane or higher. Otherwise, I'm sticking with 87 octane – or the next higher grade above 87 octane, if the station's "regular" gas is below 87...

@ Elevation here and liking the way 91 runs out compared to 88- So for now spending the extra and fine with that- If I commuted 70 miles a day that might be a different story.

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