88 Octane Gas in Maverick Hybrid?

[GPSMan]

Thanks to all who responded to my question. After reviewing the comments I plan to stick to regular unleaded. (87 octane)

Great answer. Probably what 90% of people will do.

Just it's nice to know you CAN use ANYTHING (other than diesel) if you find yourself in a spot where 87 octane is unavailable. Sold out, power out, shortage, war, hurricane evacuation, blizzard, etc.

Probably the best order would be to go upwards first:

87 - 88 - 89 - 90 - 91 -92 - 93
Then if it's all they have, 86 or 85 octane will be just fine. The truck (and you) probably won't notice anything.

Lastly you CAN use high ethanol. ANY amount, all the way to E85. Anything they sell that's not diesel WILL RUN in your truck and WILL keep you warm in a blizzard or get you moving away from a
Hurricane. It WON'T ruin your truck. You and the truck WILL notice above about 40-50% ethanol. A check engine light will come on, but not the "Stop safely now" message. It will run rough and you'll have poor performance but it will get you out of a Jam, and the truck WILL go back to Normal when you put regular gas in. Just be gentle with it in those conditions. It takes time for the computers to adjust air/fuel ratios and timings, but the truck WILL adjust.

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[Maverick Grabber]

It's apparently a regional thing. No 88 octane around here. But the concern is his reference to E88 which does not exist. E is the prefix for ethanol fuel which the hybrid can not run on. OP's apparent confusion could result in him damaging his engine were he to somehow manage to put E85 in his vehicle.

You might enjoy snarking but I'd rather he didn't destroy his truck. Maybe you should spend more time snarking on reddit?

Picturing the M & M's commercial with Santa, They DO exist!!!

 

[Maverick Grabber]

Thanks to all who responded to my question. After reviewing the comments I plan to stick to regular unleaded. (87 octane)

every once in a while, I put alcohol free gas in mine along with a bottle of sea foam

 

[MakinDoForNow]

every once in a while, I put alcohol free gas in mine along with a bottle of sea foam

FWIW My son in 2018 Nissan frontier flex fuel w/70k miles ran almost exclusively on less than 10% alcohol 87octane pump gas found a high alcohol gas somewhere for $1.99/gal. Do not know exactly what it was but he said truck ran much better. His fill up was about 7/8 of a tank. He said that where he lives he has not found that gas.

 

[LSchicago]

88 octane commonly is 15% alcohol, or E15. It should never be called E88, as it is not 88% ethanol. E85 fuel commonly varies between E70-E90 and sometimes as low as 50%. The Maverick is not programmed to be able to use anything over 15% in alcohol content. A special tune would be required to do that. I have an E85 tune on my Supercharged Mustang so it is not limited by premium fuel. Unless you have a tune for running specific grades of E85 or others, never use over E15.

 

[Ponypower50]

Give me Sunoco 100 octane gas from the 60's for 40 cents per gallon, please

 

[chuckles]

Three short things:
1)
2) octane is a rating based upon a behavior. Octane is not an ingredient. (emphasis added)
3)

Say what? Please review your organic chemistry, petroleum refining, cracking, and blending.

Gasoline -> The bulk of a typical gasoline consists of a homogeneous mixture of small, relatively lightweight hydrocarbons with between 4 and 12 carbon atoms per molecule (commonly referred to as C4–C12).​

​

Octane -> is a hydrocarbon and an alkane with the chemical formula C8H18, and the condensed structural formula CH3(CH2)6CH3. Octane has many structural isomers ...​

​

Octane -> is a component of gasoline (petrol). As with all low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons, octane is volatile and very flammable.​

​

and then review "octane rating":

"Octane" is colloquially used as a short form of "octane rating," particularly in the expression "high octane". "Octane rating" is an index of a fuel's ability to resist engine knock in engines having different compression ratios, which is a characteristic of octane's branched-chain isomers, especially iso-octane.​

 

[chuckles]

Lastly you CAN use high ethanol. ANY amount, all the way to E85. Anything they sell that's not diesel

Congratulations. Your expert advice just made my ignore list.

 

[SLINGSHOT]

I love this thread. Come on, guys, LET'S YOU AND HIM FIGHT!!!

 

[Decayed]

Congratulations. Your expert advice just made my ignore list.

Bad advice is worse than no advice. It's funny that people want to dog pile me for not knowing about 88 octane. It's fine and I deserved it. But there is a huge difference between 88 octane and 88% ethanol fuel and not knowing the difference could cause serious problems.

 

[GPSMan]

The "problem" is that people go by their gut vs. go out and try it.

The "problem" is that people trust rumors vs. go out and try it.

The "problem" is people don't care enough to get educated.

Their loss. It does not matter to me what people do.

Ethanol and gasoline are more similar than different, and the difference between cars marketed to run on it and those that don't is slight. They don't change much. Sometimes they don't change anything.

 

[GPSMan]

But there is a huge difference between 88 octane and 88% ethanol fuel and not knowing the difference could cause serious problems.

And why do you think that?
You have no data for that statement.

 

[Mavreezy]

Everyone needs to chilax and quit decapitating Decayed. A lot of you are starting to sound exactly like him. Let's live, learn and move on....

 

[GPSMan]

FYI-

The 15% ethanol limit is a U.S. EPA imposed limit. It is an arbitrary "rule". It is not determined by the machinery under your hood.

15% is approved because 15% was tested and the emissions were studied.

Do you think drivers in Brazil will put more than 15% ethanol in their Mavericks? You bet they will.

Do you think the engines will explode or fail quickly? Smart money will bet on no. They will last as long as engines in the U.S. market.

Get educated. Don't trust instinct.

 

[ford5]

When E10 came out some said it will destroy engine components. It didn’t and is now the standard in most areas. E15 will be the same for anything newer than 2001. I use up to E25 whenever possible in both my Murano and my F150 Ecoboost with very little if any reduction in fuel economy and save 20 to 40 cents per gallon.

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