Premium vs. Regular fuel data point

[AnnieWaits]

What is premium where you live? 91? 93? Do you run ethanol free? I just filled up with ethanol free and it's a noticeable difference. I can only get 91 where I live - the boonies

93 here, but it appears from Cobb Tuning's post that Ford's highest factory octane map may be 91, so it might not make much difference.

That does get me to thinking--if my Maverick's OEM tune reaches maximum performance at 91 octane, if I'm running 93 octane, I can probably put in a few gallons of regular or midgrade every now and then, and still maintain an average of 91 octane in the tank.

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[Montana]

93 here, but it appears from Cobb Tuning's post that Ford's highest factory octane map may be 91, so it might not make much difference.

That does get me to thinking--if my Maverick's OEM tune reaches maximum performance at 91 octane, if I'm running 93 octane, I can probably put in a few gallons of regular or midgrade every now and then, and still maintain an average of 91 octane in the tank.

Lucky me then. 91 Is the best I can get where I live lol.

I recently ran the math on no ethanol and that's a bit more than it's worth, but I'd like to run it once a month at least on my 3-4 average fill ups per month. The difference per year for 87 and 91 for me is $200 more per year. IMO, not a big deal and something I'd rather dump into the engine per year. My estimate is with 3 fill ups per month at 13 gallons each time, so give or take a penny or two. Now for no ethanol 91 it's closer to $400-500 per year. I won't be doing that, but I'd like to run it once a month or maybe once every two months at least, and I'll use a fuel cleaner like seafoam once a quarter. Is it snake oil? Likely. Will it make a massive difference? Probably not. But IMO, it's the same as insurance to me. I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it and from my driving since I've had the Maverick, there is a noticeable difference across the spectrum. Same for the Escape and Tacoma I had before. Maybe some people don't notice it, but I do.

 

[Jman79]

Thanks ks for the info. I don't have my 2L ecoboost yet, but was wondering what recommended gas was. At the very least you gave me the manual to look at while waiting for MY24.

Sounds like I'll be an 87 most of the time. But occasionally run ethanol free and some cleaner on intervals. Most cause I'm cheap and can't 100% get irrefutable evidence that premium etc is worth it. Not to mention proximity of high end gas to my home.

My last V6 Honda engine ate what ever I fed it for 20 years without issue. Only way is pay for premium is if it undeniably was worth the extra mileage or trouble avoidance.

 

[710-oil-614]

@COBB Tuning - Can you verify that Ford's factory mapping is only for 91 and not 93?

Also - I am contemplating/close to pulling the trigger on the access port but I am worried about heat soak with the factory intercooler and likely no easy way to upgrade the Tremor.

I don't plan on hooning the Maverick around anywhere - I just feel that the Tremor deserves a little bump in power over stock.

 

[Shakesbear]

Which gasoline supplier out there carries no ethanol fuel? It's something I just don't see here in central Texas.

 

[Jfrancis]

Thanks ks for the info. I don't have my 2L ecoboost yet, but was wondering what recommended gas was. At the very least you gave me the manual to look at while waiting for MY24.

Sounds like I'll be an 87 most of the time. But occasionally run ethanol free and some cleaner on intervals. Most cause I'm cheap and can't 100% get irrefutable evidence that premium etc is worth it. Not to mention proximity of high end gas to my home.

My last V6 Honda engine ate what ever I fed it for 20 years without issue. Only way is pay for premium is if it undeniably was worth the extra mileage or trouble avoidance.

Just had a family member blow a 2.5L engine in a 2015 Ford Escape....Ford mechanic recommended premium

 

[Jman79]

Just had a family member blow a 2.5L engine in a 2015 Ford Escape....Ford mechanic recommended premium

What do you mean by blow an engine?
"Blow" makes me think of a catastrophic failure which seems like it wouldnt be possible due to slight octain difference. Something larger at play?

Also your mention of 2.5L makes me think I'm not paying attention to the thread previously. Are we talking about ecoboost/hybrid or both here?

 

[COBB Tuning]

@COBB Tuning - Can you verify that Ford's factory mapping is only for 91 and not 93?

Also - I am contemplating/close to pulling the trigger on the access port but I am worried about heat soak with the factory intercooler and likely no easy way to upgrade the Tremor.

I don't plan on hooning the Maverick around anywhere - I just feel that the Tremor deserves a little bump in power over stock.

Generally speaking, yes running 91 OCT will be sufficient for the stock calibration to hit KOM of +1 indicating maximum timing advance and maximum boost requests from the octane learning system. Warmer climates, harder driving, towing, running ethanol-free fuel, and/or getting 91 OCT in Arizona, California, or Nevada (ACN91) can all decrease KOM significantly. If you want to make sure that KOM never budges from +1 on the stock tune, 93 OCT is the way to go. We don't recommend running E0 fuel on any of our maps - ethanol is great for vehicle performance.

I wouldn't sweat the heat soak issue. In real-world conditions where you have better airflow over the intercooler than you do on the dyno, post-intercooler charge air temps aren't really that bad. Definitely room for improvement with an aftermarket intercooler, but still plenty of performance gain to be reliably had with stock equipment. Let us know if you have any other questions before you buy!

 

[710-oil-614]

Generally speaking, yes running 91 OCT will be sufficient for the stock calibration to hit KOM of +1 indicating maximum timing advance and maximum boost requests from the octane learning system. Warmer climates, harder driving, towing, running ethanol-free fuel, and/or getting 91 OCT in Arizona, California, or Nevada (ACN91) can all decrease KOM significantly. If you want to make sure that KOM never budges from +1 on the stock tune, 93 OCT is the way to go. We don't recommend running E0 fuel on any of our maps - ethanol is great for vehicle performance.

I wouldn't sweat the heat soak issue. In real-world conditions where you have better airflow over the intercooler than you do on the dyno, post-intercooler charge air temps aren't really that bad. Definitely room for improvement with an aftermarket intercooler, but still plenty of performance gain to be reliably had with stock equipment. Let us know if you have any other questions before you buy!

My other major concern beyond heat soak - is the overall long term reliability of the EB with a tune pushing/extending the limits of the engine - especially the integrated exhaust manifold with increased exhaust temps. I plan on keeping the Tremor through at least 75k miles and I am know Ford will not work me if I run into engine issues after the tune.

 

[COBB Tuning]

My other major concern beyond heat soak - is the overall long term reliability of the EB with a tune pushing/extending the limits of the engine - especially the integrated exhaust manifold with increased exhaust temps. I plan on keeping the Tremor through at least 75k miles and I am know Ford will not work me if I run into engine issues after the tune.

Tuning is not without risks. But with proper maintenance and the use of quality fuels, performance gain and reliability are not mutually exclusive.

The factory calibration needs to keep the engine safe in adverse conditions and neglect from your "average" owner. By educating our customers about the importance of quality fuel and requiring minimum octanes for specific tunes, plus informing customers not to tow on our performance maps, we can safely add power while staying within a factory-like level of reliability. We've seen excellent reliability with the tens of thousands of EcoBoost Fords that we've tuned over the last decade, and expect to see the same with the Maverick.

 

[Lonesome Glove]

Which gasoline supplier out there carries no ethanol fuel? It's something I just don't see here in central Texas.

https://www.pure-gas.org/TX

 

[Scooter66]

Fords ECU for the Ecoboosts are sensitive to the fuel used. Anything less than top tier premium and it reduces power. Even using different brand gas has a noticeable effect. It seems Exxon/Mobile and Chevron/Shell premium fuels offer the best performance, but Costco offers top tier premium fuel too and at a significantly lower cost. Conversely running 87 octane, 0–60 is about 7.5–8 seconds, quarter mile is 16+seconds, and fuel economy is 1.5 mpgs lower on average with over 30 mpg being nearly impossible. Even with that performance loss, its still a very capable vehicle. You can not say that 87 octane fuel doesn't have a adverse affect on the the engine; ECU automatically “detunes" the engine by adjusting the timing to avoid knocking, which does wear out the cam phasers prematurely.

 

[Scooter66]

https://www.pure-gas.org/TX

We have a lot of boat owners here in Florida and so ethanol free gasoline at a lot of stations is common here.

 

[dalola]

Seems to me like vehicles have a wide range of being for whatever the person who buys them wants them to be used for.

You forgot the best one....

...although that pro-street Ranger is pretty sweet, too!

 

[710-oil-614]

Tuning is not without risks. But with proper maintenance and the use of quality fuels, performance gain and reliability are not mutually exclusive.

The factory calibration needs to keep the engine safe in adverse conditions and neglect from your "average" owner. By educating our customers about the importance of quality fuel and requiring minimum octanes for specific tunes, plus informing customers not to tow on our performance maps, we can safely add power while staying within a factory-like level of reliability. We've seen excellent reliability with the tens of thousands of EcoBoost Fords that we've tuned over the last decade, and expect to see the same with the Maverick.

Only running top tier (Shell) 93. We don't have a lot of ethanol options around me (that I know of), and just changed my engine oil to a full synthetic (at 500 miles).

I appreciate the responses.

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