Hello Mike,


I have been following the f-150 sight for a month now and love the inputs that you and all the fellow ford owners have and find it a valualbe source of good information.
I am going to get your super chip and had one question that I have not seen asked. How does the chip react with the engine to alcohol added to fuel to add to the octane rating. Many places here use alcohol to get higher octanes. Thanks

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ecm747x

2001 SUPER CREW XLT, BRIGHT RED
5.6L Triton, automatic 3.55 gears limited slip
16" tires
side steps
bed extender
ford/duraliner bed liner
60/40 seats
6cd changer
moonroof
sliding rear window

Soon to come Mods...

Adding Super chip, Airaid F.I.P.K. Installing different exhaust, not sure which yet. Front grill guard. With light kit


MODS....
1) Lund x-terminator bug shield

 

I'me in the same boat, around here I can get 92/93 octane pure or 90-92 octane w/ 10% alcohol much cheaper. I have a large hill I drive all the time. With mixed fuel tranny will pop out of OD right before the top. With pure I don't so there must be a SMALL power loss on the alcohol. Normal driving I don't see a change. Fuel mileage on my other trucks has been about .5 mpg less with mixed but is about the same on my current truck.

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97 F150 4x4 SC 8' box, 5.4l auto 3.55LS.

 

Hi ecm & Rob S.,

Anytime you have a choice, I would use pure gasoline instead of those "gasahol" blends, even when they are cheaper, and here's why: first, the 10% alcohol content is corrosive to the fuel system's components, though it usually says in the owner's manuals that you can use gasahol as long as the concentration of alcohol does not exceed 10%. But to me the more important issue is the actual energy content. As you can see from Rob's post, he has seen a noticeable decrease in performance when using the gasahol compared to straight gasoline, and that is correct.

Alcohol has just under half the relative energy value of gasoline, though it has nice octane numbers, it just doesn't have much energy relative to gasoline.

All that having been said, you can certainly use the Superchip with those gasahol blends, just remember that you won't get quite as good gas mileage, and the performance will be down slightly as compared to what you'd get with pure gasoline. Not a lot, but some, maybe 3%-5%.

If you have a choice, even if you have to pay a little more, always go with gasoline instead of gasahol, as you'll get better mileage and performance, due to the higher BTU content. Anytime you can burn less fuel and get more work done, you've done a favor to the environment.

All-alcohol fuels (not gasahol blends) are a great idea, as they can easily be made from biomass, everything from corn to you name it can be used as the base material. And if the fuel system is designed properly for the use of an all-alcohol fuel from the factory, then we could do some *really* nice things for the environment, as the biggest by-product of alcohol combustion is good old H2O. Henry Ford felt so strongly about the use of alcohol for fuels that for years, back in the early days of the Model T and Model A I believe, they could all be run on either gasoline or alcohol! But of course the design was *far* simpler then, all they had to do was to basically let twice as much alcohol into the carb. and that was all they really needed to do, except perhaps use a bit more spark advance, which they controlled by a level on the steering column. It's hard to believe that you used to be able to control your spark curve by simply moving a level on the steering column, but back in the days before advances in distributors, that was how it was done.

With today's vehicles, if you have a choice, use pure gasoline is my advice. I've burned the gasahol blends myself, and I don't care for them in comparison, perhaps because I am concerned with always having the best possible volumetric efficiency. For me, I'd rather pay more and use pure gasoline, as I can feel the difference in performance. If they ever offer a vehicle that can run on all-alcohol from Ford, I'd take a close look at it, but until then, I'll stick with pure gasoline, even at a higher price. Others may feel differently, and that's fine, whatever works for you is all that really matters.
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Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer

[This message has been edited by Superchips_Distributor (edited 11-08-2000).]

 

Thanks for the inputs guys. Mike, I will be giving you a call right after x-mas ordering your chip. I also plan on puting a fipk and better exhaust on as well. Will try to have all three done in Jan....

------------------
ecm747x

2001 SUPER CREW XLT, BRIGHT RED
5.6L Triton, automatic 3.55 gears limited slip
16" tires
side steps
bed extender
ford/duraliner bed liner
60/40 seats
6cd changer
moonroof
sliding rear window

Soon to come Mods...

Adding Super chip, Airaid F.I.P.K. Installing different exhaust, not sure which yet. Front grill guard. With light kit


MODS....
1) Lund x-terminator bug shield