I know this is a stupid question but i wanted to know some of the advantages to using 93 octane over the cheaper 87 octane gas?

I have heard that you get better gas mileage?
Its better for your engine long term
You get more HP out of the engine?

Just wanted to get the opionions of some F-150 owners to see what the real deal is.

Thanks guys,
J

 

If your truck has a stock tune and it is tuned for 87, then any higher octane is just wasting money. You will not get any significant gains running higher octane than the engine requires. If you have a tuner, then it is a different situation altogether. There are significant gains in performance running 93 octane with a 93 octane tune.

 

I have ordered some custom tunes from Troyer and I am just waiting for it to arrive so I guess it is going to help out dramatically with a tune?

 

I assume you got an 87 and a 93 tune as 2 of your choices. Either one will be night and day from your stock tune, but the 93 should give you the best performance.

 

So, besides having a custom tune for 93 octane there is no difference b/t using 87 & 93 octane? No "health" benefits for my engine?

 

No. Just use a good brand that has a cleaner. In my area, I get the best results from Shell/Texaco, then Conoco and Exxon.

 

The diff. is 87 burns hotter and 93 burns slower. Theres more to it but thats the easy way. Some say better milage again cause it burns slower.

If you were to put say 100 in your truck and slapped it on the dyno. You'd produce less power as it burns slower. Slower burn = less HP. You don't need high octane till you increase timing or comp.

That's the short answer.

 

Thanks guys,
I appreciate the info.......will be kicking tail when I get my troyer tune along with the intake and my already sweet exhaust!

 

I have a chip tuned to run 91 octane or better and from what I see, the extra money pays off. The plugs I changed were in great shape at almost 100k miles. It's a better burn, emissions tests around here prove this. My output of hydrocarbons etc is that of a wee Honda, seriously, the testers are always blown away. If you don't need 93, run 87, but run better maybe once in a while.

 

I just ran 92 octane and i actually lost MPG's. Stupid me for even thinking about running it

 

Just to clarify...

There is no advantage to running 93 vs. 87 unless you have a custom tune for the 93. If you have a tune for the 93, your engine will definitely put out more hp and you will also get better gas mileage from it. Does it make up the 20-30 cent difference, I don't know, but as long as it's properly tuned for it, it has its advantages.

 

It's a common misconception that higher octane fuel will make more power. Octane rating is a measure of a fuels ability to resist detonation. You have to use higher octane fuels in higher compression engines since they are more likely to cause detonation.

On a side note, don't ever buy octane booster. If you read the small print you will notice that one bottle will turn 87 octane fuel into 87.3 octane. Not very economical.

 

Thats what I said, "booty trap".

 

if you advance your timing just a little, the 93 will give you a little more power, but it's not worth it IMO

 

My previous truck was a 00 Ranger, and it actually ran better and got better mpg's with the 93 octane than it would with regular, once I put the regular it would start pinging and just draaaag on the on ramps.

However with my 04 F150 I haven't noticed any difference in performance at all, but I did notice that there's a serious difference in mpg's between the two, on 93 I could get close to 100 miles on a 1/4 of a tank, and with regular (87) I have gotten as much as 150 on a little over a 1/4 although that was all highway with the cruise control set at 75.

and this is with the 4.6