Fueling Thoughts

[gdc]

I'm petty about fuel and oil. I like to min/max everything for no reason.

Gas prices are very high right now. I'm seeing $4.89 for 91 octane. Pretty horrendous. So I decided to swap over to ethanol-free 87 octane.

With that ethanol-free 87 octane, I think it would be dumb for me to mix it with AMSOIL Dominator Octane Booster. I received 10 cases for free. What do you all think of this fueling mixture for OEM 2.7L Ecoboost? Sanity check requested.

New Mexico has horrible quality fuel. I've accustripped 14 different gas stations, and all have out-of-spec amounts of water and insolubles (dirt/sand/quartz). I do not have photos.

Being that I only have knowledge of RB engines, and I have typically dealt with 105 RON, I've no experience with U.S. fuel quality.

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[ShadowDragon24]

Gas prices are very high right now. I'm seeing $4.89 for 91 octane. Pretty horrendous. So I decided to swap over to ethanol-free 87 octane.

$1.29/Liter($4.89/gal) is pretty fucking cheap. I wish I was paying that again, havent seen those prices since before covid. try paying $1.87/Ltr(7.08/gal) for 91

that being said, I get significantly more kilometers to a tank on 91, then I do on 87, 87 in Canada I get less then 450kms to a tank, on 91 I can get 580-620kms a tank

 

[gdc]

$1.29/Liter($4.89/gal) is pretty fucking cheap. I wish I was paying that again, havent seen those prices since before covid. try paying $1.87/Ltr(7.08/gal) for 91

that being said, I get significantly more kilometers to a tank on 91, then I do on 87, 87 in Canada I get less then 450kms to a tank, on 91 I can get 580-620kms a tank

See that's the math I've been tracking. I've done a 1k mile test. Seems that 91 provides an MPG increase that can't be ignored.

Difficult line to draw. Ethanol free with booster, no booster, or straight 91 and pay the price....

 

[ShadowDragon24]

See that's the math I've been tracking. I've done a 1k mile test. Seems that 91 provides an MPG increase that can't be ignored.

Difficult line to draw. Ethanol free with booster, no booster, or straight 91 and pay the price....

we only have 87, 89, 91 in my area 91 is supposedly ethanol-free. while 87 is considered e15 here. upto 15% can be ethanol. and 87 is only 6 cents cheaper. so the savings in price, I lose in milage. so actually costing more then using 91

 

[Watchdog62]

Just bought a RR and having the pro cal installed Wednesday. Filled up with Sunoco 94 yesterday......80 dollar fillup. Good news is should last 2 weeks.
My previous 2019 ranger never saw over 87 octane, but was nowhere as fun. Hopefully gas prices come down at some point and I buy my wife an EV.

 

[NM Mike]

I didn’t know you could find ethanol free fuel in New Mexico. I can’t find it anywhere near me. As for adding octane boost to ethanol free gas, why not, if you’ve got it for free. If you have to buy it, I doubt that you would save any money.
I haven’t ran ethanol free fuel in my ranger, but did in my tacoma when I was traveling to areas where it was available. I did get a little better mpg with it.

 

[Dre' Dawg]

See that's the math I've been tracking. I've done a 1k mile test. Seems that 91 provides an MPG increase that can't be ignored.

Difficult line to draw. Ethanol free with booster, no booster, or straight 91 and pay the price....

I read an article in Car and Driver which confirms better gas mileage with 91/93 octane but did not reach the financial benefit to justify the change.

 

[asimpson997]

I have seen little to no MPG improvement on my 2.7L going from 87 ethanol to 93 ethanol or even 90 rec fuel that is non-ethanol. My wife's 2018 Taurus with a standard 3.5L does see a +3.5 MPG increase over the 4 tanks I hand calculated over 87 ethanol, but the math didn't make it worth using it all the time.

 

[Medic 6]

I switched my vehicles right after the complimentary free tank of gas from the dealership when I purchased them. The higher octanes definitely assist with detonation and other things. My wife’s RR is the only one with the Ford procal tune. The octane change made a big difference in her 2019 Edge ST. They also have the ethanol free 88 in PA, but our gas is junk too like New Mexico. So you can purchase 87,88,91, and 93 octanes, but we are choosey where we purchase gas and actually buy in MD. We live close to the state line, it’s easy to hop over. My recent fill up for the wife’s was a little over $60 with a quarter of a tank at $4.19 a gallon. Apologies for the gibberish.

 

[gdc]

Does octane rating at altitude have a negative affect?

—> higher altitude, use lower octane?
—> lower altitude, use higher octane?

 

[superj]

Does octane rating at altitude have a negative affect?

—> higher altitude, use lower octane?
—> lower altitude, use higher octane?

I dont know, but good question. I still ran premium when i would go to colorado sprungs or denver just because i never thought about that

 

[NM Mike]

Altitude actually has a positive effect on octane requirements for engine knocking. I have heard conflicting opinions on requirements for turbo charged engines. I don’t remember the exact formula, 88 octane gas at 6000 ft elevation is equivalent to running 91 octane at sea level.

 

[gdc]

Little bit of bro-science, mixed with AI and JDM guess-formation. Could be interesting.

- Ethanol-free does provide a better MPG
- 87 octane is equivalent 89 octane @ 4500 ft.
- Non-ethanol octane booster (consider $0, increases octane by 3-4 points)

Comes out to $4.00 for 92-93 octane range, which is 89 cents cheaper than typical. Use your gas cards and it brings it down another 10 cents per gallon to $3.90. About $20 per fill-up saved.

Of course, everyone loves Project Farm. I watched this to get an idea of how clean ethanol-free fuel is versus e10/e15 fuels.



Within a few months, I'll come back to this thread with a 2k mile MPG test, and octane test, and post my results. Please don't lock this thread. If this comes out to be truly efficient.... well we might have a million-dollar savings program.

One month ago, ethanol-free 87 was at $3.15 a gallon. E10 Premium (91) was at $3.40. The only place I found with 93 octane was in El Paso. That was $3.60 a gallon. Prices are eventually going to fall back down. If and when they do, I want to see if I can get sub-$3, ethanol-free 93 Octane.

 

[Dr. TJG DVM]

Too late in the evening for mental mathing, but I love that big red boy in your profile pic

 

[gdc]

Too late in the evening for mental mathing, but I love that big red boy in your profile pic

He's a well loved idiot.

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