05stangkc

Just Curious! What everybody is Running for fuel and why?

05_John

93

harleybill

Just a waste of money putting in higher octane when engine doesn't require it. Upgrades are a different story.

wild stray

I am running 91 Premium lately only because I will be reflashing to the premium tune next week. Otherwise, she was running great on the regular grade gasoline. If it was a daily driver I would still be on regular gas.

My Blue Heaven

I run regular. Depending on the HP differences between Super and Regular I'll stick with regular after my tune also.

holderca1

I run regular, unless you have it flashed to run at a different grade, its just a waste of money.

BillP

I run 91 octane (California's wimpy version of Premium) with the SCT 91 octane flash.

Dan

If your computer isn't flashed......................repeat after me.


YOU ONLY NEED TO RUN REGULAR...... CHECK OWNERS MANUAL.



Just trying to save you boys and girls some money.

2005MustangGT

computer flashed or not....obviously no one here understands the benefits of a better quality fuel....don't u/s if you know how octane ratings work or not...but if you purchase 87 octane fuel...you are purchasing fuel that is anywhere between 85 and 89 octane...ever noticed the +-2 on the fuel pump when you are fueling......if you purchase 89 octane you are either buying the cheap stuff 87 octane or up to 91 octane...there is a 2 point spread either way...including if you use the 93 octane.....the higher the octane the better the fuel burns...more oxygen means better burning mixture....no matter what you're computer is set for....just b/c your car is set to run on 87 octane doesn't mean that there is no benefit for running 93....just b/c your car know how to back timing out when it heres detination from 87 octane doesn't mean that is the best fuel to run in your car.....think about it as a big picture....
if you use less quality crap...then expect less quality from your car....save 2 dollars every time you fill up if it's worth it to you.

Indystang

I think it says R+M over (divided by) 2 not +/- 2% I use 87 octane "Brand Name" fuel in mine. It's refined an extra step making it cleaner, so they say. I get the best mileage out of Chevron when I travel I try to look for it.

ZERO

87

TMSBrad

The car is programmed to run on 87. It will run WORSE on higher octane.

mrv8outboard

it is not a requirment to run 87 . take octane ratings out of picure for a moment ... then whats left? regular,mid grade and premium. there are more and better additives it the different grades. just like not all oil and filters are the same quality. also not all super / premium gas is the same. some are just alcohol ladden for the octane boost. not all ecu's can operate with higher octane.

here is and example, mercruser 502 efi's make more power on regular than premium because the ecu advances the timing looking for the knock from detonation and the adjusts the timing accordingly. so if it doesn't knock it just sets it a a lower defaut setting in case the sensor is going bad.

i the case of the newer cars they can tell the difference. they don't need it but in the long run they will have cleaner parts from the intake to the oil that you change. it is just finding good gas just not expensive.

one more point . i offshore power boat race...have won a world and national titles. my race boat runs on 91 to 93 octane and will run 86 mph all day. i bought super unleaded 93 octane at a different staion than normal and the boat would not go over 80 mph. the next day went to the station i use mre often and used thier 93 octane and in 5 min of running back to top speed. this problem was even worse in new jersy.the motor on nj gas would not even idle. fyi

Mellow Yellow

Yea, follow your own advice next time and stop spreading misinformation.

Octane rating is basically the fuels ability to resist combustion. In low compression or untuned engines IE standard mustangs a higher octane gas can actually slow down combustion, robbing your engine of HP and MPG.

Mustangs are tuned to use 87 octane, running higher octane gas gives you no benefit and at the worst can cause a loss of HP and MPG.

holderca1

Come now, you shouldn't preach unless you know your audience. I am a chemical engineer and know quite a bit about petroleum products. If you use an octane level higher than what your car is designed to use, it can cause you to have worse performance and most likely have worse emissions. If you car isn't designed to burn that particular blend of gasoline, you aren't just wasting money.

Edit: And one more thing, quality and the octane rating on the fuel are not synonymous, the higher quality a gasoline (typically found at brand name stations such as Shell) have less impurites in the fuel. High quality fuel will also help clean the fuel system as well.

TomServo92

OK guys. Time for me to step in. I work for one of the large oil companies in a refinery and I've asked our chem engineers about the differences between gasolines from different refiners and I was told there is no difference other than the additives. Base gasoline, no matter who blends it, is refined to a specification. In other words, gasoline that comes out of the Chevron refinery is identical to gas that comes out of a Shell refinery. In fact all the gas of a particular spec from all the refineries in a region goes into the same pipeline where it goes to a gas wholesaler. When the gas is purchased by for instance a Chevron station, the gas is pumped off and the Techron additives are put in it. So to sum it up, if the pump says it's 87 octane you can be sure that's what you're getting no matter what station it comes from because it is rigorously tested to meet that specification. The only thing you're getting that is brand specific are the additives which usually have nothng to do with octane.

adrenalin

Running 87 octane... No reason to go any higher unless I re-flash the computer for 93 octane.

Lowe!

Yea, follow your own advice next time and stop spreading misinformation.

Octane rating is basically the fuels ability to resist combustion. In low compression or untuned engines IE standard mustangs a higher octane gas can actually slow down combustion, robbing your engine of HP and MPG.

Mustangs are tuned to use 87 octane, running higher octane gas gives you no benefit and at the worst can cause a loss of HP and MPG. [/b][/quote]
Mello Yellow nailed it. I read an automotive mag article a while back that said the same thing. The lower octane fuel is MORE combustable, therfore produces more power for a given motor (if the motor is setup/designed to run on it). The need for less combustable fuels, i.e. HIGHER octane, is primarily to counteract preignition ("pinging") in higher compression (higher performance or non computer timing controlled) engines.

Made sense to me. I use 87 w/o incident.

zinn

i have 2 options for the gas i put in my stang, 95 or 97, so i typically just put in the 97 since i suspect it has the stations extra additives. i need to flash my system but i don't know if anybody has even tuned a stang for 95-97 octane gas yet.

05stangkc

This Poll has turned into Quite a Gas! I love to FUEL a Good Debate!