Ok, so I'm ready to order a tune and I've decided on a Race tune from Bamachips.

But....what octane do I get?
It's either 87 or 91.
Is there a horsepower difference? And is it worth the extra $180/year?
This is based on my driving habits, btw.

I know it's been beaten to death, but please help me out!

 

just get the 91, yes its worth it, you say 180 dollars a year, are you really so strapped for caush that 15 dollars a month is going to kill you?

most places around here only a 20cent diffrence between 87 and 91, so an extra 1.50 a tank, I fill up once a week, so 6 bucks a month for me.

not to mention, you potentially get better gas mileage, though some ppl dont because they cant keep their foot out of it with the new tune.

 

It's like 50 cents a day, get the 91 octane.

 

I say go with the 87. If you want all out speed, and don't care about the cost, then 91 is the way to go. You are probably looking at 5hp difference between the two. Are you really going to notice that 5hp missing? No.

It's been my experience with other tunes that as far as throttle response and overall behaviour of the engine/tranny, there is not really any difference between different octane tunes of the same type (87 performance vs. 91 performance, or 87 torque vs. 91 torque). Simply put, driving wise, I can hardly tell the difference between an 87 Perf. and a 91 Perf. tune.

 

you have 7.5 gallon tank? 20 cents times 7.5 = $1.50?
16 gal tank times 20 cents = $3.20 times 4 weeks = $12.80

 

Even with a 93 octane tune, the 93 octane isn't burning up completely since the ignition timing changes are mainly done at high RPMs and high loads. I use grocery store 87 octane with great results.

 

sorry should have specified, I only use a half tank, I rarely let it go toa 1/4tank

 

Also.. who uses up 16 gallons?

I used up 15.4 and it left me stranded in the middle of the road.

 

lol ok i use 12-14 Gallons before fill up.
I'm not asking whether or not the 87 tune is good, I'm sure it is.
But I want to know is the difference you pay, worth it?

 

Did you buy a Prius or a Mustang??? It works out to about a penny a mile. BFD. If you're not interested in performance, keep it stock. Just my 2 cents...

 

why not just get 87perf/91torque/91race...best of both worlds

 

Oddly enough, when my fuel light comes on, it always takes about 13 gallons to fill 'er up.

Either way, the car, stock, is supposedly tuned for 87...so I could jack up my gas bill each month by pumping 91, but I won't see any advantages.

 

Haha, I know, just being difficult.

Well, in my case it's worth it. I paid $630 for a CAI/tuner/tunes, might as well get my full 30hp out of it, instead of 25, or however much 87 will provide.

If you're willing to pay $600 for 30hp, then I think it's pretty reasonable to spend $3/tank for the maximum gain.. or about $200 a year if you fill up 1-2 times a week like I do.

 

Theoretically, with the proper tune and higher octane fuel, you could get both better gas mileage and better performance.

Will the reduced fuel consumption outweight the increased cost of the higher octane gas? Hard to tell. It is not as easy as adding the increased cost per gallon to your current fuel consupmtion rate because fuel consumption should go down (depending on how easy it is for you to keep a light touch on the go pedal).

 

Stock, use 89. For a custom tune, no reason not to get 91 or 93 if you can get it.

 

there's something called a "middle ground", fast but still economical....

anways...I'm leaning towards the 91. even though $3.17/gallon

 

Has no one done any HW on this at all? He cant write an 87 Oct torq or race tune. You have to get 91 and up with those I believe. He might be able to write an 89 but either way the Race and torq tunes need the higher oct to get the performance for them. Get the 91 or 93 so you can actually get some performance from the tune.

 

I still get about 17-18mpg around town... and my car ain't "slow".

Oh, race gas is about $7/gal, so it makes pump gas look cheap. haha

 

I never understood buying $600 ish CAI/tuner setup to only add a mild tune so you can save a few pennies over the high-octane tunes that make the thing worthwhile in the first place

If money is so tight that you don't want to stretch the couple dollars extra at the pump, where is the $600 coming from? $30k car plus constant modifications and cleanings.... The CAI purchase is the price difference of over 60 fill-ups with premium... I'd skip a couple trips to Starbucks a month to hit 7-11 instead long before giving up my 93 race tune on my baby. Funny thing I see people complaining about the price of premium with more then a lifetime's difference in modification $$ already in their signature in the first place. duh. Everyone is so trained to be scared of gas prices you don't look at the rest of the stuff in life, nor put in to perspective. One thread "Look at my $2500 set of wheels", and next thread, "hey, thats $12 more per fill up!-blasphemy!" Hello, McFly!

If you don't utilize the highest available octane tunes with the kit, you wasted your money in the first place.

 

ok ok ok JEEZ. mustang enthusaists and their horsepower hungriness
lol so I'm getting the 91.
How long does it take for Doug to send a mail-order tune?