When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
"Snake oil" refers to a product that makes bold claim but doesn't particularly have anything to back it up. Generally speaking in this case, the majority of additives people wanna throw in their gas or oil. The one I used had PEA (polyethyl-amine), a nitrogen based something or other that Shell supposedly puts in their vpower branded stuff.
Also, I made a spreadsheet last night to track all this on. I made sure to add in calculations for costs per mile, costs over time, etc.
Thanks for interest in this. I was sure I wasn't the only one whose experience was different from what's touted as truth.
It should be noted during this whether the 93 is top tier or not. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be a variable that could affect final outcomes.
I run 87 octane primarily in my 2006 with the 4.6 V8. If I tow my camper, I fill up with 93 octane to get its better performance capability; that's the only reason why I step up th 93 octane ocasionally.
Does your truck have a similar stumble as the OP? What "better performance capability" are you speaking of?
I just stumbled upon your thread after starting something similar of my own.
Instead of focusing on higher octane, I'm trying to see if ethanol free makes a difference.
Just for background, I have no issues with the truck, and drive 99% city. Just wanted to try something different.
The Nice N' Easy down the street from me sells 93 ethanol free. So I suppose to a point, we could see similar results.
Not sure how you're calculating, but I got this fantastic tool from our site:
I'm genuinely excited to see what everyone's data returns on this. Like I said in the op, I'm NOT trying to sway anyone to do anything any differently than they do. If nobody else wants to try this experiment with me, that's cool.
I have a few gallons of 93 in it right now, once that runs oUT and the stumble comes back I'll post a video of what I'm talking about.
the difference between 87 and 93 is not necessarily the quality or inherent energy of the gas... in fact, some higher octane gases tends to have more additives that do not burn as cleanly to obtain the higher resistance to detonation under compression (which is what an octane rating is)
If you've done something like advance the timing or increase compression or whatever to where you're getting detonation, then a higher octane gas is the answer and you will see less knock and better performance... if you have not and the manufacturer is recommending 87, 93 is nothing but wasting your money... (well some vehicles are sophisticated enough to take advantage of the additional octane and increase timing significantly enough to warrant it... the NA ford truck engines really aren't there) if we're comparing top tier gas to non-branded gas, there is a known difference there and ethanol vs non-ethanol is significant as well but strictly by octane, e85 has a higher octane rating than 93... anyone seeing great results running that? i bet you see significant decreases in millage and hp since it has less btu's per gallon than gasoline.
i have heard from people that older engines can develop 'hot spots' from carbon deposits in the cylinders and higher octane can help with that... but I've never read that anywhere... I'd say, it's worth a try in that case... outside of that, skip the premium unless you have forced induction, a tune that advanced timing to take advantage of higher octane or a vehicle that calls for it... do skip the non-branded gas and avoid ethanol wherever you can.
It's not particularly the octane I'm interested in.I'm just using the numbers because it's quicker than typing out "regular" and "premium".
I'm well aware that advancing timing, running boost, and/or raising compression are all reasons to want the higher OCTANE.
With our 9.8:1, we don't REQUIRE it. As far as I can find, our timing doesn't advance enough to utilize it either (my '12 mustang sure did though!)
Those higher octane fuels tend to have better detergent packs, or more of them. And that's really what this is going to boil down too, I'm sure of it.
Regardless of all that, Im aiming to find out if running PREMIUM is going to be worth the extra few bucks, because I know my truck has shown better mpg on it. Again, that's just MY truck. Your truck and many others more than likely will be different.
As previously stated, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I'm doing what I want, and posting results. If others want to do it too, it's their call, not mine.
I thank you, though, for a very informative post. I'm sure there are some folks who didn't know all that, and now they're more well prepared to follow along as the data flows in!
The only problem I see with the spread sheets that are on here, is the fact the fuel prices fluctuate. They won't be a consisitent difference apart as far as the higher octane vs the lower octane. That being said, you could record the price per gallon of the opposite octane at the time of fill-up and do a guestimate as far as the comparitive cost at the older mileage.
Also another thing to think about is what was mentioned in a previous thread about carbon build up. As the fuel burns hotter (higher octane), it is possible to clean some of the older carbon buildup off of the piston. Not to the extent of some of the cleaners, but little by little. I doubt you could see a real difference hand calculating mileage short term, but anything is possible with long term testing.
EDIT** As far as writing down a cost comparison for the oppposite octane of fuel, that's just for eachtime you fill up to compare what it would have cost you to fill up with the other ocane. For example-You're running a full tank of Premum, you fill it up, record the price, then take the base octane rating (87) and get a cost for what it would be for the same amount. That way even if the fuel prices change, you could have fairly accurate representation for what it would have cost at the same time.
Last edited by Manuellabour247; 06-05-2015 at 09:49 PM.
Just filled up. Already had premium in it, so premium to top it off. I'll be back to update mileage, cost per mile, cost per day, etc etc after this tank runs out.
06-05-2015, 10:14 AM
