Octane rating

[Under200]

As the owners manual states 87 octane is all the 3.0t requires but when I read specs on power etc it always says peak is achieved with 93.

the 87 octane is a big reason I bought my car.  No buggy if it loses a few ponies with 87 but has anyone compared 87 vs mid or premium gas when it comes to mpg?  Just got the car and doing lots of city driving and only getting 16mpg. Real test will be next week where I drive 60 per day all hwy, hoping to get 25mpg.

[drolds1]

True, about peak power.  On regular, it develops 380hp. 

I've never done an actual comparison but it stands to reason that mileage will be better on premium when the ECU isn't pulling timing to compensate for the lower octane fuel. I find that mine doesn't run quite as well on regular, especially in hot weather.  This combination is very sensitive to heat.

If you're getting 16 MPG in city driving, that's pretty good for the 3.0T.  Don't hope for more than that under those conditions.  I've seen as low as 13 in winter local driving.  OTOH, I've seen over 30 in highway  driving depending on conditions.  In fact, I recently got 34 on a highway trip with heavy, but moving, traffic which held speeds below 70.  It's tempting to use that throttle in this car.  If you can resist, you can see some decent highway MPGs.?

[Under200]

Very good points D.  Must be strong and resist, lol.  Looking forward to the upcoming week, Typically do about 80mph hwy, which for my previous ride cx-5 it was up there in the revs.  This thing hasn’t even begun to stretch its legs, lol. 

34 mpg, wow....that is impressive,  what year, drive and motor?

[drolds1]

See my bio; 2017 3.0T AWD, Sport.  There's as post here somewhere with a pic of my mpg readout in the IC.  I can't find it right now.  

Edited September 2, 2018 by drolds1

[SUGAR 3.0TT AWD]

On 9/2/2018 at 3:38 PM, Under200 said:

As the owners manual states 87 octane is all the 3.0t requires but when I read specs on power etc it always says peak is achieved with 93.

the 87 octane is a big reason I bought my car.  No buggy if it loses a few ponies with 87 but has anyone compared 87 vs mid or premium gas when it comes to mpg?  Just got the car and doing lots of city driving and only getting 16mpg. Real test will be next week where I drive 60 per day all hwy, hoping to get 25mpg.

 

[bbf2530]

8 minutes ago, BlackBeauty said:

As the owners manual states 87 octane is all the 3.0t requires but when I read specs on power etc it always says peak is achieved with 93.

the 87 octane is a big reason I bought my car.  No buggy if it loses a few ponies with 87 but has anyone compared 87 vs mid or premium gas when it comes to mpg?  Just got the car and doing lots of city driving and only getting 16mpg. Real test will be next week where I drive 60 per day all hwy, hoping to get 25mpg.

 

Hi BB. Although there are those who will disagree, expert automotive sources will explain how there is no MPG advantage to using premium fuels.

 

When discussing major fuel companies, there is no more power in a premium fuel (apples to apples, same station etc) than regular.

 

The short story is the additives which provide the higher octane reading simply allow our engine management systems to adjust for higher power without engine knocking. That is what gives more power. But the higher octane does not provide more MPG's. In fact some owners say they get less MPG's with premium (maybe due to pressing the go-pedal harder though? ?)

 

Bottom line: If you want more power, use premium. If you would like to save a couple of dollars each fill-up and don't need your full ~400 horsepower, use 87 octane.

 

As always, I also recommend forum members not just take the word of random Internet strangers (not even mine). So Google can also be your friend, if you Google "regular versus premium fuels" and other similar phrases. Just make sure the sites you use are expert sourced. Either automotive, petroleum company etc.

 

I am sure other members will jump in with their own thoughts.

 

Let us know how you make out and good luck.

[SUGAR 3.0TT AWD]

The gas I put in my last 2 cars have been non ethanol premium unleaded it's at most every station because of the large boating community that require non ethanol I could care less the cost of A tank if gas. We used to have racing fuel what's the max octane my 3.7L V6 can handle 

[Scott]

I get somewhere in the 15-16 MPG range in mostly city driving using 91/10% ethanol. I tried using 87, but could tell quite a difference. In the winter I use 87 sometimes because with the snow and cold, you can't really enjoy the extra performance anyway. On the highway, I can get in the upper 20's.

[bbf2530]

6 hours ago, BlackBeauty said:

The gas I put in my last 2 cars have been non ethanol premium unleaded it's at most every station because of the large boating community that require non ethanol I could care less the cost of A tank if gas. We used to have racing fuel what's the max octane my 3.7L V6 can handle 

 

Hi BB. Since you don't care about cost, then I can shorten my answer to: If you are looking for maximum fuel mileage, premium fuels will give no more MPG's than regular fuels (apples to apples of course). However, premium fuel will obviously give maximum engine power (~400 HP, assuming you have AWD). Lincoln/Ford has stated in the past that we can assume a drop in max HP of ~10% or so with regular, at the top end of performance.

 

More important than the regular versus premium question is the quality of fuel we put in our cars. So when possible, use Top Tier, name brand fuels, not convenience store gas.

 

Good luck.

[drolds1]

10 hours ago, BlackBeauty said:

The gas I put in my last 2 cars have been non ethanol premium unleaded it's at most every station because of the large boating community that require non ethanol I could care less the cost of A tank if gas. We used to have racing fuel what's the max octane my 3.7L V6 can handle 

You're lucky to have access to 100% gasoline.  You'll always get better fuel mileage with that vs. gasoline with 10% ethanol, which reduces MPG by 3-4%

 

Your 3.7 is tuned to use 87 octane fuel.  You won't get any more performance out of it by using 91 or higher octane fuel.  It's not the same case as with Ford's turbocharged engines.

[MKZMark]

Will the 2.0t get additional power out of 93 vs. 87?

[drolds1]

Yes.  The 2.0T develops its full advertised hp rating on 93 octane fuel.

 

2017 Lincoln brochure:

Quote

Horsepower and torque ratings achieved with 93-octane fuel.

 

[bbf2530]

1 hour ago, MKZMark said:

Will the 2.0t get additional power out of 93 vs. 87?

 

Hi MKZ. Yes, what drolds1 stated and quoted. It gets the publicized power rating using 93 octane.

 

Using less than 93 octane means the Engine Management System will cut back boost, timing etc. when necessary, in order to to avoid pinging/engine pre-detonation and possible engine damage.

 

Good luck.

[MKZMark]

Thanks.

[esqueue]

The following are all my opinions based on what I know about how engines function. I can see how running a different octane on a vehicle slightly affect the MPG. Reducing the timing and boost will have impact on engine efficiency which in turn may change the MPG. The thing is that if you aren't driving the vehicle aggressively, neither the boost or timing gets changed. If you drive aggressively, with 87 octane, your car is giving you less power for the amount of fuel due to retarded timing  and less boost. We all agree that higher compression engines are more efficient as less of the energy is used as heat. Boost essentially raises the compression so higher boost and advanced timing can makes an engine more efficient to a certain degree.

Who knows...There is so much misinformation of fuel octane that it is surprising. I believe that a very high percent of people still believe that higher octane burns more cleaner or it has more power in the fuel, or that it gives their low compression car more power. There are also some media sources telling people that there is absolutely no difference between low and high octane fuels which also false.

I get horrible mileage on all my cars so I can't help in that aspect. It's worth it to me. I had to get a canned tune to run the times that people claim that they can get stock using 93 octane due to California 91 octane only fuel.

 

[MKZMark]

I put in a tank of 93 and like the extra bit of thrust. Given the low fuel prices and the fact that I'm WFH and driving very little, I think I'll keep doing it.

 

I was driving an '03 Mercury Marauder in 2004 when premium went up to $4.50/gal. I was driving a lot of miles and could barely afford to keep gas in it.

Edited October 12, 2020 by MKZMark

[SUGAR 3.0TT AWD]

On 9/26/2020 at 12:58 PM, drolds1 said:

You're lucky to have access to 100% gasoline.  You'll always get better fuel mileage with that vs. gasoline with 10% ethanol, which reduces MPG by 3-4%

 

Your 3.7 is tuned to use 87 octane fuel.  You won't get any more performance out of it by using 91 or higher octane fuel.  It's not the same case as with Ford's turbocharged engines.

Droids1 - since the cost of fuel had gone through the roof I switched to 87 octane regular unleaded for my 3.7 NA. I'm getting about 18 mpg in town driving when I never saw 16 mpg using the non ethanol 91 if gas ever drops I won't go back that 18 is with the air on cold enough to hang meat almost lol. 

[SUGAR 3.0TT AWD]

I just upgraded and traded my 2016 3.7L AWD to a 2020 3.0TT AWD my in town driving at speeds between 30 and 40 mph. I'm seeing 19 mpg and it just keeps getting better even if I drive it in sport and drive her hard. That sounds she makes it's as if she's talking back I'm thirsty GIVE ME MORE GAS and I do and mpg is nothing what I thought it would be. It must be the intelligent AWD and it's ability to run in FWD and when you feel the need to Romp on it you can feel all 4 wheels pushing and pulling down the road. Whatever you do don't buy a 2.0T it eats more gas than the 3.0TT I forgot to mention I'm running 91 non ethanol octane fuel. I'm almost afraid to drop down to 87 octane my 3.7L NA loved 87 but not the 2020 3.0 TT AWD is light-years above the 2016 I could talk about it's creature comforts but that's for another thread in summary the 91 non ethanol premium gas at my local pump is getting conservatively 18-19 mpg in town with speeds of 30 to 40 mph. The trek home was from the dealer 7 hours away was mostly 60 mph i got 27 to 28 mpg.

[drolds1]

Where do you get non-ethanol gas?