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Kahboom

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I live in California and most places are E10 at the pump. It's actually pretty hard to find pure gas in California. In the winter it goes up to as high as E20 at some stations.
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crysalis_01

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Even here in the middle of nowhere Wyoming where 91 is the going "premium", I can get 100 of 110 readily. Yes, its $7 and $8 a gal, but to make "93" it's pretty easy:

10 gallons of 93 octane: 91 + 110 = 8.9 gal + 1.1 gal
 

NOLA_Stang

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The difference between 91 and 93 octane is the altitude where it's sold. 91 octane runs the same in higher altitudes as 93 does down here below sea level.
 

millhouse

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If you can't afford 93 octane maybe you should buy a Focus SE.
Who said anything about not being able to "afford" 93 octane?

A few thing for you to consider...

1) 87 is the recommended fuel per the manual.
2) The power difference is less than 10hp. It's small enough that you cannot feel the difference on the street.
3) With a price delta of 0.50 per gallon, I save $450 per year on fuel. Thy my friend is enough to cover most of my insurance.
4) 93 octane will not make your 5.0 run any smoother, cleaner or better. It will not provide any benefit or protection outside of squeaking out the last 10hp Ford enables by adding a small bump in timing.

If someone approached you and told you how to save $450 a year by changing something in your life that is unnoticeable, something that will have no affect on anything you do....would you ignore and mock them?

Or you could think of it this way...What if when you bought your mustang Ford said...hey, for an extra $40/month...we can give you an extra 10hp. The kicker is, this $40/month lasts the life of the vehicle. How much is that 10hp worth? To me, it's sure as hell not worth $40/month for the next 10+ years.

I'm pretty sure that 91 will work a whole lot better than 87.
Work a whole lot better at what? If you can't feel the difference between 87 and 93, you sure as hell won't be able to notice a difference between 87 and 91.
 

HISSMAN

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I run E85, so I am really saving big!
 

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millhouse

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I run E85, so I am really saving big!
And just look at all of those mods you were able to buy with the money you saved! ;)
 

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Who said anything about not being able to "afford" 93 octane?

A few thing for you to consider...

1) 87 is the recommended fuel per the manual.
2) The power difference is less than 10hp. It's small enough that you cannot feel the difference on the street.
3) With a price delta of 0.50 per gallon, I save $450 per year on fuel. Thy my friend is enough to cover most of my insurance.
4) 93 octane will not make your 5.0 run any smoother, cleaner or better. It will not provide any benefit or protection outside of squeaking out the last 10hp Ford enables by adding a small bump in timing.

If someone approached you and told you how to save $450 a year by changing something in your life that is unnoticeable, something that will have no affect on anything you do....would you ignore and mock them?

Or you could think of it this way...What if when you bought your mustang Ford said...hey, for an extra $40/month...we can give you an extra 10hp. The kicker is, this $40/month lasts the life of the vehicle. How much is that 10hp worth? To me, it's sure as hell not worth $40/month for the next 10+ years.



Work a whole lot better at what? If you can't feel the difference between 87 and 93, you sure as hell won't be able to notice a difference between 87 and 91.
Stick with your 87 if you are happy and you don't feel a difference. I'll
burn 93 and the cost means nothing to me.
 

BmacIL

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Who said anything about not being able to "afford" 93 octane?

A few thing for you to consider...

1) 87 is the recommended fuel per the manual.
2) The power difference is less than 10hp. It's small enough that you cannot feel the difference on the street.
3) With a price delta of 0.50 per gallon, I save $450 per year on fuel. Thy my friend is enough to cover most of my insurance.
4) 93 octane will not make your 5.0 run any smoother, cleaner or better. It will not provide any benefit or protection outside of squeaking out the last 10hp Ford enables by adding a small bump in timing.

If someone approached you and told you how to save $450 a year by changing something in your life that is unnoticeable, something that will have no affect on anything you do....would you ignore and mock them?

Or you could think of it this way...What if when you bought your mustang Ford said...hey, for an extra $40/month...we can give you an extra 10hp. The kicker is, this $40/month lasts the life of the vehicle. How much is that 10hp worth? To me, it's sure as hell not worth $40/month for the next 10+ years.



Work a whole lot better at what? If you can't feel the difference between 87 and 93, you sure as hell won't be able to notice a difference between 87 and 91.
While you're correct about peak numbers, there is a solid difference in mid-range torque between 93 and 87 (where the added timing advance can have a bigger effect). Tuned you get a lot more out of it still. Worth it for 10 hp? Maybe, maybe not. Worth it for 40? You betcha, particularly because those gains are all over the powerband, not just peak.
 
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It's 2017 and people with cars that cost $40k still can't afford premium fuel. Sad.
 

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Lessee... assuming 450 hp and 10 hp difference with 93 octane, that's a theoretical 2.2% increase in HP at FULL THROTTLE, which is likely below the perception threshhold of most Mustang owners.. I use 87 octane because 99.999% of my driving time is BELOW full throttle, and figure "why waste the money?"
It all comes down to the cost/benefit to the individual.. :cool:
:popcorn:
 

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Darkane

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Who said anything about not being able to "afford" 93 octane?

A few thing for you to consider...

1) 87 is the recommended fuel per the manual.
2) The power difference is less than 10hp. It's small enough that you cannot feel the difference on the street.
3) With a price delta of 0.50 per gallon, I save $450 per year on fuel. Thy my friend is enough to cover most of my insurance.
4) 93 octane will not make your 5.0 run any smoother, cleaner or better. It will not provide any benefit or protection outside of squeaking out the last 10hp Ford enables by adding a small bump in timing.

If someone approached you and told you how to save $450 a year by changing something in your life that is unnoticeable, something that will have no affect on anything you do....would you ignore and mock them?

Or you could think of it this way...What if when you bought your mustang Ford said...hey, for an extra $40/month...we can give you an extra 10hp. The kicker is, this $40/month lasts the life of the vehicle. How much is that 10hp worth? To me, it's sure as hell not worth $40/month for the next 10+ years.



Work a whole lot better at what? If you can't feel the difference between 87 and 93, you sure as hell won't be able to notice a difference between 87 and 91.
Holy you drive a lot.

A VERY conservative estimate based on what you said is over 17,000miles a year at 18mpg. If you do highway and get 22-25 it's a lot more.

Something more frugal might serve you even better.
 

millhouse

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It's 2017 and people with cars that cost $40k still can't afford premium fuel. Sad.
And again, who said anything about not being able to afford premium fuel?

Lessee... assuming 450 hp and 10 hp difference with 93 octane, that's a theoretical 2.2% increase in HP at FULL THROTTLE, which is likely below the perception threshhold of most Mustang owners.. I use 87 octane because 99.999% of my driving time is BELOW full throttle, and figure "why waste the money?"
It all comes down to the cost/benefit to the individual.. :cool:
:popcorn:
Yep...you get it. If I decide to go to the strip or track, I'll put 93 octane in a few days prior. Otherwise, it's like buying extra cable channels that you'll never watch.

Holy you drive a lot.

A VERY conservative estimate based on what you said is over 17,000miles a year at 18mpg. If you do highway and get 22-25 it's a lot more.

Something more frugal might serve you even better.
I've never understood driving a cheap economy car over a mustang for your daily driver. I bought my mustang to drive...and drive I do. I enjoy every second of it. I actually feel sorry for those that feel the need to save the mustang for non rainy weekends. These aren't collectors cars, nor will they ever be. I'm not saving my car for fear of depreciation.

I put on between 17k and 19k per year and have a lifetime average right at 20mpg. Can I afford premium fuel? Certainly. Will I notice a difference if I use it? Most certainly not, as I've ran it several times.
 

Darkane

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And again, who said anything about not being able to afford premium fuel?



Yep...you get it. If I decide to go to the strip or track, I'll put 93 octane in a few days prior. Otherwise, it's like buying extra cable channels that you'll never watch.



I've never understood driving a cheap economy car over a mustang for your daily driver. I bought my mustang to drive...and drive I do. I enjoy every second of it. I actually feel sorry for those that feel the need to save the mustang for non rainy weekends. These aren't collectors cars, nor will they ever be. I'm not saving my car for fear of depreciation.

I put on between 17k and 19k per year and have a lifetime average right at 20mpg. Can I afford premium fuel? Certainly. Will I notice a difference if I use it? Most certainly not, as I've ran it several times.
That's totally fair, especially if you don't require additional utility or awd etc.

Drive it, that's what it was built for.
 

Taneras

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Who said anything about not being able to "afford" 93 octane?

A few thing for you to consider...

1) 87 is the recommended fuel per the manual.
2) The power difference is less than 10hp. It's small enough that you cannot feel the difference on the street.
3) With a price delta of 0.50 per gallon, I save $450 per year on fuel. Thy my friend is enough to cover most of my insurance.
4) 93 octane will not make your 5.0 run any smoother, cleaner or better. It will not provide any benefit or protection outside of squeaking out the last 10hp Ford enables by adding a small bump in timing.

If someone approached you and told you how to save $450 a year by changing something in your life that is unnoticeable, something that will have no affect on anything you do....would you ignore and mock them?

Or you could think of it this way...What if when you bought your mustang Ford said...hey, for an extra $40/month...we can give you an extra 10hp. The kicker is, this $40/month lasts the life of the vehicle. How much is that 10hp worth? To me, it's sure as hell not worth $40/month for the next 10+ years.



Work a whole lot better at what? If you can't feel the difference between 87 and 93, you sure as hell won't be able to notice a difference between 87 and 91.
I'm not surprised Ford recommends the lower hp fuel on the car they're contractually obligated to warranty. The power difference between 87 and 93 is around 8-10rwhp, a bit more in the mid range. 91 is a lot closer, its probably 3-4rwhp off at peak power.

Assuming you're getting roughly what the 5.0's "Combined" (19 mpg) mpg rating is, in order to save $450 a year saving 50 cents a gallon you'd need to drive almost 18,000 miles a year. Is that about right? That's about 35% above the average. Assuming no fuel economy difference your average driver is looking at $340. It's hard to test in the city, but I have tested this on long trips, and I get between 1.1 and 1.4 more mpg with 93 than I do 87. Going off local prices (1.90 for 87 and 2.40 for 93), rounding down to 1 mpg, and assuming roughly the same gains in the city, the price difference between 93 and 87 octane driving 13,000 miles in a year (average) is drops down to $260 a year or about $21 a month.

No doubt the horsepower difference is minimal, but so is the cost.

I'll pay ~260 a year for 8-10 peak rwhp and a tad more in the mid range. But I can understand why some people wouldn't want to. It's all down to personal preference.

To those saying he's too cheap to buy 87, stop being insecure that someone is choosing something different than you. He has his reasons. His reasons might not matter to you, so what. Buy whichever you want. I think a case could be made for either choice.
 

Taneras

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I bought my mustang to drive...and drive I do. I enjoy every second of it. I actually feel sorry for those that feel the need to save the mustang for non rainy weekends. These aren't collectors cars, nor will they ever be. I'm not saving my car for fear of depreciation.
Most people do that to keep the paint in pristine condition not because they're worried about resell, but because they love their car and want it looking as new as possible.

Speaking as someone who wishes he could save his car for the weekend, and deeply cares about his paint, rain really throws you a curve ball. There's a lot of extra attention that goes into cleaning a car that's gone through the rain and even then you'll still get micro-scratches.

Maybe my next car will be a garage queen :)
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