Can you tell the different between 87 and 93 octane?

[Nickyweg]

So I was reading the manual and see the V8 can run on 87 or 93 octane. Can you easily tell the difference between the two?

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[Helios]

The difference from 91 to 94 octane for me was, a huge improvement. Can only imagine what 87 to 93 do
When i was running on 91 i could only do even-even vs my cousin with stage 1+ golf r 2019, and swapping to 94 i get so much throttle input and more performance that i jump in front before i shift second gear and only pull and pull the more we keep going. The only way he can beat me when im on 94 is if he uses his launch control off the line (dsg transmission) then its hard for me to catch up before we reach 400 meters distance.

So yes, its not in your head it does really pull stronger. In fact the 460 hp rating is only on 93+

 

[jrsimon27]

yes its a lot better to use 93oct bump on power you will feel it and you will get better fuel economy

 

[Helios]

Its made to run on 93+ from factory, so unless you try to cut power to get more traction you can uses the best fuel avail to your pump.

 

[Briebee72]

OH my god here we go again with the gas.... is there a bot creating these threads once a week or something?

 

[526 HRSE]

I feel a difference on corn

 

[Troutwrangler]

I put a tank of 87 non-ethanol in mine during a road trip to Reno, Nevada. Knocked and pinged like crazy when getting on the throttle, even just for normal driving in town throttle. That was the only tank of 87 I've ever put through it. Terrible performance. Who knows, maybe it had some water in it, as I've read where others have no issues running it. I've run 93 non-ethanol religiously, before and after that one tank of 87. YMMV.

 

[Dfeeds]

I'll get a little technical to help answer this before the 87 advocates come in saying it's imperceptible or the peak HP numbers aren't far off.

The 12:1 compression the gen 3 uses isn't a static number. Advance the cam = more compression, retard the cam = less compression. More compression means more oomph but higher compression needs higher octane to prevent a misfire. This smaller displacement engine relies on the compression to get more low end torque. However, you actually want to retard the cam timing at high rpms. This is why people building an engine had to choose between low end street warrior or a top end 1/4 mile time chaser. Variable cam timing enables us to have both, or use 87 octane.

The ecm basically runs a lot of cam retard to allow 87 to be used. So what you're losing by running 87 octane is your low end grunt. Your top end doesn't suffer as much, hence the relatively similar peak HP numbers. Now, unless you're allergic to acceleration, this is something that you're going to notice.

One thing to note is that you can't easily flip flop octane to compare. If you're running 93 and dump in 87 you'll probably notice right away because the engine will knock and the ecm will immediately adjust. If you're running 87 and step up to 93 then it may take a little bit before the ecm realizes it can ramp things up a bit.

Another side note is that 93 e10 will have slightly better performance than 93 e0 (more notably on hotter days). You will get better gas mileage with the non ethanol blend, because ethanol has less energy per gallon than gasoline, but that's not an indicator of power to the wheels.

 

[Troutwrangler]

I'll get a little technical to help answer this before the 87 advocates come in saying it's imperceptible or the peak HP numbers aren't far off.

The 12:1 compression the gen 3 uses isn't a static number. Advance the cam = more compression, retard the cam = less compression. More compression means more oomph but higher compression needs higher octane to prevent a misfire. This smaller displacement engine relies on the compression to get more low end torque. However, you actually want to retard the cam timing at high rpms. This is why people building an engine had to choose between low end street warrior or a top end 1/4 mile time chaser. Variable cam timing enables us to have both, or use 87 octane.

The ecm basically runs a lot of cam retard to allow 87 to be used. So what you're losing by running 87 octane is your low end grunt. Your top end doesn't suffer as much, hence the relatively similar peak HP numbers. Now, unless you're allergic to acceleration, this is something that you're going to notice.

One thing to note is that you can't easily flip flop octane to compare. If you're running 93 and dump in 87 you'll probably notice right away because the engine will knock and the ecm will immediately adjust. If you're running 87 and step up to 93 then it may take a little bit before the ecm realizes it can ramp things up a bit.

Another side note is that 93 e10 will have slightly better performance than 93 e0 (more notably on hotter days). You will get better gas mileage with the non ethanol blend, because ethanol has less energy per gallon than gasoline, but that's not an indicator of power to the wheels.

Good info!

 

[Briebee72]

Nature designed your body to run off water. Dose it get better performance form monster/ redbull/ coffee? sure it does but will drinking water mess you up and cause you to break down and feel like crap through the whole day ... NO!

Here let me fast track this thread

93 is better no 87 is just fine

There are studys that show 93 is a waste... they are lies

Ford designed the car too...they are idiots.

Are you a gas expert ? no but I can google and cut and paste to prove im right.

blah blah compression... blah blah timing blah blah top tier..oh hell here we go with top tier

its just marketing...I can feel the difference.

no really its a consortium of gas companies that just want you to buy their over priced gas... no really i can feel the difference.

General motors sucks fords best after saying ford engineers are idiots

well general motors owns the trademark for top tier... they do? yes? its marketing.. well i can feel the difference.

They can have my 93 when they pry it from my cold dead hands.

DID I miss anything? can we fast track this and not have the 400th thread on 87 vs 93

 

[LxMike]

Nature designed your body to run off water. Dose it get better performance form monster/ redbull/ coffee? sure it does but will drinking water mess you up and cause you to break down and feel like crap through the whole day ... NO!

Here let me fast track this thread

93 is better no 87 is just fine

There are studys that show 93 is a waste... they are lies

Ford designed the car too...they are idiots.

Are you a gas expert ? no but I can google and cut and paste to prove im right.

blah blah compression... blah blah timing blah blah top tier..oh hell here we go with top tier

its just marketing...I can feel the difference.

no really its a consortium of gas companies that just want you to buy their over priced gas... no really i can feel the difference.

General motors sucks fords best after saying ford engineers are idiots

well general motors owns the trademark for top tier... they do? yes? its marketing.. well i can feel the difference.

They can have my 93 when they pry it from my cold dead hands.

DID I miss anything? can we fast track this and not have the 400th thread on 87 vs 93

Agreed! Could go for some other topics also.. A simple search would answer there question but there situation is "different"

 

[cosmo73]

I’m usually not one of those guys but in all seriousness, if you are even contemplating using 87 octane then buy a Camry.

 

[Tseg]

93 octane ignites more uniformly than 87 octane. This is important for some engines and makes no difference for others. A simple test of whether 87 is good enough is to floor the car up a steep hill. If there is no knocking or other strange sounds or feel, 87 is just fine. Altitude will also play into the requirement.

 

[Bikeman315]

Come on Nick, I know how much you’re looking forward to your new Mustang but with this thread you are now in a position to become one of “those” people. Do a search, read the threads and decide what’s best for you.

 

[Excel]

both taste horrible

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