Used Premium Fuel for the First Time

[SCADABronx]

I tried 93 octane a few months ago and never went back to 87. I was skeptical and not eager to spend upwards of $1 extra per gallon at some stations. However, the difference for me was noticeable. It's more than just a slight boost in power, similar to the OP, it just drives better. All I can imagine is that the ECU / TCU recognize the knock point shift vs crank angle and switches to an alternate parameter set. This would mean the difference is not just peak power, but power and torque curves and, potentially associated shift logic.

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[F OR D]

Nope its real...Ford tunes it for different octane ratings.
https://fordauthority.com/2021/05/2021-ford-bronco-horsepower-torque-ratings-revealed/

Its real, just very little especially considering how you use the bronco. 15hp and 5trq is close to nothing.

maybe if you do a real tune, exhaust, etc. it adds up and is worth it.

 

[amazingjason]

Next time have someone else fill er up and see if you can guess the octane.

Jason

 

[okccj]

Next time have someone else fill er up and see if you can guess the octane.

Jason

Good idea. Always worth challenging perceptions.

 

[MileHighCitizen]

Its real, just very little especially considering how you use the bronco. 15hp and 5trq is close to nothing.

maybe if you do a real tune, exhaust, etc. it adds up and is worth it.

A tune would help.... but an exhaust will do nothing without adding more air(increase boost pressure), fuel (increase flow rate), and also a tune after you add the other part$.

15 free HP is a lot, probably more than you'll get from anything besides a dyno-tune.

 

[F OR D]

A tune would help.... but an exhaust will do nothing without adding more air(increase boost pressure), fuel (increase flow rate), and also a tune after you add the other part$.

15 free HP is a lot, probably more than you'll get from anything besides a dyno-tune.

i disagree but that is me. 15hp is 4.5% more. i'm not drag racing, and hp is more than fine for most use cases. torque gain is probably a little more significant even though it is 1.2% seeing what the function is.

 

[‘21OBX]

I noticed no difference when I tried it on my wife’s 2.3. Was hoping to get even .5 mpg better on the freeway during a trip no effect on mileage . Didn’t seem any smoother to me but to be fair she did most of the driving.

 

[mountainbronco]

...and I could tell a real difference in the way the Bronco drove.
I'm not one to accelerate aggressively so that's not what I noticed, rather an overall smother drive. Sometimes in the past I would find just a bit of sputter when using 87 octane, nothing major but not an entirely smooth experience. After using 91 octane the drive is smoother, especially prior to the vehicle fully reaching temperature.

2022 BD
2.7 Auto, non-Sas

You, my friend, are totally correct. The impact if premium is clear. I too have 2.7 BD, and with 87 idle is rough and engine does not run smooth. But, with 91 or 93, everything is smooth AND I get 2 mpg better fuel economy. Now I do live at 7000 ft, so maybe at elevation this is magnified, but I can confirm.

 

[L8apex]

The Coyote V8 can detect higher grade gasoline and calibrates itself differently. No reason Ford couldn’t have used similar technology in these engines, although these days, just be thankful yours runs at all.

All modern cars have knock detection. Lower grade fuels will retard spark for more combustion stability. Higher octane allows for the spark to advance.

Some people are really sensitive to spark differences especially during extended idles.

 

[Jimmiee]

Octane Boost 105+?

Octane boosters contain metal ( ethyl cyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, MMT [CH3C5H4Mn(CO)3] and Ferrocene [Fe(C5H5)2]). Ford does not recommend using octane boosters because they are detrimental to O2 Sensors, Spark Plugs and the Cylinder Head Valves and Valve Guides.

 

[BroncoSarge]

Maybe I will try when/if gas prices go down. The way I drive, I don’t see the power benefit vs the cost.

 

[Billnchristy]

It's definitely real in ford ecoboost engines. My last employer was a tier 1/2 supplier and we had a lot of ford company cars. (Made the 2.7/3.0 head gaskets in fact). I filled the escape up with premium one day and was surprised at how much better it felt. I went back and read in the manual that the system does calibrate to the fuel used. It felt so much more alive with the premium.

 

[ericwmedic]

The ecoboost engines use several different factors to determine power output, and the biggest of which is OAR (Octane Advance Ratio). You want this ratio to be value to be -0.1, because that means that the vehicle isn't pulling off any timing for spark knock. This ratio is real-time adjusted and is extremely sensitive. You can and will lose a significant amount of power with bad fuel, extremely hot air, heat-soaked charge-air cooler, or a significant engine load.

Why do I tell you this? Because I wanted to. Also, because Ford ecoboost is one of the very rare instances of engines that run better with increased octane. Regular street vehicles, like our Broncs and the Fusion/Flex/Edge crowd have a sweet spot around 93 octane. High performance vehicles with a tune tend to love E85/93 octane blends up to E40. My Focus RS gains nearly 70hp and well over 100lb-ft running an E30 tune.

TLDR; The Bronco will run better and give better performance numbers (HP/tq) with higher octane (to a certain extent) with the factory ECU software, and responds exceedingly well to tunes that allow for higher octane E30-40 blends.

 

[Tilzbow]

The real big difference I noticed when reviewing the power charts was the fact the higher octane fuel moved the peak torque way lower in the RPM band. I saw this chart on the forum a few days ago but I can’t find it so I can’t share. For an off-road vehicle torque can be way important than HP in many situations.

 

[JJBadlands]

Premium fuel is good on the 2.3 as well including giving it an extra 20-25hp using 91+ octane. You can tell a difference and mpg is a little better too

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