Ford Performance Tune and 87 Octane Fuel

[n5tz2000]

All:

Sorry if I missed this but The ford performance tune information indicates that it requires 93/91 Octane to realize the performance gains. My question, is that optional ? Can you run 87 octane and the tune will adjust but you just won't see the HP and torque increases (as in the stock tune) or do you have to run 93/91 regardless.

Dennis

 

[UNBROKEN]

You can run whatever. The car will adjust you just won’t see the full power it’s capable of.

 

[n5tz2000]

Thanks UNBROKEN, that's what I thought I just wasn't sure.

Dennis

 

[GearHead_1]

If you are set on running 87 octane as your fuel choice, I'd probably tell you just to hold off on a "for horsepower" tune. Your vehicle (depending upon the tune) will likely adjust and run just fine but it's kind of like throwing good money at something knowing you won't receive the full benefit. The 400 HP that your engine is rated to have, gets to that number using premium fuel. Just my 2 cents.

 

[st8]

You can run whatever. The car will adjust you just won’t see the full power it’s capable of.

Where’s your support for this? My understanding is that 91 and above is absolutely required and 87 can cause issues. This was from FP themselves.

 

[UNBROKEN]

Where’s your support for this? My understanding is that 91 and above is absolutely required and 87 can cause issues. This was from FP themselves.

Because Ford did not remove the “auto octane” feature from the car with their tune. This has been discussed previously.

 

[st8]

Because Ford did not remove the “auto octane” feature from the car with their tune. This has been discussed previously.

I’m sure there is a fail safe feature in place but from what I read straight from the website and warranty page, premium is required. Sure, if you put 87 you will be okay. But running it all the time, not sure on that. Unless you think they’re just protecting themselves. But if it was truly auto octane, not sure why they’d emphasize premium fuel requirement.

Premium Fuel Requirement: Customers who purchase power upgrade packs, cold air kits with calibration, engine calibrations, or superchargers are required to use 91-octane or higher (“premium”) fuels at all times. Any failures associated with the non-use of premium fuel will be ineligible for warranty repair.

 

[UNBROKEN]

I’m sure there is a fail safe feature in place but from what I read straight from the website and warranty page, premium is required. Sure, if you put 87 you will be okay. But running it all the time, not sure on that. Unless you think they’re just protecting themselves. But if it was truly auto octane, not sure why they’d emphasize premium fuel requirement.

Premium Fuel Requirement: Customers who purchase power upgrade packs, cold air kits with calibration, engine calibrations, or superchargers are required to use 91-octane or higher (“premium”) fuels at all times. Any failures associated with the non-use of premium fuel will be ineligible for warranty repair.

Like I said…this has already been hashed out. It’s fine. Do it…don’t…I don’t care either way.

 

[st8]

Like I said…this has already been hashed out. It’s fine. Do it…don’t…I don’t care either way.

Where has this been discussed? I’ve been through this whole thread and don’t recall that discussion. Would love to read it.

 

[CareerFiremanGuy]

All:

Sorry if I missed this but The ford performance tune information indicates that it requires 93/91 Octane to realize the performance gains. My question, is that optional ? Can you run 87 octane and the tune will adjust but you just won't see the HP and torque increases (as in the stock tune) or do you have to run 93/91 regardless.

Dennis

Sorry you're not getting any help, but there's an underlying bias by a tiny minority on this forum who nonsensically oppose the FP tune.

Questions regarding what happens if you run Reg fuel on the FP tune is best left to the one's who actually developed the tune (see below) and not anyone here.

Ford Performance Techline (800) 367-3788

 

[Cruising68]

How would you know since you are blocking all of us?

I was 12 once too. You are acting like a child. Rarely do any of your posts not contain a childish dig at another member.

How about just get over yourself?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WFO-TSi]

I've been tuning my own cars/trucks/motorcycles and the occasional friend's vehicle (bourbon is currency) since 2004. The method Ford uses for keeping your engine in one piece while balancing performance is pretty bad ass!

I'll keep it simple:

Based on the average of how often your knock sensor is active (octane and fuel type/quality do matter) it blends between three tables, from mild to wild. I attached a picture where "wild" is on top and mild on the bottom. Even if you were running a fuel with an octane rating of infinity the MAX table will still dial back load (airflow/spark) based on the Manifold Charge Temperature (MCT). MCT is the air temp measured after the intercooler. As you can see a cooler MCT gets a higher load value...thus why an intercooler upgrade can improve performance even on a stock tune.

Additionally, ignition timing is constantly being adjusted based on knock activity. There are a lot of variables to this but keeping it simple I have also added a picture showing you how much spark the ECU can add or subtract on the fly...the ADD part is pretty bad ass.

I've never read and compared a stock tune to a FP tune, so I don't have scientific evidence that Ford didn't negate all of these strategies from their "Performance Tune". BUT, it would literally take more work to remove them than to just leave them and turn up the wick on the "max" and "normal" tables.

If anyone with the FP tune lives in southern LA and wants to know for sure, shoot me a message and we can put it to rest.

 

[FORZDA3]

It’s “LSPI” tables. I know you know, but…. Anyway, your screenshots are from the HPTuners software for those that may not know. The Cobb Tuning software tables are essentially the same. I have/use both so…

The fire starter guy is literally clueless. I’m sure I’m blocked, so if he reacts to this post…

 

[FORZDA3]

Where has this been discussed? I’ve been through this whole thread and don’t recall that discussion. Would love to read it.

Search is your friend. Check out “ford tune” and there’s lots of reading available. The fire starter guy is a narcissist, so you may not want to get involved.

 

[UNBROKEN]

I've been tuning my own cars/trucks/motorcycles and the occasional friend's vehicle (bourbon is currency) since 2004. The method Ford uses for keeping your engine in one piece while balancing performance is pretty bad ass!

I'll keep it simple:

Based on the average of how often your knock sensor is active (octane and fuel type/quality do matter) it blends between three tables, from mild to wild. I attached a picture where "wild" is on top and mild on the bottom. Even if you were running a fuel with an octane rating of infinity the MAX table will still dial back load (airflow/spark) based on the Manifold Charge Temperature (MCT). MCT is the air temp measured after the intercooler. As you can see a cooler MCT gets a higher load value...thus why an intercooler upgrade can improve performance even on a stock tune.

Additionally, ignition timing is constantly being adjusted based on knock activity. There are a lot of variables to this but keeping it simple I have also added a picture showing you how much spark the ECU can add or subtract on the fly...the ADD part is pretty bad ass.

I've never read and compared a stock tune to a FP tune, so I don't have scientific evidence that Ford didn't negate all of these strategies from their "Performance Tune". BUT, it would literally take more work to remove them than to just leave them and turn up the wick on the "max" and "normal" tables.

If anyone with the FP tune lives in southern LA and wants to know for sure, shoot me a message and we can put it to rest.

A very well known tuner for these cars has already dug into exactly what you’re talking about and found everything intact. Running 87 is fine. Thanks for taking the time to spell it out again though.

 

[st8]

Search is your friend. Check out “ford tune” and there’s lots of reading available. The fire starter guy is a narcissist, so you may not want to get involved.

Very true. I’ll take a look again

 

[agustinf150]

okay so im here a year later, theres a lot of no and yes and just want to know if having 87 oct will add hp

 

[UNBROKEN]

Of course running 87 will not add power. It will make less.

 

[GearHead_1]

If you're trying to get all of the power that is available running pump gas you want a fuel with either 93 or 91 octane rating. Which of the two that is, will be dependent upon your location/altitude and what the PREMIUM fuel is considered to be in your area.