Premium Vs Regular

[Vintage Merlot]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

Using regular is kind of like sex....I'm living dangerously! And there is no rational answer....All I know is Vintage Merlot performs no matter what I put in her tank.

[redbirdsal]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

Most fillups I use half mid grade and half premium.
93 / 89 = 91 - saves a little cost over all

Been doing this for years

[04birdman]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

I burn premium. The last thing I need is engine problems caused by me trying to save a 30¢ per gallon.

my bird might be special..but if your only getting an average of 16 mpg...you may need a tune up....seven yrs...24k mi always avg over 20mpg...

[V8 Cat]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

If you are going to use it as a summer cruiser you are probably going to be in the under 5K per year club. Whick means about 250 gallons per year at about .30/gal upcharge from regular or $75.00 per year extra for the premium. If $75.00/year is a dealbreaker you should probably not buy any car as a summer cruiser.

"Hailbird" did the above calculations. If you are in the 5,000 mile catagory and cannot or don't want to pay the extra $.30 per gallon, you probably should not buy a performance/luxury auto where the factory states it is required in the owner manual. There are a few fast cars that don't require premium. May I suggest the Hyundai Sonata 2.0 turbo. It has 271HP and a 0 to 60 time of 6.2 seconds and runs on regular. I driven one, and it probably is faster than even the 280HP Tbirds.

[Rambird]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

Thanks to you all for your input. Will be buying a Bird for sure and will play the Octane Roulette Game and see which wins. Our gas is quite abit more expensive up here in the Great White North (wow just noticed it's after 6 and the world didn't end!!) so just wanted some weigh in on best octane-seems that any and all might do.
Not a conspiracy junkie but just maybe the "recommended higher octane rating" boils down to marketing Car Manufacturers + Oil Companies + Government ....just sayin!

[Larro]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

A better explanation might be Socialist government taxation run amok.

[5bird7]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

just ask race car drivers what their octane is in their race cars.

[V8 Cat]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

A better explanation might be Socialist government taxation run amok.

I don't believe that. We pay less than most of the rest of the world does for gas and have better roads. We are just spoiled.

[007Cruiser]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

Ford spent a lot of time and money designing and engineering these engines. Most of us spent considerable sums to buy our cars. Assuming that Ford knows more about their product than I do, my baby gets nothing but the recommended premium fuel. Put whatever you'd like in yours.

[bronzebird]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

[QUOTE=Rambird;437609]Thanks to you all for your input. Will be buying a Bird for sure and will play the Octane Roulette Game and see which wins. Our gas is quite abit more expensive up here in the Great White North (wow just noticed it's after 6 and the world didn't end!!) so just wanted some weigh in on best octane-seems that any and all might do.
Not a conspiracy junkie but just maybe the "recommended higher octane rating" boils down to marketing Car Manufacturers + Oil Companies + Government ....just sayin![/QUOTE

If the 3.9 Liter engine would run well on 87 octane, believe me the marketing folks at Ford would have jumped on that one quickly back in 200-2001 when they were formulating their ad campaigns... would have been a strong selling point back then.

My Bird (now gone to a new owner) never had anything but 91-93 in it and the new owner acquired it under the promise not to abuse it with anything less.

Bronzebird

[jayred1]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

Here's another way to look at it. As an engineer, I have a lot of experience with how engineering design occurs. Engineers will use statistical "guard-bands" to take into account variability in all the parts and differences in fluids, weather conditions, altitude, and a host of other variables. Guard-bands assure a safety margin beyond the worse case conditions. When a system (think the T-Bird) is used in standard everyday use, there is significant room for change (in this case octane). It is possible that some individuals may experience a noticeable difference (pinging, mpg, hp) with their driving habits, location, climate. I'm not an automotive engineer, but from what I've read there is very minimal risk in causing any damage to a car by using a "reasonable" grade of octane.

Personally, I've had four cars (most driven 100K+ miles) which recommend premium but I've always used mid-grade with no problems at all. Also, if you want to promote a car as "high performance", it might not be unusual for marketing to "encourage" a need for high octane. For example, the new Ford Taurus SHO suggests premium for maximum performance (hp) but says any grade is acceptable for use.

[Southern]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

"For example, the new Ford Taurus SHO suggests premium for maximum performance (hp) but says any grade is acceptable for use."

Of course.
That's what knock sensors and tunable ECUs will do for you.
The Tbird has both.

I use Premium.


Now I know, from experience, that we don't always have Premium available right after a hurricane.
So, when that happens, I would have no hesitation in filling her up with regular.
I know that it might only give me 270HP instead of 280 as it retards the timing automatically......but it won't hurt anything.

[My Raven]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

I really can't believe we are even discussing this or the thread is still debated ...

[Rondor]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

I don't know of any 3.9 engine with the compression of a race car either. To me the gig risk is Ethanol and it's pretty hard to avoid it today. I guess I would take 89 no ethanol over 93 ethanol any day

[HKS]

Re: Premium Vs Regular

You are right, my brain was not working. He must never pass cars on the interstate. And, puting in higher octane for storage may make sense since someone stated that octane rating deteriorates over time. This also explains why some one may have pinging and others not. Depends on how old the gasoline is.
HKS

HKS, that's exactly why I wondered why Roger would use reg on a highway trip and high test for normal driving. Not the other way around as you stated.