My lifetime mpg is about 15mpg. That's converting from metric (liters per 100kms). But it ranges from 9mpg with trailer, to 25 mpg driving on flat road with no a/c. Seems like the ratings aren't very real world accurate.

 

They never have been. The EPA drive cycle bears little resemblance to the way real people drive and they rely on the manufacturer to test their vehicles against those fantasy standards. Sort of like asking the fox to provide a count of the number of chicken in the hen house.

 

True that. However they've been getting better after they learned how the manufacturers were gaming the system. The manufacturers will probably figured out a few more games, and the EPA will have to adjust some more. I guess it's sort of a game of cat-and-mouse, but I think the estimated mileage numbers have gotten a lot closer to reality the last couple of years.

 

If you make a lot of short hops, a lot of cold starts.... With any modern engine, you're gonna get lousy fuel economy.

I don't know if anybody has noticed but we don't have chokes on our cars anymore. The computer decides when to feed more fuel to beast and how much based on its operating temperature.

From a cold start to Closed Loop can take quite a while -- 10 Minutes to a half hour or more. It's why you tend to get worse mileage in colder weather.

If you wait until your car gets up to its operating temperature of 195 degrees, you're gonna get awful close to what the EPA sticker says.

On my way back from Michigan in my 2013 F150 with the Coyote V8, I was not taking it easy. Not unusual for me to go several miles at over 90. Made the wife nervous -- Which is uncool. But I was NOT driving for fuel economy.

Plus, I have a cap on the bed (at least 250lbs) and was loaded down with various and sundry items involved from moving from our summer place back down here in Florida. Didn't want to, had to.

But anyway, I've done this several times and I average close to 21MPG over the 1,400 mile trip.

Just for S's and G's I drove for fuel economy on a 150 mile trip one time and I got 23 MPG on the Freeway. Annoyed a lot of people on I 75 but..... So what?

Burn 87 Octane. It's what your vehicle is engineered to do. A lot of times, people that are burning 93 octane fuels get worse fuel economy because the fuel is designed to prevent engine knock, NOT to give you more power or better fuel economy. If your vehicle won't run on what it's designed for (87 octane) you need to take it in.

A lot of higher octane fuels are loaded down with Ethanol and the EcoBeast doesn't like ethanol. Keep that in mind.

 

I wonder if the EPA driving cycle is done with ethanol-free gas. I do get better mileage when I'm in Oklahoma, I'm assuming because I fill up with ethanol-free fuel. However, it's just as likely caused by their lower speed limits. In Texas, the interstates mostly have 70 and 75 mph limits and everyone does 5 over the limit.

 

My Raptor runs just fine on 87 with 10% ethanol.
Currently I have a tankful of 92 non-oxygenated fuel and it seems no different and fuel economy is roughly the same..
So do I pay
$2.19 a gallon for 87 e10
--or--
$2.69 a gallon for 92 e0
???????????

 

Actually, the Eco-boost engines are DESIGNED to run on premium and will only produce their manufacturer rated horsepower and torque when doing so. The can, however, run just fine on 89 or 87 octane gas since the computer monitors the knock sensors and retards the timing and controls the boost rate to prevent the engine from knocking. The engine runs cooler and quietly when burning 87 octane. It just won't deliver it's full rated output. But who cares? How much time do you spend with your right foot in the floor mat? On the interstate 350 horsepower doesn't feel much different than 375 horsepower.

 

On I-75, if you're only doing 75 MPH, they'll blow you off the road. 4cereal

I routinely run 80 MPH on I-75. And, I swear to Budweiser, I get better MPG at 80 MPH than at 70 MPH.

I came back from Bay Pines yesterday on I-75, was doing 78-79 MPH and got passed like I was standing still on several occasions.

Back in the late 60's, early 70's, the speed limit was 70 MPH and those POS cars did just fine with no overdrive tranny, tires that were built on a wing and a prayer (Sears first introduced the Michelin Radial around then and the usual troglodytes were predicting doom for anybody that ran them.), and suspensions that defied geometry.

Now days, we have the very best of all the technology and the Speed Limit is still 70 MPH. So you got Ma and Pa Kettle sitting in the left lane at 69 MPH and won't budge. THAT is what gets people killed. Knuckleheads get impatient with them and blow by them on the Right side of the road and then speed like butt-heads because they're in a pissy mood.

Slow driving gets more people killed than fast driving, IMHO. Maybe indirectly as opposed to directly but it's still proximate cause.

States won't increase Speed Limits because of bad drivers that won't get up to Highway speed, not because it's unsafe.

end rant

 

Can you imagine if they raised the speed limit to what the road can safely accommodate? Let's say 85-90 mph.

There's grandpa in his Cadillac in the left lane with the cruise set for 89 (just to be safe, you know). Wearing his best post-cataract eyeglasses.

"Well, gosh, mother. Are those brake lights I see up ahead"...WHAM! Tinkle..Tinkle..BOOM!

Speed limits seem to be set to accommodate the typical skill levels of the drivers not the capabilities of the vehicles.

 

You are absolutely correct..... The EcoBeast achieves its highest HP and torque numbers on Premium fuel.

NOT higher octane fuel. There is a difference.

https://www.fuelfreedom.org/what-is-octane/

Quote:

And since 87 is the standard octane rating for the fuel most engines use today, the 89 and 93 octane rated fuels are only different because they can handle more heat and pressure before igniting on their own. This, in turn, means they can run in performance engines designed to use higher compression ratios. It also means that while higher octane fuels won’t hurt engines designed to run on 87 octane fuel, they won’t provide a benefit either.

And there you have it. Octane is simply a measure of how much heat and pressure a fuel can withstand before exploding,

 

What would that difference be? Your link is to a page that explains what the octane rating of a gasoline means.

PREMIUM is a marketing label. The same as Mid-Grade and Regular.

In different parts of the country they use different definitions of those words. The octane numbers are a scientific measurement of the anti-knock ability of a particular fuel blend. A fuel with an octane rating of 87, 89, or 93 (or even 100 octane aviation gas) has the same anti-knock characteristics whether its sold in Maine or California.

 

I think what he means is Top Tier Gasoline

Home | Top Tier Gas

From their FAQ page;

Is TOP TIER™ only for premium gasoline?

No. TOP TIER™ fuel marketers use TOP TIER™ for all octane grades of gasoline sold at their stations. So all grades provide enhanced cleaning power.

 

Incorrect.

Ford says for best performance, you need BOTH, premium fuel and 91 octane or higher.

This is pulled DIRECTLY from the manual:

Your vehicle is designed to operate on regular unleaded gasoline with a minimum pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87.
Some fuel stations, particularly those in high altitude areas, offer fuels posted as regular unleaded gasoline with an octane rating below 87. We do not recommend these fuels.
For best overall vehicle and engine performance, premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The performance gained by using premium fuel is most noticeable in hot weather as well as other conditions

 

The Premium label refers to the octane level. It has nothing to do if the fuel is Top Tier or not. It also doesn't change the energy level in the fuel. You guys are getting wrapped around the turbo here.

Ford's manual has changed over the years. Here's the quote from the 2016 manual on page 175 "For vehicles with EcoBoost engines, to provide improved performance, we recommend premium fuel for severe duty usage such as trailer tow."

If our engines got top performance under normal conditions using premium fuel, there would be lots of folks here seeing MPG improvements with premium (aka higher octane) fuel. That's not the case...and I've been running Premium fuel since last December. Ford's manual suggests there are some differences, but only when you reach the limits. Higher octane is more about limiting pre-detonation than adding power.

So if you dyno'd your truck with different octane levels would you see a power increase? Maybe...but I want to see it to believe it. I'm willing to bet you won't see enough difference to show a definitive advantage.

 

Yep, my quote was from my 2017 manual....so that has changed.

It's all speculation, but since you know what octane is and does, then for 2017 it makes sense that premium higher octane fuel would provide more power. In 2017 they increased HP and torque for the same displacement motor... which most likely means a higher compression ratio or boost level (conditions where higher octane helps prevent pre-detonation).

Actually, the 2016 manual also states:
For best overall vehicle and engine performance, premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The performance gained by using premium fuel is most noticeable in hot weather as well as other conditions, for example when towing a trailer.