Premium vs Regular Fuel

[PrincipalDan]

Actually in January I rented a Regal Sportback from Hertz to go from Clearwater to Orlando and back twice over a weekend. However saying that, now upon reflection I don't think it had the 2.0T. I do know that when I put my foot into it the thing moved its a$$ hard, quicker than my 2016 Regal Turbo.

And since I have your attention a question if you don't mind. I'm thinking of getting the Trifecata Performance upgrade for my 2018 TourX Essence, thoughts?

I'm almost convinced to get it, I've been asking around but would like some more opinions.

Thanks.

All the Sportbacks were 2.0T unless it was a GS model. BTW all FWD Sportbacks had the 9 speed auto (which from an acceleration/smoothness perspective is superior to the 8 speed IMHO.

 

[L J]

Actually in January I rented a Regal Sportback from Hertz to go from Clearwater to Orlando and back twice over a weekend. However saying that, now upon reflection I don't think it had the 2.0T. I do know that when I put my foot into it the thing moved its a$$ hard, quicker than my 2016 Regal Turbo.

And since I have your attention a question if you don't mind. I'm thinking of getting the Trifecata Performance upgrade for my 2018 TourX Essence, thoughts?

I'm almost convinced to get it, I've been asking around but would like some more opinions.

Thanks.

Never overly impressed with the twist on that V6.
My flat 6's have better torque curve at low rpms then it does.

 

[L J]

Actually in January I rented a Regal Sportback from Hertz to go from Clearwater to Orlando and back twice over a weekend. However saying that, now upon reflection I don't think it had the 2.0T. I do know that when I put my foot into it the thing moved its a$$ hard, quicker than my 2016 Regal Turbo.

And since I have your attention a question if you don't mind. I'm thinking of getting the Trifecata Performance upgrade for my 2018 TourX Essence, thoughts?

I'm almost convinced to get it, I've been asking around but would like some more opinions.

Thanks.

No doubt you burned premium in that rental.

 

[shs92645]

I have always followed the owners manual for fuel recommendations and for maintenance. I figure that since they designed and built the vehicle that they should know best. As far as fuel is concerned, manuals will say required or recommended in which case let the owner decide.
I’ve had many turbo 4 engines and always used 93 octane for optimum performance and mileage. My GS runs on 87 which puts a smile on my face.

 

[L J]

I have always followed the owners manual for fuel recommendations and for maintenance. I figure that since they designed and built the vehicle that they should know best. As far as fuel is concerned, manuals will say required or recommended in which case let the owner decide.
I’ve had many turbo 4 engines and always used 93 octane for optimum performance and mileage. My GS runs on 87 which puts a smile on my face.

Yeah with crazy spread in price between grades it makes 87 easy to burn, if car does not require prem.
Have been burning 87 in G8's LS3 and like Mikey it seems to like whatever I feed it. Even on 87 it probably still has over 400 horses, so even shifting early to 6th to improve mileage is standard procedure.
Been running regular now in Regal's turbo'ed LTG and it runs fine, but like a woman it likes expensive stuff.

 

[PeterGunn]

No doubt you burned premium in that rental.

Of course... 😎

 

[BenD]

Octane at the beginning is made to retards ignition during the compression process. Higher octane is, more time it takes (compression) to ignite the fuel. Fuel is a mix of heptane and isooctane. Heptane is highly flammable while isooctane is not.

So a fuel with a 92 octane grade mean 92% of Heptane and 18% of isooctane. And octane is to avoid knocking. Today’s car timing adjustment is really more a accurate than before and engine are equipped with knocking sensor to correct the pre-ignition or late ignition.

Temperature can made a different a bit because at cold temperature low octane fuel is more easy to ignite due to higher heptane % and very hot Weather also requires less heptane because fuel is vaporized more easily. But again todays car computers are calculating real time specifically and adjustments to meet temperature, humidity, oxygen and barometric pressure. My opinion is that using the wrong grade of fuel will do damages to the engine in a long term, if we were in the 70’s, I would say don’t use the wrong octane level that’s it!

As long that the car is on guarantee, follow manufacturers recommendations. It’s it is written “recommendation” this not mandatory but I’ll still follow the manufacturer.

 

[L J]

I found this article very interesting. Our turbo engine is more like the Honda's engine then the other engine's, and it seems to not give a dam about high octane fuel.
PS No doubt our butt dyno testing is much more accurate then C&D measurements could ever be.

Is Premium Gas Worth It? We Test High Octane on 4 Popular Vehicles

We tested higher octane fuel than manufacturers require on the Honda CR-V, BMW M5, Ford F-150, and Dodge Charger to see if it impacted acceleration or MPG.

www.caranddriver.com

 

[L J]

I found this article very interesting. Our turbo engine is more like the Honda's engine then the other engine's, and it seems to not give a dam about high octane fuel.
PS No doubt our butt dyno testing is much more accurate then C&D measurements could ever be.

Is Premium Gas Worth It? We Test High Octane on 4 Popular Vehicles

We tested higher octane fuel than manufacturers require on the Honda CR-V, BMW M5, Ford F-150, and Dodge Charger to see if it impacted acceleration or MPG.

www.caranddriver.com

I think the last sentence from the Ford rep. about damaging engine with lower octane fuel is very telling, although it turns his truck into a slug. I guess if you dont want to lose race to it, you should insist they burn regular.

 

[L J]

All you guys who are very emotional about using premium to prevent damage and to make your car boy racer fast, you probably should ignore this article.
Although if you drive a Ford truck with the top dog engine, and you want it to race a full sized GM truck with a 4 cyl, it might keep you from being embarrassed.

 

[adam728]

And since I have your attention a question if you don't mind. I'm thinking of getting the Trifecata Performance upgrade for my 2018 TourX Essence, thoughts?

I'm almost convinced to get it, I've been asking around but would like some more opinions.

Thanks.

I love the tune. Getting rid of start/stop was great. I HATE the GM system. My wife's VW is much better in the way it acts. And has an off button!

The pedal feels so much better, more linear. Stock just seemed at times to do "nothing...nothing....nothing....fine I'll shift down to 7th" through like half the travel. Still far from being jumpy, jerky, or touchy. I'd say it's less aggressive than most Chrysler stuff, and far less than anything in a "sport" mode (like my wife's VW, which is essentially WOT at 1/2 throttle when in sport).

Transmission performance is better, as it doesn't try to upshift and hold the highest gear possible as much. It does seem to carry rpm higher than I think it should at light/mid throttle, but that's just from looking at the tach, not feel/noise/vibes.

Power is awesome, above 50 mph. It's improved everywhere, but torque limited to probably not much more than stock in 1st and 2nd. Then it hits 3rd, boost climbs another 4-5 psi, and it pulls very nicely. Makes it feel slow in the lower gears, even though they are still an improvement. Passing is awesome. Makes me lust for a tune with 1st and 2nd less handicapped. Seriously, it pulls noticeably harder in 3rd than 2nd despite the gearing disadvantage. So how well could 2nd pull if not neutered?

Anyway, I tried to wait for the black Friday sale, but lost patience in June. Still WAY worth it even at full price. The car should have come this way.

 

[L J]

I love the tune. Getting rid of start/stop was great. I HATE the GM system. My wife's VW is much better in the way it acts. And has an off button!

The pedal feels so much better, more linear. Stock just seemed at times to do "nothing...nothing....nothing....fine I'll shift down to 7th" through like half the travel. Still far from being jumpy, jerky, or touchy. I'd say it's less aggressive than most Chrysler stuff, and far less than anything in a "sport" mode (like my wife's VW, which is essentially WOT at 1/2 throttle when in sport).

Transmission performance is better, as it doesn't try to upshift and hold the highest gear possible as much. It does seem to carry rpm higher than I think it should at light/mid throttle, but that's just from looking at the tach, not feel/noise/vibes.

Power is awesome, above 50 mph. It's improved everywhere, but torque limited to probably not much more than stock in 1st and 2nd. Then it hits 3rd, boost climbs another 4-5 psi, and it pulls very nicely. Makes it feel slow in the lower gears, even though they are still an improvement. Passing is awesome. Makes me lust for a tune with 1st and 2nd less handicapped. Seriously, it pulls noticeably harder in 3rd than 2nd despite the gearing disadvantage. So how well could 2nd pull if not neutered?

Anyway, I tried to wait for the black Friday sale, but lost patience in June. Still WAY worth it even at full price. The car should have come this way.

Does the tune raise the speed limiter on white needle cars past 130 mph or lower the red needle car top speed to less then 160 mph?

 

[adam728]

All you guys who are very emotional about using premium to prevent damage and to make your car boy racer fast, you probably should ignore this article.
Although if you drive a Ford truck with the top dog engine, and you want it to race a full sized GM truck with a 4 cyl, it might keep you from being embarrassed.

The 4 cylinder Silverado isn't nearly as quick as a F150 with even the little 2.7 Ecoboost. 7.1 sec 0-60 vs Ford’s 6.3 sec. The bigger Ecoboost did it in 5.3 sec on premium, and still 5.9 sec on regular. And the 5.0 powered F150 is still in the 5's.

Talking smack is fun, but please use facts.

 

[L J]

The 4 cylinder Silverado isn't nearly as quick as a F150 with even the little 2.7 Ecoboost. 7.1 sec 0-60 vs Ford’s 6.3 sec. The bigger Ecoboost did it in 5.3 sec on premium, and still 5.9 sec on regular. And the 5.0 powered F150 is still in the 5's.

Talking smack is fun, but please use facts.

Top dog engine in Ford runs 16 second quarter on regular, did you even read the instrumented tests?

 

[adam728]

Does the tune raise the speed limiter on white needle cars past 130 mph or lower the red needle car top speed to less then 160 mph?

No idea. And please, show me your red needle hitting 160 mph.

For one, claimed 155 mph limiter due to tire spec. And your pdf you shared showed it topped at 155 mph in 6th and 7th gear.

And 2nd, there simply is not enough hp to push the car through the air to those speeds. Downhill with a tailwind? Maybe. But having taken my red needle to double the freeway speed limit a few times, it is a crawl of acceleration above 130 mph. Getting to even 150 mph would likely take good conditions, and minutes of buried throttle.

 

[adam728]

Top dog engine in Ford runs 16 second quarter on regular, did you even read the instrumented tests?

It went from 14.0 to 14.5 sec in the quarter mile in the article linked above. The 4 popper Silverado did a 15.3 sec in Motor Trend testing. So the Ford is still faster on regular.

 

[L J]

It went from 14.0 to 14.5 sec in the quarter mile in the article linked above. The 4 popper Silverado did a 15.3 sec in Motor Trend testing. So the Ford is still faster on regular.

Yeah I misread the numbers it was 0 to 100 mph that was 16 seconds on reg and 14.1 on premium, so the four cyl GM would probably beat it to 100 mph.

 

[L J]

Post in thread '180 speedo may not be unrealistic, with tune to remove speed limiter.' 180 speedo may not be unrealistic, with tune to remove speed limiter.

No idea. And please, show me your red needle hitting 160 mph.

For one, claimed 155 mph limiter due to tire spec. And your pdf you shared showed it topped at 155 mph in 6th and 7th gear.

And 2nd, there simply is not enough hp to push the car through the air to those speeds. Downhill with a tailwind? Maybe. But having taken my red needle to double the freeway speed limit a few times, it is a crawl of acceleration above 130 mph. Getting to even 150 mph would likely take good conditions, and minutes of buried throttle.

 

[L J]

Post in thread '180 speedo may not be unrealistic, with tune to remove speed limiter.' 180 speedo may not be unrealistic, with tune to remove speed limiter.
In this thread the Opel version got to 163 mph in video.

 

[L J]

No idea. And please, show me your red needle hitting 160 mph.

For one, claimed 155 mph limiter due to tire spec. And your pdf you shared showed it topped at 155 mph in 6th and 7th gear.

And 2nd, there simply is not enough hp to push the car through the air to those speeds. Downhill with a tailwind? Maybe. But having taken my red needle to double the freeway speed limit a few times, it is a crawl of acceleration above 130 mph. Getting to even 150 mph would likely take good conditions, and minutes of buried throttle.

So your car with tune has less top speed then stock Commander in C&D test on Chryslers high speed oval?