Ford's EcoBoost Engines Don't Demand Premium Gas, But You Might Want To Use It Anyway
If you've been wondering how Ford's EcoBoost engines make max power on 87 octane, sorry to burst your bubble, but they don't. Sure, the manual for your F-150 with the EcoBoost 3.5 reads "Your vehicle operates on regular unleaded gasoline with a minimum pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87," but what the average user will probably focus on is the big blue box with the number 87 inside of it. It's easy to miss the fine print reading, "For best overall vehicle and engine performance, premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended."
Car and Driver tested an EcoBoost F-150 with both 87 and 93, and found that on 87, horsepower dropped from 380 to 360, resulting in a 0.6-second slower 0-60 time. The reason Ford can say your EcoBoost is designed around 87, yet premium is the only way the 2024 Mustang EcoBoost makes its full 315 hp, is thanks to the power of the asterisk …
https://www.jalopnik.com/1899452/ford-ecoboosts-dont-need-premium-fuel-reason-explained/
(photo credit: Ford Motor Company / Wikimedia Commons)
