jwillum Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 The Ecosport owner's manual states that the vehicle is designed to run on 87 octane fuel but that "For best overall vehicle and engine performance, premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended." I can see that with the 1.0 turbo but is Ford now recommending higher octane for the normally aspirated 2.0? The Focus manual just recommends 87 Octane and I assumed the engines were the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 It’s all in the tuning. If Ford tunes it to advance the timing as much as possible to take advantage of higher octane then you’ll see an improvement. If they don’t then there is no improvement beyond 87 octane. So yes it is possible to have different tuning with the same engine in different vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillum Posted April 17, 2018 Author Share Posted April 17, 2018 Thanks for the reply. I just took delivery yesterday and I know the dealer filled it with 87 but I may try some experimenting later on to see if I can see any difference.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil1336 Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 With the cost difference between Regular 87 Octane Gasoline an Premium 91 Octane Gasoline, there is not going to be any significant improvement in either performance or fuel economy IMO to justify the cost especially with a Vehicle powered by a 1 Ltr, 3 Cyl Engine, EcoBoost not withstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92merc Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 On my 2.0 EB Escape, I've tried all variations of ethanol and non-ethanol version of 87,89, and 91 octane. I noticed no power differences. And my best fuel economy was 87 ethanol. I was surprised 87 non-ethanol didn't do any better. I think I'd need a Livernois tuner to make a difference. I've been debating on doing just that and go with a 87 octane tune. Now on my BMW motorcycle, it requires 89. But I notice better mileage on 91 non-ethanol. So that's what I go with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlghtjr90 Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 To see the benefits of premium fuel, you will need to drive at least 2 hours ideally on all gears to get the engine and transmission adjusted to the premium fuel. The general trend for premium fuel is that if it's a small-displacement engine like 1.0L Ecoboost, you will see a noticeable benefit in fuel economy because the vehicle can use every bit of extra hp that comes with premium fuel and thus less load on the engine. For big-displacement engine like 3.0L twin-turbo in Lincoln, you will see a noticeable bump in power. The car is already overpowered as is, so the fuel economy will stay mostly the same, but all the extra power will make it even faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 Related to this discussion about the performance differences with different grades of gas, the average driver also has to consider the price differential. In this market, the difference between 87 > 89 octane is $0.34 and 89>93 adds another $0.20. Just two days ago 87 octane gas jumps $0.16 to $3.05 at the BP station and to $2.99 at Gulf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlghtjr90 Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 The most 'bang for the buck' will be staying with 87 octane. The extra ~50 cents you have to pay for premium fuel over regular fuel is not close to matching the fuel economy benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyina4x4 Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 (edited) I just picked up my 2018 Ecosport S a week ago I don't know what they filled it up with but I got 25mpg on that tank I filled up with 87 10% eth fuel and got 24.9mpg on that tank I filled up Friday night with 89 from Shell not sure if E10 or not, I drove 250 miles saturday and when parked last night the dash meter was at 29.1mpg, I paid 20 cents a gallon more for the 89 I think the 4mpg was well worth 20 cents Yes I realize this is pretty short term results as the vehicle only has 750 miles on it Edited March 17, 2019 by guyina4x4 add some stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyina4x4 Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 I now have 5100 miles on it does not really seem to matter what octane I put in it although it really seems to like Shell gas, I've been using the 87 with 10% and I'm thinking the warmer weather the last 2-3 weeks is the main difference but getting 31-32mpg consistantly. I drive 99% 2 lane highway 80-100 miles per day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 Some places switch to summer fuel blends which yield a slight improvement in mpg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 I try to stay away from ethanol blended fuels...even though modern fuel systems may handle it better, I do not like running ethanol blends in any of my vehicles or equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil1336 Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 My 2018 Ford EcoSport in Base "S" Trim with 14K miles driven in the past 15 months of ownership gets a combined City/Highway 26 MPG. For a Mini-CUV with a 1 Ltr. 3 Cyl Engine, IMO is sub-par to say the least, Of course I'm comparing this Vehicle with the one I traded in, a 2015 Ford C-Max that got 37 MPG City/Highway from day 1 until it was traded in. Much bigger, more comfortable, and vastly quicker Vehicle with (Zero) service issues. Depending on the price point of the 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid compared to what the C-Max ran, that might be this EcoSports replacement, the sooner the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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