Is 93 Octane worth the cost for towing?

endoracing · #1 Wed, June 8th, 2011, 06:28 AM

I apologize if this has been asked but I tried searching and couldn't find anything.

I just tried the canned 93 octane performance tune and it has been working really well. I am wondering if there is enough of a performance gain in a custom tune between 87 octane and 93 octane to get a 93 custom towing tune.

I have the 4.6L engine and we have a 26 ft camper that weighs around 5000 lbs. I also carry a motorcycle, generator, gas cans and some other track goodies in the bed sometimes while towing so overall weight gets up there a bit (but still within the gross axle weights). The 4.6L leaves a bit to be desired in the power area so I am looking for any increase I can get. I have been using the canned 87 tow tune as a daily driver as well as towing until I figure out what custom ones I want.

My thoughts are to get a custom 87 performance for a daily driver with fuel efficiency in mind. Then also a custom 93 tow tune and keep the stock 87 tow tune. Then possibly down the road get a custom 87 tow tune if I decide that I want to be able to run 87 and the canned isn't cutting it. For now if the extra couple bucks per tank will allow my truck to pull better it would be well worth it to me.

So that is the background, my overall question would be is 93 octane worth the extra fuel cost when properly tuned for it? In terms of towing power but I guess also would it help with efficiency at all?

Love the programer so far, Thanks!
Jeff

***88Racing*** · #2 Thu, June 9th, 2011, 10:44 AM

You may get better mileage but then again maybe not....

endoracing · #3 Thu, June 9th, 2011, 12:53 PM

I'm more curious about the power. If it is going to be on par with 87 then it's not worth the money to me. If it will let me squeeze out a few extra horsepower then it would be.

***Power Hungry*** · #4 Thu, June 9th, 2011, 01:14 PM

In most cases, a 93 Tow tune is not worth the expense unless all you ever run is 93. Because we have to make the Tow tunes somewhat less aggressive than a Performance tune in both engine and transmission adjustments, the gain between 87 and 93 are not going to be as impressive when towing. If it were me, I'd stick with the 87 Towing and go with that.

I hop[e this helps.

endoracing · #5 Thu, June 9th, 2011, 06:29 PM

Helps a bunch, thanks!

DarrenWS6 · #6 Tue, July 5th, 2011, 05:12 PM

Any one use 93 for daily driving and notice any economical improvements with it when babying the throttle?

runJD · #7 Fri, July 22nd, 2011, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarrenWS6

Any one use 93 for daily driving and notice any economical improvements with it when babying the throttle?

Yeah i tested it out between 87 and 93 octanes in my 4.6 a while back and I found a 2mpg increase in economy with 93. At those prices that worked out to a $.01 saving per mile plus better power!

The proportion of increase in mpg exceeds that of the increase in cost per gallon in my case.

***Power Hungry*** · #8 Fri, July 22nd, 2011, 10:29 PM

That's what it really comes down to... cost per mile. On our Expy, we saw some increase in MPG with 91, but the cost per mile was still lower than what we'd achieve with 87, so 87 is all we run. If prices dropped back down to sub $3.00 prices, then it might be worthwhile to run 91.