Premium Fuel ?

[birddog2]

It appears that I am within a week or two of actually taking delivery of my 2021 Badlands and am curious what owners of BS with the 2.0L engine are deciding
about whether to use premium or regular gas.
If any one has experimented, I would be interested in what you might have decided as to the benefits, if any, of using premium over regular gas.

Sponsored

 

[MKohlman]

It appears that I am within a week or two of actually taking delivery of my 2021 Badlands and am curious what owners of BS with the 2.0L engine are deciding
about whether to use premium or regular gas.
If any one has experimented, I would be interested in what you might have decided as to the benefits, if any, of using premium over regular gas.

Ford does typically "program" its Ecoboost engines to take some advantage of premium fuel. A good overall discussion on the 2.0L in the Escape can be read here:

regular or premium fuel | 2013+ Ford Escape Forum

Personal observations with my Badlands with the 2.0L has been similar to many of the comments on the Escape thread. Best power and mileage I've seen so far is with 91 octane/no ethanol or 93 octane with up to 10% ethanol (93 octane/no ethanal doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference). My Badlands is a little more responsive and gets ~2 mpg better on the highway using that. But the differences in responsiveness are pretty subtle and while the MPG difference is definitely there if you are putting in premium fuel purely for the additional mileage, the cost savings is usually a wash (as premium costs more).

Having said all that for those that are less car-crazy (aka my spouse who really is the primary Badlands driver unless we road-trip) it will run all day on 89 octane just fine.

 

[bronco bill]

Ford does typically "program" its Ecoboost engines to take some advantage of premium fuel. A good overall discussion on the 2.0L in the Escape can be read here:

regular or premium fuel | 2013+ Ford Escape Forum

Personal observations with my Badlands with the 2.0L has been similar to many of the comments on the Escape thread. Best power and mileage I've seen so far is with 91 octane/no ethanol or 93 octane with up to 10% ethanol (93 octane/no ethanal doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference). My Badlands is a little more responsive and gets ~2 mpg better on the highway using that. But the differences in responsiveness are pretty subtle and while the MPG difference is definitely there if you are putting in premium fuel purely for the additional mileage, the cost savings is usually a wash (as premium costs more).

Having said all that for those that are less car-crazy (aka my spouse who really is the primary Badlands driver unless we road-trip) it will run all day on 89 octane just fine.

I have about 6,000 miles on my Badlands using

 

[birddog2]

Thanks, Michael.
Your comments and the link to Escape Forum comments was very helpful.
I asked because in a Mini- Cooper S the loss of performance with regular was very apparent.

 

[MKohlman]

Thanks, Michael.
Your comments and the link to Escape Forum comments was very helpful.
I asked because in a Mini- Cooper S the loss of performance with regular was very apparent.

Anytime.

FWIW, I've had a Fiesta ST with the 1.6L Ecoboost and the MP215 ECU upgrade for 7 years now and like the Mini, it is very noticeable, in both power and MPG if you feed it anything less than 91 octane (and unlike the Badlands, I can see better performance all the way up to 93). But that car is more tuned to take advantage of it. My Badlands 2.0L does seem to like more octane, but again it is less dramatic.

 

[RSH]

While the Sport will certainly run on 87 octane, for best performance Ford recommends premium.
I use premium in my Badlands, it doesn't cost that much more to use.

 

[Jrl]

It appears that I am within a week or two of actually taking delivery of my 2021 Badlands and am curious what owners of BS with the 2.0L engine are deciding
about whether to use premium or regular gas.
If any one has experimented, I would be interested in what you might have decided as to the benefits, if any, of using premium over regular gas.

Every third tank gets 91 ,seems to work for me for the last 30 years or so.

Sponsored