Please ..what fuel type recommended for Edge 2013

[EdgeLimit13]

hey guys,

 

would you please guys let me know what fuel type is better to use in my Ford Edge 2013..Unleaded or premium?

 

 

[JOEHIO]

Unleaded REGULAR, premium is blowing your money out the door.

[Dingo]

Actually, it's not. With the knock sensors and variable timing, the ecu automatically advances the timing with higher octane.

Edited February 24, 2013 by Dingo

[akirby]

Some new Fords can take advantage of Premium and advance the timing for better performance and fuel economy like Dingo said. If this is the case it will usually be mentioned in the owner's manual.

[Manish R. Patel]

I think the variance in octane is a good point but matters more so in the Edge with the ecoboost motor. In the 3.5 or 3.7 it might help with mileage perhaps, but you wont see any real increase in power.

[Dingo]

On my 3.7, the butt-dyno begs to differ.

[RJG]

I don't think the 3.5 will adapt to higher octane fuel. Unless it's going from 85 to 87. Also.....87 octane fuel is slightly more volatile than higher octane fuel, and while probably not measurable, contains slightly more BTU's of energy. So 87 has the potential to get better fuel economy. Hi octane fuel is fuel with additives that reduce it's volatility, so it's less likely to preignite (spark knock). Works better generally with a lot of compresson, boost, or timing. And I know the EB engines run on 87, but they for sure could benefit from some tuning to use higher octane fuel.

 

Having modified many Mustangs thru the past years, I know you can make more power by building the engine for hi octane and tuning for hi octane than you lose with the higher octane fuel. I just don't think our 3.5 Edge was originally tuned for hi octane. That's why I don't think it will take advantage of 91.

 

Our 3.5 Edge has a lot of compression, and I bet with a custom tune on a dyno, adding some timing, and leaning it a tad, it could then benefit from hi octane fuel.

[rickybobby]

My last vehicle was a Nissan Murano and the manual recommended premium (91), although it would accept lower octane fuel. You could really notice a difference in performance between premium vs. regular... unquestionably a difference in acceleration.

 

By contrast, just out of curiosity my last fillup for my Edge was premium. I could not notice any kind of difference in performance whatsoever. Needless to say I'll be going back to regular unleaded, which should make my wallet happier.

[Waldo]

I just don't think our 3.5 Edge was originally tuned for hi octane. That's why I don't think it will take advantage of 91.

 

Ford has advanced their calibrations recently so that they do take advantage of higher octane, even if they are tuned for 87 as the base. I don't know when that was introduced on the Edge, but I would guess it came with the 2011 retune. So 07-10 Edges probably don't take advantage of 91, but the 2011+ probably does.

[djgcue]

I use premium only in my 3.7l. Say what you want about wasting money on the extra octane, but working in the OEM auto industry for quite some time and seeing some of the R&D on engines, I will definitely continue to use 91.

 

Ignoring compression ratios, my general rule is 4cyl = regular, 6 cyl = mid or prem, 8+cyl = prem ... and than higher compression = higher octane

[akirby]

I use premium only in my 3.7l. Say what you want about wasting money on the extra octane, but working in the OEM auto industry for quite some time and seeing some of the R&D on engines, I will definitely continue to use 91

 

What did the R&D show you that led you to that conclusion? It's pretty straight forward - either the engine is calibrated to take advantage of higher octane by advancing the timing and/or using high compression or it's not. If it's not there is no benefit to premium.

[Manish R. Patel]

I'll do, for my first fill up, a tank of 87 in the Edge Sport, and thereafter I'll do a tank of premium. I need a little more time behind the wheel, its literally been 5 days. I want to test it out, see if there really is a difference that I can feel in the initial launch etc... when going from a stop or attempting to pass.

[Haz]

For model years 2011, 2012, and 2013, the Lincoln Product Portfolio documents for MKX say the 3.7L V-6 with Ti-VCT engine includes "Adaptive knock spark control system “learns” and adjusts to deliver optimum performance based on the fuel’s octane level", however, there is no statement to that effect in the MKX Owner's Guide.

 

While I do not find that statement in Ford Source Book entries that describe the same engine in the Edge Sport, I expect the adaptive performance capability that exists in the MKX's 3.7L V-6 also exists in the Edge Sport's 3.7L V-6.

 

Good luck!

[TheWizard]

Just a couple of clarifications...

 

- octane rating has nothing to do with how much energy (BTUs) is available, all grades of pure gasoline have exactly the same energy content. Likewise, all grades of E10 have exactly the same energy content although E10 has measurably less energy than pure gas (about 3.5%). You will get both more power and better mileage using pure gas than any ethanol mix.

 

- the only difference between grades of gas with different octane ratings is the resistance to pre-ignition and detonation (engine knock). In unbranded gas (Hess, RaceTrac, Circle K, etc.), there is no other difference and there is absolutely no reason to buy a higher octane grade than your engine is designed for. Branded gas (Shell, Exxon, BP, etc.) often has more additives in their "premium" grade than in their other gas. It will produce no more power or mileage (unless your engine is designed for it) but it might keep the fuel system a little cleaner.

 

- higher octane by itself will not produce more power. However, higher octane is more resistant to engine knock so using it allows some engine designs to increase their ignition timing advance thus producing more power. All modern engines have knock sensors that allow them to adjust timing based on measured engine knock. Most are designed only to retard the timing to protect the engine if a lower than expected octane fuel is used. Some, like a few Ford engines, are designed to increase the ignition timing to take advantage of higher octane fuel. The EcoBoost engine has this adaptive timing. The 3.5L V6 does not. Whether the 3.7L has it is debatable - Ford does not say it does but dyno tests on Mustangs with that engine show a few horsepower gain using 93 octane compared with using 87 octane. Even so, the difference is not enough to justify the extra cost - 30 cents per gallon (about 8 percent) higher cost to get about 2.2% more horsepower... not enough to even feel on the seat-of-the-pants dyno.

Edited March 27, 2013 by TheWizard

[JOEHIO]

Very well said, TheWizard. I've always used what octane the manufacturer reccomended.

[Waldo]

The 3.5L V6 does not. Whether the 3.7L has it is debatable

 

This is not true, or at least only partially true. The 3.5L V6 did not have that capability when it was released in 2007, but it does now. The changeover varies by model though, so I'm not sure which years of the Edge have it and which do not. My guess would be that it came in with the TiVCT version in the 2011.

[rickybobby]

My admittedly less scientific testing yielded no noticeable improvement on a couple of tanks of premium.

 

It was quite a stark contrast from my 09 Murano which recommended premium fuel and allowed you to accelerate noticeably faster than with regular.

 

I'll be sticking with regular unleaded...

[TheWizard]

This is not true, or at least only partially true. The 3.5L V6 did not have that capability when it was released in 2007, but it does now. The changeover varies by model though, so I'm not sure which years of the Edge have it and which do not. My guess would be that it came in with the TiVCT version in the 2011.

 

That could very well be the case... I haven't been following the 3.5L much lately but it certainly seems reasonable that the '11+ model would have that kind of engine mapping.

[NatG]

I ran a few tanks with higher octane. Some improvement in engine response: nothing really worthy of keeping up with premium gas, but it's there. Mileage, on the other hand, didn't seem any better. Seemed to go down a bit, but that might have had to do with giving the car more gas to feel the difference.

[oskar27]

I use regular and every third fillup I use premium.

 

But I think I will switch to regular cause never noticed any difference with the premium.

[PrinzII]

I've been running 89 on both Edges and will do premium once a month or (maybe) when I am on the highway. However, I do see a difference in how fast some brands burn than others. Chevron seems to go through like water.

[Eatinitup]

My 07 Edge SEL runs like complete crap if I put regular in my tank.. Trust me, I absolutely want to use regular becuase of the prices here in Orlando Florida but again, regular unleaded will cause my vehicle to run like crap at higher speeds and seems to tug a lot. I even took the vehicle in to have the tranny checked at 75k miles, the technicians said it was one of the cleanest tranny's they had ever seen at that mileage. The vehicle was bought used from a Ford Dealer, but the owner before me was the service manager at that Dealership and had been there for about 20yrs.

I started using Premium in my vehicle, no more rough shifting and it rides like glass at all times now. The MPG seems to be a tad better. On regular unleaded I fill up about every 4 days, but on Premium 6-7. I know I may sound crazy, but I've owned the vehicle for 2yrs now and drive the same route everyday and my habits don't change.. Facts are Facts!

[wannabang]

I know my gas cap says Ford recommends BP, which I refuse to use for obvious reasons. I've found that Shell burns well in my car, wherever they get their gas from. I always use whatever's cheapest. Figure I can clean the fuel system, but I can't hurt oil companies more than they hurt me.

[TheWizard]

My 07 Edge SEL runs like complete crap if I put regular in my tank.. Trust me, I absolutely want to use regular becuase of the prices here in Orlando Florida but again, regular unleaded will cause my vehicle to run like crap at higher speeds and seems to tug a lot. I even took the vehicle in to have the tranny checked at 75k miles, the technicians said it was one of the cleanest tranny's they had ever seen at that mileage. The vehicle was bought used from a Ford Dealer, but the owner before me was the service manager at that Dealership and had been there for about 20yrs.

 

I started using Premium in my vehicle, no more rough shifting and it rides like glass at all times now. The MPG seems to be a tad better. On regular unleaded I fill up about every 4 days, but on Premium 6-7. I know I may sound crazy, but I've owned the vehicle for 2yrs now and drive the same route everyday and my habits don't change.. Facts are Facts!

 

Feel free to believe whatever you want but having worked for the largest Shell joint venture in the southeast for nearly 15 years, I can tell you that your results indicate a problem with the PCM in your vehicle not managing ignition timing advance properly or the knock sensors malfunctioning. Because it is a fact that there is no more energy in "premium" (higher octane) gas than there is in regular (87 octane) and therefore a properly functioning engine designed for regular gas will not run better on higher octane gas.

 

However, running higher octane is probably cheaper than fixing the problem - at least until it gets worse - so I'd stick with it if I were you. Just don't assume it proves anything about octane in gas.

[Eatinitup]

Feel free to believe whatever you want but having worked for the largest Shell joint venture in the southeast for nearly 15 years, I can tell you that your results indicate a problem with the PCM in your vehicle not managing ignition timing advance properly or the knock sensors malfunctioning. Because it is a fact that there is no more energy in "premium" (higher octane) gas than there is in regular (87 octane) and therefore a properly functioning engine designed for regular gas will not run better on higher octane gas.

 

However, running higher octane is probably cheaper than fixing the problem - at least until it gets worse - so I'd stick with it if I were you. Just don't assume it proves anything about octane in gas.

 

I do trust you.. And that may be the case. But tell me.. How are the new 2013 Fusions putting down more power to the wheel on the DYNO machine with nothing more than Premium GAS. They have the videos and numbers to prove it as well. Regular Gas is putting down around 190 to the wheel and Premium in the 200's. Not sure of the number, but its very loow 200's.