Premium fuel with the 2.7?

Yes and no.

Your engine won't advance timing beyond what is designed to do no matter what octane you're running. An engine designed to run at peak at 87 won't see any improvement ruining 1000000000 octane. But an engine designed to run 93 will retard timing if it senses detonation, whether from lower octane or any other reason. There is nothing that actually adjusts based on octane, it only adjusts based on detonation. So regardless of "required" octane, if the engine isn't knocking it won't adjust even at lower octane.

But a higher compression engine (or forced induction) will require higher octane to prevent damage.

 

As another member has said non ethanol fuel is way better than high octane ... I had a supercharged tundra a few years ago ... all the truck would drink is the good stuff 92+
I have a friend that works for Sunoco , I'm just outside Philadelphia and they have not cracked thier own fuel in over 8 yrs ... they buy there fuel on the market and re-sell it under there own name .
I run a lot of offroad vehicles , ATV's , hover craft , boats .. I try and run non ethanol in just about everything and it makes a huge difference MPG .
The ethanol is used to raise the octane rating but in turn burns at a faster rate . the purpose of high octane is basiclly a slower burn to circumvent preigniton .
Most pump fuel is junk these days ... Best fuel is aviation fuel but contains lead , I run 100LL in all my non injected trucks and toys .
I'm living in the northeast and allmost impossible to find non ethanol around here ... I do run down to sounth and can say my trucks run better on florida fuel they have non ethanol and the stuff is great maybe some guys from FL and chine in .

 

Yes, we have a lot of non-ethanol due to the huge boating community. I'm the OP and I haven't switched yet to higher octane. So @Diablo169 you noticed improvement during your first high octane fill up? I am driving a long road trip through mountain/hilly areas and I wouldn't mind if my truck got some more boost going up grades. I will have a loaded 400-500lb bed.

 

@0311K1LL The only area I really noticed a difference was pulling the hills, on flat ground I didn't really see a difference. I know the 16's are supposed to be dual overhead cam with wideband vvti, I just assumed it would advance timing further, but it sounds like I might be wrong if what @Indy says is true, that it will only advance to a certain degree regardless of fuel type.

 

Timing comes from many different inputs. Example: knock sensor, O2 sensor, Air Fuel sensor (wide band O2), MAF, IAT, Engine Load and TPS (throttle position). Don't forget many other calculations give you a result as well.

 

You guys in Florida have a non - Ethanol state which is awesome ... Just running 89 ethanol free is a noticeable difference compared to the junk fuel in my area . My state of Pennsylvaina is a maditiorry state but I live right on the border of NJ with is a optional state .

Its about time the Americans put the farm back in the farmer and state growing more vegetables instead of corn we are actually Turing into fuel and selling it overseas to feed the forgien market ... Let's feed our people and put real gasoline back in the market .

There are on 7 states that actually that made a deal with the devil ... They get extra money from the EPA at out expense .

 

Everypump I've seen down here is the same 10% as every where else. But you can get marine gas everywhere, no ethanol in it, just too low octane for my car (twin turbo).

 

Everything I've read has said it shouldn't make a difference, but I'll add another data point saying premium (shell nitro+ 91 octane in my case) has resulted in higher miles per tank and a feeling of a slight increase in power up hills.

 

I have gotten some 91 with no ethanol in West Texas in the past and I had great results but here locally marine fuel is 85 octane. Way too low of octane count.

 

Yup, the gas station by my mother-inlaws house has Recreational 90 octane with no ethanol. it is meant for boats, mud trucks, utvs, etc.

might try that, although it is more expensive at 2.70 a gallon

 

Not just Florida. I'm in Wyoming and non-deathanol is popping up around here over the past few months as various stations. I started running non-deathanol 87 octane and it makes my 2.7 run better than anything I've used before. 91 octane deathanol infused made it run better but not near as good as 87 octane deathanol free. I've got a hill I need to climb everyday on my way home from work. With 91 octane deathanol infused or 87 octane deathanol infused I always had to shift down to 4th gear to maintain 55 mph. With the deathanol free 87 octane I can now stay in 5th gear and maintain the same speed. It struggles slightly but it still does it in 5th. Not 4th.

 

Where in wy? I moved from cheyenne less than a year ago. No station i went to had it when i left.

 

This is interesting. I can still get non-ethanol fuel at one station in PA. They also sell ethanol blends though.

 

We have non-ethanol here in Ark. and my little guy seems to like it. i may be getting a few more miles between fill-ups but nothing shocking.

 

It just started showing up about 6 or 8 months months ago. Green River and Rock Springs. At least that's when I started seeing it. Mobil has 91 ethanol free. Maverick has 87 for the same price as the ethanol spiked 87 or maybe slightly more. The 91 octane at Mobil is pricey. It's like .40 cents a gallon more. Don't know what Exxon has but they were advertising it a while back.

 

I try very hard to patronize stations that sell non-contaminated gasoline. The stations around here (Ark.), charge more for real gasoline, but have no shortage of business.

 

Best way to test fuel is just just plain old food coloring and just a drop in and if it sinks to the bottom in a little ball its good fuel and it the fuel turns to the color its got ethanol and possibly water .
On a positive note we have a new EPA guy Scott Pruitt who is a oil guy and has been against the ethanol mandate .
The new administration has also halted the new mandate that was suppose to take affect in 2017 for 15% ethanol ... you thought the 10% was destroying motors and fuel systems wait till you guys see that 15% stuff .
Its crazy to see all the deals that were made that did nothing at the Americans expence , did you know 1 acre of corn only produces 300 gallons of ethanol .
And we are buying vegetables from china in stead of growing them in America .
Americans are forced to buy gasoline with alcohol buy the government with ethanol ... Where is our choices .

 

The worst thing about it other than what you already said and that it destroys the environment and allows toxic fertilizers and pesticides into the water table was that "we" were forced to subsidize it and those who shoved the legislation through made billions when they invested on the ground floor with their insider traitor scam. I wouldn't want to be drinking the water in Iowa any time soon. They'll be making the 4th sequel to "Wrong Turn" in Iowa.

 

I have a friend who's girlfriend works at the Sunoco processing plant outside philadelphia , Sunoco fuel is total crap . They don't even crack there own fuel any more , they buy the cheapest fuel on the market that allready has the ethanol in the fuel ... any one thinks sunoco pump gas is good you paying for the name thats why sunoco was a on a store buying kick on the eastcoast .
Its less agrivation to just rebrand fuel off the market and they make there money on the retail stores these days .
I have nothing against ethanol but give use a choice at the pump , they would be surprized how many people would buy real gasoline .

 

Reason I installed a Racor water fuel seperator.