2.9L & 3.0L V6 Tech General discussion of 2.9L and 3.0L V6 Ford Ranger engines.

Bama tuner question

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Old 02-22-2007
Werty's Avatar
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Bama tuner question

Just wondering, but what is the highest octane rating the bama tuner and the 3.0 can handle? There is a gas station about 5 miles away from me that has 100 octane at their pump. And I even know of a another store that sells 111 octane. I'm guessing the 111 wouldnt work, but I was wondering about the 100.

If I bought a tuner and it was possible I would want that for one of the tunes...
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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From: Charlestown, IN
93 i believe.....but one thing to remember is that your state may not allow anything but 93 on the road....if you look at the 100 or the 111 octane, it may say "For Off-Road Use ONLY" on it.....i know in Indiana, you can't run anything legally over 93 on the street because there is no road tax on gas above 93 octane....
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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Originally Posted by lifted97ranger
93 i believe.....but one thing to remember is that your state may not allow anything but 93 on the road....if you look at the 100 or the 111 octane, it may say "For Off-Road Use ONLY" on it.....i know in Indiana, you can't run anything legally over 93 on the street because there is no road tax on gas above 93 octane....
in arizona we have less strict laws on gas...at least my dad has been driving his camaro around for 2 years on 111...even passed emissions 2 times with it

or maybe the techs out here just dont care

so im not so worried about the law...how would they ever find out anyways?

but are you sure about the 93 being the highest it can handle? that kinda sucks...
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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From: Charlestown, IN
i think so....93 octane is all Bama Chips site will allow you to choose...and any octane over 100 is a waste unless you have a high compression engine....it will burn too hot and have a large chance that it will burn a hole in the top of your pistons......

check out www.bamachips.com or call Doug at Bama Chips at (205) 302-0231....Doug is the one who does the programing...and he's a Ranger buff...
 
  #5  
Old 02-22-2007
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Originally Posted by lifted97ranger
i think so....93 octane is all Bama Chips site will allow you to choose...and any octane over 100 is a waste unless you have a high compression engine....it will burn too hot and have a large chance that it will burn a hole in the top of your pistons......

check out www.bamachips.com or call Doug at Bama Chips at (205) 302-0231....Doug is the one who does the programing...and he's a Ranger buff...
will do

thanks
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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100% ethanol gas is 115 octane. My not be related but I saw it on TV last night.
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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my brother runs 120 octane Turbo Blue in his show truck because of the extremely high compression ratio.....it has a 12.5 to 1 ratio.......and wont run on pump gas....
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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Sorry if this is unrelated, however, if you get the new roller rockers that change your compression ration from 1.6:1 to 1.7:1 should/can you run higher octane gas? Or is that not a significant change?
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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Ethanol is interesting: it's higher octane, but has lower overall energy content.

So to work properly, it takes more of it for the same amount of air.

This adds up to it increasing horsepower/torque, but decreasing gas mileage, lol. Sounds like a contradiction but it's not.
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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Originally Posted by Marcaronio
Sorry if this is unrelated, however, if you get the new roller rockers that change your compression ration from 1.6:1 to 1.7:1 should/can you run higher octane gas? Or is that not a significant change?
It doesn't change your compression ratio or ignition timing, just the valve lift ratio (ratio of lifter motion to valve motion) and therefore the corresponding ability to "breath" at different RPM's. You don't need to change your octane.
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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I wouldnt run anything over 93 but thats just me and I have already gone through 1 engine
 
  #12  
Old 02-22-2007
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would a higher octane like 100+ hurt your o2 sensors? or even cats?
 
  #13  
Old 02-22-2007
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doubtful, but like i said above, it will burn hotter and might cause a hole to be burnt in the top of your piston and burn some valves out...
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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From: Kennett Square, PA
Originally Posted by bwester04
would a higher octane like 100+ hurt your o2 sensors? or even cats?
The answer depends on the chemistry of the fuel. There are certainly fuel additives or ingredients that could hurt either of those since they are both vulnerable to certain chemistries.

Ethanol for instance will damage neither. I have no idea what other ingredients might be used in "racing fuel" where emissions are quite simply not an issue.
 
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Old 02-22-2007
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Originally Posted by lifted97ranger
doubtful, but like i said above, it will burn hotter and might cause a hole to be burnt in the top of your piston and burn some valves out...
That is a misconception, high octane fuel does not burn hotter. It burns slower and more uniform. That is why you can advance the timing when you run higher octane fuel. That is also why you have to use high octane fuel with higher compression ratio.

Running low octane fuel in a high compression engine can burn a hole in the piston.

I would guess Doug could make a program to run on 100 octane but I don't think you would be able to really take advantage of the 100 octane without bumping the compression ratio up. I doubt the O2 sensor would be harmed by running 100 octane fuel as long as it has no lead in it. I would be concerned about the catalytic converters though. I think running 100 octane in a typical low compression street engine would result in incomplete burn. The catalytic converters would then run hotter trying to burn the unburnt fuel.

I would be suspicious of the 111 octane fuel. The highest unleaded octane fuel I have seen at any track is 100. I am not saying it does not exist but I would check it out more before using it. Besides 111 octane fuel would be for an engine with at least 14:1 compression ratio.
 

Last edited by IN2 FX4; 02-22-2007 at 03:20 PM.
  #16  
Old 02-22-2007
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Originally Posted by Werty
Just wondering, but what is the highest octane rating the bama tuner and the 3.0 can handle? There is a gas station about 5 miles away from me that has 100 octane at their pump. And I even know of a another store that sells 111 octane. I'm guessing the 111 wouldnt work, but I was wondering about the 100.

If I bought a tuner and it was possible I would want that for one of the tunes...
I believe that the SCT Livewire and the SCT Xcalibrator both have a global spark adder that can be set by the owner. That could allow you to dial in a few more degrees of advance over and above what's in the 93 tune and possibly take advantage of a higher octane fuel. You should ask Doug about that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be sure that you understand which octane scale they're using when they say that their fuel is "100" or "111". There are controlled tests that determine the Motor Octane Number (MON) and the Research Octane Number (RON). The Motor Octane Number test procedure is run under more severe conditions and it therefore returns a lower number than the Research Octane Number test. It is typical for the RON of a specific fuel to be something like 4~10 points higher than its MON.

The posted number on retail gas pumps that dispense road fuel is legally required to be calculated as the average of the two or (RON + MON)/2. This scale is called the Pump Octane or the Anti-Knock Index.

An outlet selling fuel that's not intended for highway use could probably get away with using any of the three scales. So you need to pay attention to avoid comparing apples to oranges.
 
  #17  
Old 02-22-2007
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I do know the 111 is leaded, and Im almost positive the 100 is unleaded

anyways, thanks for the info guys

btw anyone in Tucson know of the 100 im talking of? It's at a 76 gas station on Speedway
 
  #18  
Old 02-22-2007
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From: Charlestown, IN
well the 111 octane leaded will ruin your engine...
 
  #19  
Old 02-23-2007
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The main thing leaded fuel does is quickly foul the catalytic converter and contaminate the O2 sensors, long term. The engine actually runs fine on the unleaded fuel but will eventually run poor or possibly be damaged due to the above problems.
 
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