I want to go ahead and put new gears and the FRPP CAI on at the same time, and honestly am anxious to do it ASAP. A potential problem I'm facing, however, is that 93 octane isn't as commonplace out here in NorCal as it is on the east coast, where I'm from (and to where I'll be returning in June, thank god ). I figured a temporary fix would be to keep a couple bottles of octane booster in the trunk if I need gas and can't find 93- has anyone done this before? Many octane boosters boast that they raise the octane rating to +/- 100, won't that actually hurt performance in an engine tuned for 93? I can probably circumvent the issue and stick to a local gas station I know has 93, but when i drive back to Florida in June I know there are some stretches in New Mexico/Arizona etc. that straight up don't have it. Any thoughts/comments/advice?

Steve

 

That's why having other octane tunes is handy. You can order a 91 tune plus having an 87 tune has saved my azz on a few occasions when I was traveling and couldn't get anything higher than 87 octane. Also, running on higher octane than what the tune requires will not hurt but you won't gain anything performance wise either. The FRPP tune is mild compared to others tunes (i.e. Bama, Brenspeed) so dump the FRPP crap and get some real tunes.

DO NOT USE OCTANE BOOSTER in our GT's. They've been known to cause problems so keep away from them.

 

I hear you about the FRPP tune, it isn't the most powerful by any means and clearly not a popular one, but I've done a decent amount of reading and they went to great lengths to design a product that will not only increase performance but also ensure longevity. I'm no Ford Racing salesman, but they are, after all, down the hall from the guys who built the car in the first place. I want my car to move, but I want to know it'll do it 50,000 miles from now too. I don't know, peace of mind thing I guess.

I'll look into it further, see if I can't find a solution. What problems have you seen from guys using octane booster in the 4.6 3V?

 

I'm sure we can find people who have done 75,000 miles plus on other tunes as well. but im sure there is no talking you out of it at this point. I'm certain that the popular tuner's tunes are just as safe on the engine. There are people running 450+ rwhp supercharged from these same tuners with 30,000 miles w/o issues.

I wouldn't rely on octane booster at all.. I also would never use it though either

 

Here is one of many, many threads on octane booster issues:

https://mustangforums.com/forum/2005...e-booster.html

 

I went ahead and looked into what Brenspeed had to offer and was impressed. It seems the C&L/Steeda/JLT intakes are the most popular, what kind of results do you know about with the Bullitt CAI w/ Brenspeed tune? I'll be running 91 octane out here. I like uniformity, but the idea of being able to choose between tunes as necessary is pretty damn convenient. Thanks for the input.

Steve

 

Why not just run a 87 or 91 tune and switch to a 93 tune when you move? Almost every tuner out there sells their packages with 3 tunes at different octane levels anyway.

 

Yea after looking into it some more the decision is pretty easy. Brenspeed it is, I'll run the 91 for the time being and step it up once I get back to the right coast. Now I'm psyched!

Steve

 

Also, keep in mind that store bought octane boost isn't what it is necessarily advertised to be. Most may say that they bump your octane by "3 points". What this means is that octane is bumped from 91 to 91.3 and not 91 to 94. Most of the stuff you see on the shelves of auto parts stores won't get you to 93 octane from 91. For example, the "+104" stuff you see only raises the octane 9 points, from 91 to 91.9. This is not enough to run your 93 octane tune.