Are you a top tier gasoline user?

[Marc L]

True, but you can't expect a solid vehicle to last if it is neglected or abused. Some do still last....but that can't be the expectation.

90% of people I would guess follow a normal maintenance schedule and drive normally. The people who neglect the vehicle have an outsized negative affect vs. the people who "baby" their vehicle. I feel any additional reliability/longevity vs. standard is nullified by the cost of spending extra on gas and "over maintaining". There are no studies I've seen that show exceeding manufacturer maintenance schedules produce better results.
Only anecdotal evidence. This is our first American car having owned almost exclusively Japanese vehicles except for a pair of German mistakes.

Sponsored

 

[Kini]

Huffing and sniffing gas is illegal man..... SHAME!

Yeah! nobody sniffed race gas, or bean oil in two strokes, eh?

 

[5GENIDN]

Exactly when and where is this additive added?

I can only speak for our location where we do not have any refineries and all of our gasoline is piped to us and stored in a large distribution tank yard... The additives are added as they fill the truck that will deliver to the specific stations.

 

[thenewjs]

Exactly when and where is this additive added?

Years ago my dad would dump it into the underground tank. Now stations and an automated system, if they can't get it at a terminal.

 

[ThunderFlash]

90% of people I would guess follow a normal maintenance schedule and drive normally. The people who neglect the vehicle have an outsized negative affect vs. the people who "baby" their vehicle. I feel any additional reliability/longevity vs. standard is nullified by the cost of spending extra on gas and "over maintaining". There are no studies I've seen that show exceeding manufacturer maintenance schedules produce better results.
Only anecdotal evidence.

I don't know that "over" maintaining is really possible. To me that would be to maintain to the point of having a detrimental effect. There maybe demenshing returns on the cost/effort, yes. If the vehicle stays stock, is never pushed, and never leaves the streets, probably fine with OEM basic min/max recommendations and requirements. Modify the truck for more power, add a bunch of sprung and unsprung weight, tow some things, go out slogging in mud, tax the drive train crawling around rocks and hills in 4L, and leave civilization behind for hours or days or weeks...then taking extra steps to ensure top performance is smart, even if not proven by novels of absolutely conclusive test data. If nothing else, one often discovers issues during maintenance, hopefully before the issue leaves you in a pickle in the woods without cell service and where tow trucks don't venture.

I'm not going to bet your Bronco will have reliability on par with your past Japanese vehicles regardless of maintenance, but the "opportunities" the Bronco might present are what we call character or soul and should be taken as endearing traits.

 

[Marc L]

If the vehicle stays stock, is never pushed, and never leaves the streets, probably fine with OEM basic min/max recommendations and requirements.

We agree.
My wife's vehicle is a pavement princess and other than some interior doo dads won't be modified. She does drive it hard and fast which is why manuals are so enjoyable to drive and why we won't touch automatics.
I'm sure there are big off roaders in this group, but among Bronco and other SUV owners most never even hit a dirt road and even less step up to fire road levels.
Our XTerra has 242k miles and were are considering going off roading with it for the first time in UP Michigan. This could be considered sad, but it is also realistic just like Vette owners never hitting 100mph and even less taking it on a track.
As for over-maintenance we replace with OEM or OEM-equivalent parts once something breaks, but rarely replace anything before it breaks. When I have replaced with "superior" parts I've been disappointed. My stock 1997 Integra GS-R ate rotors/pads/calipers and there seemed like nothing I could do about it over its 200k+ mile lifespan.
Once you modify a vehicle or take it off road I would assume maintenance depends on how extreme you get.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

I don't know that "over" maintaining is really possible. To me that would be to maintain to the point of having a detrimental effect. There maybe demenshing returns on the cost/effort, yes. If the vehicle stays stock, is never pushed, and never leaves the streets, probably fine with OEM basic min/max recommendations and requirements. Modify the truck for more power, add a bunch of sprung and unsprung weight, tow some things, go out slogging in mud, tax the drive train crawling around rocks and hills in 4L, and leave civilization behind for hours or days or weeks...then taking extra steps to ensure top performance is smart, even if not proven by novels of absolutely conclusive test data. If nothing else, one often discovers issues during maintenance, hopefully before the issue leaves you in a pickle in the woods without cell service and where tow trucks don't venture.

I'm not going to bet your Bronco will have reliability on par with your past Japanese vehicles regardless of maintenance, but the "opportunities" the Bronco might present are what we call character or soul and should be taken as endearing traits.

Comes down to how we actually use our trucks and that's highly subjective, but if you push your Bronco, you know who you are.

Just like only using regular in these high compression turbo engines hurts the vehicle over time as you overwork the knock sensor and it retards performance.

I use premium and top tier gas because I stress my Bronco. I go off-roading all year, but more in the Summer and I see my transmission temps get up to over 220. Sure, it's built to take it, but that's why I use either better fluids or change more frequently. I'm about to change my transmission fluid right now and I'm just at 26K+ and will switch the pan while at it.

I change my diff fluids every 15K and use Amsoil and it's higher than Ford recommends and more closely to that of Dana's recommendation who made it.

I don't want my engine detuned, as I have the 2.7 and I don't want pitting in the chamber that happens when the knock sensor is stressed trying to stop early combustion.

Think a lot of guys here either don't know cars or more so, don't know modern cars and are hanging on to stuff they know from the 80s and 90s. These new vehicles may as well be spaceships to you all. The whole "I'll never want a 4 Banger shows that when the modern i4 outperforms a V8 easily in all conditions except towing from 30 years ago.

Even more don't understand turbos or direct injection and what that even means. These aren't older cars, so the gas doesn't clean your intakes due to direct injection. You use cheap gas, you'll get carbon build up, period. This will then hurt performance and longevity of the engine.

This is also why I don't buy used vehicles....

 

[broncobase1]

Luckily fuel and oil are the two least controversial topics for vehicle enthusiasts, so I expect these videos to be widely accepted as absolute fact by everyone and this will be a short, cohesive thread with a happy ending.

360,000 miles and going strong with 87 regular and Walmart synthetic oil -- that is what I call a happy ending.

 

[wheretheheckisjoe]

Out of my 42k miles, I'd say 38k of those burned Costco Top Tier fuel. I'll go a little ways out of my way to fill up at a Costco, even when I'm on a roadtrip.

 

[TheKim]

There's guy who sneeks every night and pours a cap full of additives into each tank. Fulfills the legal requirement.....People feel good because they got their additives.

Well, you're welcome to believe that, but you're also encouraged to investigate your thoughts.
It's mixed in when it's being pumped into the tanker, before going to specific stations or brands.
It's parked under a rack that mixes it in using the specific brands requirements, so that it always meets the advertised levels. This is also where ethanol is added, yay.

More information and a fascinating read can be found here:

https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2015/01/19/from-pipeline-to-pump-how-gasoline-gets-to-your-car/

 

[ThunderFlash]

360,000 miles and going strong with 87 regular and Walmart synthetic oil -- that is what I call a happy ending.

In what, a 240DL?

 

[Oldhippie]

PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) did a study years ago that showed it was cheaper to not service (oil& filter changes) light vehicles they sell under 100k miles…they actually stopped doing it with very few failures…not sure buying one of them was a good idea…on the other hand Caltrans has a pretty rigorous service program and keep their units in good shape…difference between government and private organization.

 

[Quatermain]

I had a vague ideo of what a top tier gasoline was, but came across a couple of useful articles that gave me a better explanation.
This first article is a general discussion of top tier gasolines and their importance.



This second article talks specifically about Ford ecoboost engines with respect to top tier gasolines.



Clearly it is important to not only choose a gasoline with adequate octane, but also with adequate additives necessary for the best longeviity of our Bronco ecoboost engines.
It appears that not all brands have the top tier additives in all octane grades so choose wisely.

These articles specifically discuss gasoline brands that meet/exceed, or do not meet top tier certification.
Hope this helps you choose the right gasoline for your Bronco.

I too never payed a lot of attention to gasoline quality , except for Octane rating and ethanol free for equipment. I have been driving mainly turbo diesels the past twenty years. Fuel quality was never much of an issue, even in Africa. I changed my attitude when I was researching the Bronco. I have now changed my ways. Great video's thanks.

 

[tourproto]

Luckily fuel and oil are the two least controversial topics for vehicle enthusiasts, so I expect these videos to be widely accepted as absolute fact by everyone and this will be a short, cohesive thread with a happy ending.

Almost missed the sarcasm there...

 

[RR25HB]

Almost missed the sarcasm there...

Still ... I'm disappointed that after weeks of pithy debate the topic never morphed to home brew, as I expected it would.

... and, BTW, everyone knows when it comes to windshield wiper fluid, the green stuff is vastly superior to the blue stuff. Hands down.

Sponsored