Gas to Use in a SHO

[ChevyGuy]

DOes the v8 SHO require premium gas? Im considering buying a gen III and this plays a major role as gas prices are going up, up, up!

 

[SCOTTDW]

I use 87 octane nearly all the time with only good to report. .

Scott
98SF
K&N Panel
Magnaflows 3"tips
BFGoodrich KDWS

 

[Hochness]

When I first got my 98 SHO I put in 87 octane. Later that same day I heard the all too familiar "engine knocking sound"!!! I tried adding some octane booster and it didn't help too much. The very next fill up I put in 93 octane and the knocking was gone! I have only put in 87 octane 1 more time since then (my wife didn't know it needed premium) and the knock returned almost instantly.

I advise you to use 91 or better octane (higher is better!!!!) Scott is a very lucky man if he's getting no bad reports with 87. I wish my SHO wasn't so picky!!!!

I've also found that octane boosters don't do to much. At least not the one's that I've used.

Sam
Sam's 98 SHO Page

 

[Mac98SHO]

I run 89 octane all the time.

I do notice a power/response difference when running higher octance(91 around here). Just means my motor putting out close to rated HP using the higher octance fuel calibration curve.

 

[ret]

Basically any octane fuel "should" be ok. The ignition will just retard the spark timing for lower octane fuel so that you don't get any knock, but you'll also get less power. So yes, it will (or should) work to run 87 or 89 octane, but Ford doesn't say to use premium for their benefit, since they don't make any money off of you buying gas, so they must have said it for a reason.

 

[LASTSHO]

Think of your SHO as a dog...if you feed it premium food for a long time its gonna complain (car=ping) after you switch it to 87. Now once it gets used to the cheap food...it won't complain anymore...

I used to use 92 in my SHO all the time...switched to 87 and got lots of pinging. So I switched back. I finally decided just to wait out the pinging and see if the car could get used to 87. It did...

I reset the computer by unhooking the battery after a couple tankfuls of 87 and after another week or so...no problems.

Its been 87 ever since.

I've gotten my fastest time at the track with 87 gas. My best gas mileage of over 26mpg on the highway...

Go with 87...you don't need anything higher...just let the car get used to it.