It wouldn't necessarily run better at all - it all depends on your ignition and timing setup and compression ratio.
You wouldn't want to use a low grade of gasoline in this engine, because that will lead to carbon buildup and engine knocking. It would be best to use at least a 92 octane in this car.
Pump gasoline is a blend of several hydrocarbons, obtained in the refining of crude oil. A few of these are nonane, heptane, butane, octane, etc. Pure octane is the slowest burning of those used and the least likely to "explode" or detonate in the engine when ignited. Detonation causes mechanical damage and lowers fuel economy. The octane rating of any pump grade of gasoline is comapared to pure octane. 87 octane fuel is lower than 93 octane and will burn faster (not good). 100 octane is equivalent to pure octane in burn rate. Pure octane would be too expensive to use, so a blend of several hydrocarbons is used for various reasons. Hydrogen, I would think might burn way too fast in an unmodified gas engine, but have never read about any studies on this.
Most likely is knocking. Try next higher octane grade of gasoline.
Octane rating is a measure of how resistant the fuel is to causing 'knocking' or pre-detonation in petrol(gasoline) engines. It is measured relative to a hydrocarbon which is rated at 100, and determined by testing in a test engine. There are two methods of testing though, which give results called RON or MON. In Europe RON is quoted, and regular petrol is about 92, though usually pumps give 95 RON fuel. In the US a mean of RON and MON is used and for the same fuel the figure is about 5 points lower, so 90 would be the same as 95 in Europe.
Here is the best answer I can give you on this engine. I don't know what type of gasoline you put in this truck, but if it is 89 or below octane, it could cause this problem. I used 89 octane in my RAM for two years and lately I have had the check engine light come on. I had it checked by the Dodge service department and was told that it had two fuel sensors go out because I was using 89 octane gasoline and not putting any gasoline cleaner fuel with it when I filled it up. I would recommend you try this and see if it helps you out.
Yes as long as it is at least 87 octane. But I would hope you would not use gasoline from Venezuela.
Stock engine can run on 85 to 89 octane without too much problem. A higher octane would be preffered if the engine is being used harder such as towing and or used in the mountains. Older engines can benefit from a higher octane as it will burn more freely to make up for the higher compression caused by the formation of carbon on top of the pistons
regular unleaded fuel is safe for every gasoline car engine. the only difference is more watered down and less octane, which means less power for the punch. But the prices are so high I dont care. I can fill my tank for $40.00 of regular and put in a bottle of octane boost for $2.00 and then I have super unleaded. But its up to you on how picky you are. WRONG!!!!!!!!! The above answer is totally incorrect, and it is not about being picky. it is about being smart. Regular unleaded is not water down, and does not provide less power. It does contain less octane, which is why it is not safe to use in every gasoline engine. It is a myth that a higher octane fuel provides more power and better mpg. The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. When gas ignites by compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine. Knocking can damage an engine, so it is not something you want to have happening. Lower-octane gas (like "regular" 87-octane gasoline) can handle the least amount of compression before igniting. The COMPRESSION RATIO of your engine determines the octane rating of the gas you must use in the car. One way to increase the horsepower of an engine of a given displacement is to increase its compression ratio. So a "high-performance engine" has a higher compression ratio and requires higher-octane fuel. The advantage of a high compression ratio is that it gives your engine a higher horsepower rating for a given engine weight -- that is what makes the engine "high performance", and that is why the myth persists that a higher octane fuel increases power. The disadvantage is that the gasoline for your engine costs more. But the fact is that your Lincoln requires 91 Octane Premium Fuel, and you should have know this when you bought it. Burning a lower octane fuel will in time damage your engine. The above poster may not care, but I bet you do. Your car holds 18 gallons of fuel. It is not cost effective to spend $2.00 for a can of octane boost, which would be more than the cost difference of premium fuel. Do not burn any fuel in this engine with less than a 91 octane rating, or you will end up with engine damage.
Calculating octane is a compex process, but the formula is simple (the difficulty is getting the values from the manufacturer). Gasoline pumps typically post octane numbers as an average of two different values. Often you may see the octane rating quoted as (R+M)/2. One value is the research octane number (RON), which is determined with a test engine running at a low speed of 600 rpm. The other value is the motor octane number (MON), which is determined with a test engine running at a higher speed of 900 rpm. If, for example, a gasoline has an RON of 98 and a MON of 90, then the posted octane number would be the average of the two values or 94. See related links for information about computing octane numbers.
No, it is not OK. My question to you is why would you want to pay extra for 93 octane when you engine requires 87 octane and will run no better on 93. Simply put, octane is a measure of gasoline's ability to resist detonation, which you hear as pinging and knocking in your engine. The higher the octane the more the fuel can be compressed without detonating before you want it to. Detonation, ping, knock, whatever you want to call it, occurs when the air/fuel mixture ignites before the spark plug fires. The mixture ignites from compression and not from the flame of the spark plug. In other words, the higher the octane the less likely it is to ignite prematurely. The only benefit to a high octane fuel is that it allows an engine to run at a higher temperature and with a higher compression ratio without pinging. Higher octane fuel does not provide more energy, more power, better mileage, more torque, burn cleaner, clean your engine, and is not better for the environment. Anyone who tells you it does is dead wrong and is buying into the Octane Myth that just will not die. Putting 93 octane in this engine will provide you no benefit whatsoever, and in fact may cause hard starting. Save your money and use 87 Octane in this low compression 3.1 L V6.
The owners manual says that higher octane is preferred for best engine performance, but it also says that 87 octane can be used without damage to the engine. I've been using a mixure of 87 and 89 octane and do not hear any engine-knock or pinging. The gas mileage probably would be better if 91 octane was used, but I haven't run a test on that aspect yet.
During the 60,s I was stationed in the Air Force, stationed in Spain. The gasoline off base was 84 octane. If you had an American car over there it would knock and ping all the time. We would go to the Base Exchange and buy mothballs for our American cars. Adding 3 mothballs to a tank full of gasoline would raise the octane enough so theAmerican cars ran good with no knocking or pinging. Did this for 3 years and never had any engine trouble.