Your thoughts on towing with 87 tune

[myoung84]

I have been thinking of putting the 87 tune on my truck. I am tired of running the tow tune and 91 octane just to run empty all the time. I tow my boat a lot in the summer but it's only about 4500 lbs, less than half the truck's capacity. Can I put the 87 tune on my truck and use 87 or 89 octane when towing? I will probably keep filling up with 89 since a lot of places have it with no ethanol and 87 is at 10%.

From what I understand the 87 tune doesn't really add any power. I don't need to add more power since I'm not trying to make this a fast performance truck, but I can't give up my trans tuning so the SC has to stay. I have a Charger SRT8 if I want to go fast. :********:

Also will the 87 tune or tow tune give me better gas mileage? I'm not overly concerned about mileage, I do know that I drive a 5000+ lb brick, but I am taking a road trip to Florida in a couple months and would like to get the best that I can.

Your thoughts...

 

[Bigtman07]

I know its not supposed to be run like that but I do it and I leave the tow tune on all the time. I run 87. Drove all the way to texas towing a trailer with 87 on the tow tune. Had no problems. But that is just me.

 

[myoung84]

Interesting. I wonder what the difference is on the Tow Tune and 87 Tune. They might be about the same.

 

[Scott@Superchips]

You can run the tow tune safely all of the time even while not towing a load.

All of our tunes are good for daily use. It’s when you do tow that we recommend the tow tune specifically to stay safe.

Scott

I know its not supposed to be run like that but I do it and I leave the tow tune on all the time. I run 87. Drove all the way to texas towing a trailer with 87 on the tow tune. Had no problems. But that is just me.

 

[Scott@Superchips]

Tow and the 87 tune require different octane’s to run properly. We improved performance for when you tow through timing improvements requiring 91 octane so there is no detonation under load.

The Tow tune is not as aggressive as the 91 Perf file but is more aggressive than what we could offer you in the 87 file using 87 octane fuel.

Scott

Interesting. I wonder what the difference is on the Tow Tune and 87 Tune. They might be about the same.

 

[myoung84]

I understand that, but what octane is required when running the tow tune? Can I run the tow tune on 87 octane, while towing 5k lbs?

 

[Scott@Superchips]

When testing the Tow tune under different loads we determined that 91 was the preferred fuel to use. That being said, I have heard of people successfully using lower grades while towing light loads but I can't recommend that option to you.

Scott

I understand that, but what octane is required when running the tow tune? Can I run the tow tune on 87 octane, while towing 5k lbs?

 

[myoung84]

What about towing with the 87 tune? The 87 is pretty much a stock tune, isn't it? Could I use that with 89 octane and be safe?

 

[Scott@Superchips]

87 was made as a performance file to offer drivability improvements over stock while retaining 87 octane. It was never meant to be used while towing because load adds additional stress on the engine opening up the door to detonation. That is why we created the Tow tune and required 91 octane so it would combat detonation under load.

Scott

What about towing with the 87 tune? The 87 is pretty much a stock tune, isn't it? Could I use that with 89 octane and be safe?

 

[myoung84]

Fair enough. Thanks for your help!

 

[Scott@Superchips]

No problem, happy to help!

Fair enough. Thanks for your help!