With more advanced engines on the road, the question on which 2025 full-size trucks recommend or require premium fuel is a growing topic. Here’s the list.
2025 Chevy Silverado 1500/GMC Sierra 1500 with 6.2L V-8
The Chevy Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra are both offered in a 6.2-liter V-8 engine, putting out an impressive 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. However, that’s with premium fuel that has an octane rating of 91.
The 2025 owner’s manual does state you can get away with 87 octane if 91 isn’t available. However, this “will result in reduced performance and drivability.”
2025 Ford F-150 EcoBooost
A perennial question for new owners is whether or not their EcoBoost engines require premium fuel. Turbocharged engines, years ago, required premium fuel since this fuel type burns cooler keeping the turbos cooler for better longevity.
Is this still the case? Well, that depends.
According to the latest Ford F-150 owner’s manual, you should use 87 octane in most cases. It adds:
“For best overall vehicle and engine performance, premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The performance gained by using premium fuel is most noticeable in hot weather as well as other conditions, for example when towing a trailer.”
This octane recommendation applies to all Ford F-150 engine option,s including the high-output EcoBoost Raptor engine.
2025 Ram 1500 Hurricane engines
The 2025 Ram 1500 Hurricane 3.0-liter inline-6 engines are another odd ball when it comes to whether or not to use premium fuel. This is due to the two different engine outputs.
For the new Ram 1500, you can get either a standard-output or a high-output version.
The difference in performance is substantial with the standard output putting out 420 horsepower and 469 pound-feet of torque, while the high-output produces 540 horsepower and 521 pound-feet of torque.
There is also a difference in octane recommendations with the S/O recommending 87 octane while the H/O recommends 91 octane.
The Hurricane engine chief engineer did tell us you can run 87 octane in the H/O thanks to knock sensors built-in to the engine, however, you won’t get the same performance.
The bottom line on premium fuel in trucks
There are a lot of opinions when it comes to regular vs. premium fuel for engines. Our advice is to use whatever the manufacturer recommends — even if it hurts a little more about the pump.
Sure, you can get away with a tank here or there of the regular grade of gas, but you spent a lot of money for you truck. Do you really want to save a few bucks at the pump and get less performance?
2 comments
Steve Carini
GM use to say premium “required” for the 6.2l I wonder why they changed it. There were folks on the GM Trucks forum that tested both fuels back to back and determined the fuel economy improvement from premium fuel for the 6.2 actually outweighs the extra cost and so using premium is actually cheaper.
Gene
Let’s break this down. In my opinion, your regular old work horse of a pickup should run fine on 87 octane if not lower. All the boutique trucks can run on the higher stuff.
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