Fuel Octane Rating

[LUNLUNZAI]

I posted a couple of weeks ago about genral fuel consumption increase on my Varadero VA5. Apart from that, the dead spot thing in power delivery also gets into my nurves. I was about to book mine in to get the air filter change and check out. Since the amber light has been on for sometime, I decided to hummm... fill it up in a Total station to see if any thing will change. She is usually fed with shell ordinary unlead.

At the total garage, somehow I got myself condfused and think that excepreimum (bl**dy he**! I dont even know how it spells) is cheaper than premimum, not until I start filling and see the scale, oh well.. I carry on and fill 23.55L of it .

The dead spot is now gone and the bike feels a bit more reponsive that before.

We have been talking about mpg in a few occasions but may I ask what grade do u guys feed your Vara with?

Cheers
Lun

[jasonbc]

I posted a couple of weeks ago about genral fuel consumption increase on my Varadero VA5. Apart from that, the dead spot thing in power delivery also gets into my nurves. I was about to book mine in to get the air filter change and check out. Since the amber light has been on for sometime, I decided to hummm... fill it up in a Total station to see if any thing will change. She is usually fed with shell ordinary unlead.

At the total garage, somehow I got myself condfused and think that excepreimum (bl**dy he**! I dont even know how it spells) is cheaper than premimum, not until I start filling and see the scale, oh well.. I carry on and fill 23.55L of it .

The dead spot is now gone and the bike feels a bit more reponsive that before.

We have been talking about mpg in a few occasions but may I ask what grade do u guys feed your Vara with?

Cheers
Lun

If i fill up at home before i go anywhere i use Esso as it's closest never ever use supermarket petrol unless i'm in an unknown area and it's desperate. If i use supermarket stuff (very rarely) i put the high octane stuff in as my old car hated premium supermarket stuff and you could see mpg drop instantly on the computer, not that that bothers me too much either ( if you got to worry about mpg's you can't afford it). Anywhere else the 95 ron never causes any problems. Even on the continent the basic 95 Ron is perfectly fine. My xr does seem a bit more responsive if i put 98 Ron in it

[allyw71]

I put regular unleaded (95 ron) in all my vehicles without a problem. I don't buy into this supermarket petrol is inferior nonsense one little bit, its all the same, comes from the same place, its just a myth.

[jasonbc]

I put regular unleaded (95 ron) in all my vehicles without a problem. I don't buy into this supermarket petrol is inferior nonsense one little bit, its all the same, comes from the same place, its just a myth.

Not true it doesn't get the aditives put in it that the major brands do. Also fi you remember supermarket petrol used to be cheaper, and was because the supplier used to sell it to them cheaper as it was getting to the end of it's shelf life and it doesn't take long for petrol to go off

[Alba]

Excluding the additive argument I believe Tesco has the highest octane rating on its standard pump i.e. 99 Ron. Using the higher Ron will burn cleaner and quicker therefore better (in theory) fuel economy. I have not noticed the difference in my TA but put it in regular to give the cylinders a clean along with Redex.

Sounds like an engine flush would not go a miss and get ride of the carbon build up inside the engine...

Thoughts of a non tech mad man ..

[jasonbc]

Excluding the additive argument I believe Tesco has the highest octane rating on its standard pump i.e. 99 Ron. Using the higher Ron will burn cleaner and quicker therefore better (in theory) fuel economy. I have not noticed the difference in my TA but put it in regular to give the cylinders a clean along with Redex.

Sounds like an engine flush would not go a miss and get ride of the carbon build up inside the engine...

Thoughts of a non tech mad man ..

My local tesco is 95ROn standard. If i use engine flush i use Forte and if i treat the fuel system to a clean i use the Forte Injecter cleaner, Forte and Wurth are the only ones the trade use. I can vouch for that my father is service manaager in an Aprillia Franchise

[Dee Duble Yuh]

All normal Japanese bike engines have been able to use 95 RON (and lower) for years. If you find a problem there may be something wrong with your bike. I believe the higher the RON the more octane booster it contains, and these are major pollutants.

[StumpyFingers]

I put 98 ron in my bike by mistake in France and it gave a slight boost in response but it did not make that much difference in MPL, Normally 95 ron is fine.
I think 98 ron is used as a replacement for 4 star petrol, bikes ran on 2 star in the 70's so they should still only need the lower grade.

[africajim]

Well, here's some facts on fuel, I work for a major fuel supplier in the Highlands. Usually, there are three different octane numbers associated with all petrols. Petrol's Research Octane Number (RON) is measured under simple test conditions. Petrol's Motor Octane Number (MON) is measured under tougher test conditions and at higher engine speed and temperature.

The average of these two values is what becomes related closer to actual driving conditions. This value is known as the Road Octane Number, and is what should be used in filling stations.

Occasionally, some filling stations will confuse these different octane numbers in a bid to embellish on their octane rating claims, and advertise their fuel's Research Octane Number, which is higher than the Road Octane Number. In many European countries, the Research Octane Number is advertised on pumps, so a much higher octane value is common when travelling in certain countries.

Someone commented that using higher octane fuel than your engine requires actually gives no benefit and may be a waste of money. This is because virtually NO engines require 98 RON over 95, and the market for 'super' fuels seems to be based on people's misunderstanding of octane ratings and the placebo effect of filling up with 'more powerful' fuel - making motorists think their engine is running better in some way.
What do the fuel companies say then, to justify the "increased power" claims for the super grade fuels? Some companies say that while all fuels contain cleaning additives, 'super' fuels contain more or better detergents to keep the injectors cleaner than standard fuel. Others say the fuel is a few percent denser which gives slightly more power per litre. These benefits may be marginal though in comparison to the extra cost involved so it is worth ensuring that your engine will actually benefit before filling up.
Some engines actually do need higher octane fuel, such as race engines with very high compression and some turbocharged engines, such as the import version of the Nissan Skyline. Also, a few vehicles, such as the new BMW K1200R, can sense knock and adjust their engine tuning to take advantage of higher grade fuels. Another user commented that the 2004 BMW 330 also does this, according to the driver's handbook it makes 231 BHP on 98 octane and 221 BHP on 95. This ability is apparently widespread amongst German performance cars using Bosch / Siemens electronic engine controls. I hope you find this interesting? Asks more questions than it answers I think!