Well in the last thread about octane, someone mentioned that it has to do with where the refinery is located. Something like if it's X kilometers from X ethanol refinery, then they have to add it to the fuel.
I have no idea if that's true or not.
|
|
|
91 octane vs. 87: I am so dumb.
- Thread starter GentlemanRacer
- Start date
Well in the last thread about octane, someone mentioned that it has to do with where the refinery is located. Something like if it's X kilometers from X ethanol refinery, then they have to add it to the fuel.
I have no idea if that's true or not.
This already happened with the 5% required ethanol mandate, Shell had to put ethanol in their 87 and 89 octane fuels in order to keep 91 ethanol free. Doubt that's going to change any time soon.
-Jamie M.
silent_vik
Well-known member
i get more mileage on my 04 sv650 with shell 91 oct. with 87oct, i got about 200km until the gas light came on. with 91oct, i got about 240km till the light came on. same riding style both times.
invictus43
Well-known member
I'm skeptical about mileage claims when not in controlled conditions, but that makes some sense. No ethanol means more power, less throttle opening. So you should get better gas mileage. Having said that, there are a lot of variables that affect gas mileage and it's really not a reliable method.
Riceburner
Well-known member
How does the difference in cost of the higher octane compare with the mileage of lower octane? What the cost per km of each?
ride2rideagain
Well-known member
That's interesting, I've never head of anything like that. Can anyone explain further?
Good to hear that the 91 will remain ethanol free. V-Power Power!!!
KTM's tanks are made by the same company and have had the same issues as Ducati's. It has been found that the situation seems less likely to occur when non-ethanol fuel is used although not eliminated altogether. Interesting to note that many small engine manufactuers (B&S, Tecumseh, etc...), which also use plastic fuel tanks, are now recommending to empty the tank prior to storage instead of the traditional method of fully fueled and stabilized due to ethanol content in the fuel.
@TMP: It has nothing to do with hearing fumes escape as it's not a pressure issue, it's an issue of the ethanol and the way it suspends water in the fuel having a reaction with the plastic of the tank. A thought to keep in mind if you find yourself requiring to lift the tank for maintenance; EMPTY THE TANK FIRST. KTMs and Ducatis have had issues where a full or near full tank that is lifted / removed for some time can change shape ever so slightly (again, thought to be primarily due to the ethanol in the fuel) making it difficult and in some cases impossible to line up the bolts to secure the tank back down!
I use V Power in the SuperDuke... but then the manual calls for 91 octane anyways. The painful thing is that I use 91 octane in my Hemi-powered Magnum too as it's got an ECU tune installed with advanced ignition... but it feels sooooooooo nice!
Last edited:
jefflthomas
Active member
found this on TORONTOMAZDA3.CA...dated 4 August 2011
so it looks like they're getting away with "an average" of 5% ethanol
btw...i'll only use Shell V-Power in my vehicles that require high octane
& i'll only use Shell V-Power in my vehicles that don't require high octane for storage...
i actually switch from regular to Shell super in the bike in the Fall to purge the ethanol out of the system before storage
From what I've read; a good idea all around. If you've got a plastic tank then just read my post above. If you've got a metal tank I've read articles stating that due to the way the ethanol suspends water in the fuel, you could run into a rusting issue over a storage period.
jefflthomas
Active member
it's not perfect...when i switch back to regular in the Spring there'll be a big puff of carbon the first time i really hit the throttle
but i also add http://www.klotzlube.com/techsheet.asp?ID=87 to the last few tanks of the season & for storage....
so the octane rating is way higher than my engine's designed for
btw...as my ZRX is carburated...i'll usually switch to reserve for a while after a fill-up to avoid water accumulating in the bottom of the tank...all year round
Last edited:
I have been using the http://gasbuddy.com/ app on my phone and it CONSTANTLY says Ultramar gas stations are WAY under all the other stations (usually by 4 cents or so). There are two Ultramar gas stations very close to me (that I didn't even know where there). I have never purchased gasoline there because I thought it would be some crappy home refined junk. I checked out the two gas stations recently and they looked new, clean and "upbeat". I e-mailed their customer service at customer@ultramar.ca and asked what percentage of Ethanol is present in each of their grades of gasoline and 7 minutes later I received this reply:
-Jamie M.
I think I'll be giving them a try!
-Jamie M.
Last edited:
invictus43
Well-known member
Yeah, the Ultramar in Port Sydney is always very cheap..
jefflthomas
Active member
I bought a beater 2001 civic last year around this time, got around 550km per tank, filled up at the same shell station usually. It was crap mileage, so after a while I did a tune up and got about another 50 km per tank. One day I filled up at a petrocan, suddenly I got another 50 km on that tank. Filled up there again, closer to 75 km extra this time. Went back to that shell, back to the same **** mileage.
Im convinced that shell waters down their gas. I now monitor my fuel mileage constantly. Gives me a good idea of the quality of fuel im buying, the stations I should avoid.
Im convinced that shell waters down their gas. I now monitor my fuel mileage constantly. Gives me a good idea of the quality of fuel im buying, the stations I should avoid.
viper84737
Well-known member
To add some data to this mess:
I rode nearly 22,000 km on a 2010 GSXR 600 around North America this past summer. I filled with the top octane fuel each time (mostly 91 in the USA, though sometimes I found 93, etc, generally never any higher) and I never filled with the 85 stuff in Colorado, as my bike's manual says to use minimum 87.
I, with a tailbag and a backpack causing drag on my kit, was consistently able to get 300 kms out of a tank before I urgently needed to fill up, and I estimate if I ran to absolutely dry, I could have gotten at most 325 km out of each tank. I fuelled up at Exxons, Valeros, Shells, Huskys, any big-name gasoline station, and avoided the smaller ones due to my lack of knowledge of their consistency practises. Wherever I filled up, I got about the same mileage. Altitude did not seem to make much of a difference, though admittedly I didn't perform maximum scientific dilligence up in the mountains, and downshifting to lower gears to take sexy turns and twisties would have obviously affected things.
I did run California Highway 36 (140 miles from end to end), and I do remember getting to the eastern end of CA-36 with just over 300 kms on the odo and my fuel warning light on solid. I was worried I'd have to use the spare tank I brought with me, but ended up finding a gas station just in time. I figure I was very close to being actually empty. I did most of CA-36 in a "vigorous manner" in 2nd and 3rd gear, with some stretches near the eastern area in 6th as it was straight and visible.
There was a post about controlled conditions and skepticism when it comes to fuel mileage reports, and I always favor scientific analyses whenever possible. This is the best I could do. I monitored fuel mileage and usage and fillups very carefully, to the best of my ability. I have not performed a test on 87 octane fuel yet, and since returning I do fill up on 91 consistently.
Take my data as you will. I am not making any claims either way to support or reject the hypothesis of octane ratings and performance or mileage, I am only providing to you what data I know I observed.
I rode nearly 22,000 km on a 2010 GSXR 600 around North America this past summer. I filled with the top octane fuel each time (mostly 91 in the USA, though sometimes I found 93, etc, generally never any higher) and I never filled with the 85 stuff in Colorado, as my bike's manual says to use minimum 87.
I, with a tailbag and a backpack causing drag on my kit, was consistently able to get 300 kms out of a tank before I urgently needed to fill up, and I estimate if I ran to absolutely dry, I could have gotten at most 325 km out of each tank. I fuelled up at Exxons, Valeros, Shells, Huskys, any big-name gasoline station, and avoided the smaller ones due to my lack of knowledge of their consistency practises. Wherever I filled up, I got about the same mileage. Altitude did not seem to make much of a difference, though admittedly I didn't perform maximum scientific dilligence up in the mountains, and downshifting to lower gears to take sexy turns and twisties would have obviously affected things.
I did run California Highway 36 (140 miles from end to end), and I do remember getting to the eastern end of CA-36 with just over 300 kms on the odo and my fuel warning light on solid. I was worried I'd have to use the spare tank I brought with me, but ended up finding a gas station just in time. I figure I was very close to being actually empty. I did most of CA-36 in a "vigorous manner" in 2nd and 3rd gear, with some stretches near the eastern area in 6th as it was straight and visible.
There was a post about controlled conditions and skepticism when it comes to fuel mileage reports, and I always favor scientific analyses whenever possible. This is the best I could do. I monitored fuel mileage and usage and fillups very carefully, to the best of my ability. I have not performed a test on 87 octane fuel yet, and since returning I do fill up on 91 consistently.
Take my data as you will. I am not making any claims either way to support or reject the hypothesis of octane ratings and performance or mileage, I am only providing to you what data I know I observed.
viper84737
Well-known member
Thank you for your trademark Torontonian response. You do everyone a great service with the high quality and value of your input.
Would you like me to repeat what is already been posted in this thread? And in the 5000 other threads on this forum on the same topic? Do some riders know something that the engineers who designed these bikes don't?
If wasting money on premium for no real advantage makes you happy then go for it. When people make stupid comments implying that it makes some sort of difference I will continue to make my sarcastic comments in response.
|
|
|
|
|