My Mustang will run on anything from 87-octane on up. The specs say I get
10ft-lbs more torque in the midrange if I run
91-octane or higher. It's pretty subjective--you'd have to put it on a dyno to
be sure--but there is a slight,
occasional hesitation when I punch it with the low-test. It seems to run a tad
smoother on the high-test, too. I've
mixed 93, 95 and 100 octane fuel in and didn't notice much difference (you'd
need to raise the CR to get any gain from
higher octane, I suspect). Again, totally subjective.
I don't know about Europe, but I believe there is a difference in octane
ratings. The refiners know what they're
making, and unless there's a screwup you should be getting what the pump says
(some brands only put their 'special'
additives in their premium). The Bureau of Weights and Measures checks the
volumes the pumps dispense (I used to work
there). There should be a sticker on every pump showing the last time it was
checked. I don't know who checks the fuel
octane--probably the refiner; I think that's a fairly complex test--so some may
cheat, though. Would make an
interesting 'investigative reporting' episode.
What do you think of 'Top Tier' fuel?
Bob
On 5/1/2011 1:20 AM, Oudesluys wrote:
> In the Netherlands there are only 2 or 3 refineries. ALL brands big and
> small get their fuel from these. It even goes as far as trucks from
> Shell, Esso, Texaco, BP etc supplying other brands or each other.
> Supposedly the "specially formulated and branded" dopes are added after
> the fuel has been loaded, Yeah.
> Differences in the various brands? My foot!!
> I do not expect it to be very much different in any country across the
> globe.
> Any of you really had a proven problem because of modern fuel, other
> than dissolved coatings and rubber hoses causing some blockages and
> gumming up?
> Premium fuel? It is a lot more expensive. Results? Negative. Not even
> the real octane rating is higher. Sometimes I even doubt if the product
> at the pump is different. So keep your money in the pocket and use the
> regular fuel. If your engine really requires high octane fuel, get real
> tetra ethyl lead from a can and add to your fuel or get the special
> racing formulated fuel if you can.
> I have never had any problems with the cheapest brand fuel I could find
> in any of my cars since the mid sixties when I started driving. When
> leaded 98-100 octane (EU) fuel was phased out I had to retard some but
> not all of the ignitions of the older cars, that was all.
> Kees Oudesluijs
>
>
>
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Bob Spidell San Jose, CA bspidell at comcast.net
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