What type of Fuel do you use?
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From: MD, USA
Ethanol free is nice, but I would still use a minimum of 91 octane, since it's what the engines are designed for. Not sure how tight the tolerances are, but knocking and/or ecu pulling timing to prevent knocking, and therefore reducing power, seem like something to avoid.
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From: Fort Worth
Learned the hard way decades ago during the carburetor era that not all fuels are delivered equal. Gasoline may start out as gasoline, but a lot can happen in transport, storage and time. When I was a poor college student, I was buying whatever was the cheapest and constantly having problems, rebuilding carbs, replacing carbs, filters, etc. I installed a glass sediment bowl fuel filter and emptied the crud out of it monthly. Then as they do when you get into college, I started getting all these offers in the mail to apply for credit cards. One was from Exxon. So I got an Exxon card and started buying gas exclusively from Exxon. After a while, I realized that I wasn't having any more problems with my car and there was nothing in the sediment bowl to empty. Modern cars aren't as obviously impacted by dirty fuel because modern fuel injection runs 30-40psi through injectors rather than at 2 - 5 psi through a carburetor but you still would like to be sure you're getting clean fuel.
Many years later I bought a used boat that had been sitting for a couple of years and took it to an outboard engine specialist for recommissioning. He got it running good and gave me the advice to never buy no-name brand fuel at the marinas, but rather only use either Exxon or Chevron. He was convinced that their additives helped keep the gas from going stale so quickly which is important in a boat that isn't in constant use.
Recently tho, I'm getting suspicious of a local Exxon station. I sometimes think I've gotten a tankful of 87 after paying for 93 because a couple of times in the last year it would ping till I refueled or added some octane booster. I read somewhere that the pumps with three separate hoses were better because there was no chance of blending octanes. I haven't seen a pump like that in a long time. I don't know how much 87 is already in the hoses when you select 93. If it were critical for filling your lawnmower, it'd be a concern, but in a 17 gallon fillup, surely its only a quart or two.
Many years later I bought a used boat that had been sitting for a couple of years and took it to an outboard engine specialist for recommissioning. He got it running good and gave me the advice to never buy no-name brand fuel at the marinas, but rather only use either Exxon or Chevron. He was convinced that their additives helped keep the gas from going stale so quickly which is important in a boat that isn't in constant use.
Recently tho, I'm getting suspicious of a local Exxon station. I sometimes think I've gotten a tankful of 87 after paying for 93 because a couple of times in the last year it would ping till I refueled or added some octane booster. I read somewhere that the pumps with three separate hoses were better because there was no chance of blending octanes. I haven't seen a pump like that in a long time. I don't know how much 87 is already in the hoses when you select 93. If it were critical for filling your lawnmower, it'd be a concern, but in a 17 gallon fillup, surely its only a quart or two.
Last edited by pdupler; Nov 7, 2016 at 11:25 PM.
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From: Lancashire, UK
For my runaround car with it's little 1200cc engine I use whatever is convenient, normally Shell Fuelsave unleaded which is about 95 Octane.
However for my Triumph with it's twin carburettor 6 cylinder engine I use Shell V-Power Nitro+ which is 99 Octane rated. This car would have been run on 4 Star Leaded petrol but was designed to run on 5 Star back in the 60's and it loves the V-Power!
My XJ will also get the V-Power fuel once I've finished my renovation and it's back on the road. The first time I used 99 Octane in my old XJ was like giving it amphetamines.
However for my Triumph with it's twin carburettor 6 cylinder engine I use Shell V-Power Nitro+ which is 99 Octane rated. This car would have been run on 4 Star Leaded petrol but was designed to run on 5 Star back in the 60's and it loves the V-Power!
My XJ will also get the V-Power fuel once I've finished my renovation and it's back on the road. The first time I used 99 Octane in my old XJ was like giving it amphetamines.
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From: Bremen, Germany
To start my car runs on (EU) RON95 E10. When warm it runs on RON115 LPG.
My car was made as RON91 was still available. So the lowest grade will do. And as it can take E10, it'll get E10. I've never put anything else in it since buying it last year... No performance problems. The old 3.2l will do it's top speed and more (according to GPS).
My car was made as RON91 was still available. So the lowest grade will do. And as it can take E10, it'll get E10. I've never put anything else in it since buying it last year... No performance problems. The old 3.2l will do it's top speed and more (according to GPS).
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From: NE
I use Shell or Sunoco. Around my normal drive pattern NY/NJ/PA -- WAWA is taking over with huge gas stations -- with the new NJ tax increase the smaller stations are going to be hurt. I buy Sunoco if I have a choice. No self serve in NJ.
Here in Belgium the 98 Oct. is quite expensive to fill the car every week so I use 95 oct. I have notice that I get a better performance when I use a full tank of 95 and better mileage than the 98.
Learned the hard way decades ago during the carburetor era that not all fuels are delivered equal. Gasoline may start out as gasoline, but a lot can happen in transport, storage and time. When I was a poor college student, I was buying whatever was the cheapest and constantly having problems, rebuilding carbs, replacing carbs, filters, etc. I installed a glass sediment bowl fuel filter and emptied the crud out of it monthly. Then as they do when you get into college, I started getting all these offers in the mail to apply for credit cards. One was from Exxon. So I got an Exxon card and started buying gas exclusively from Exxon. After a while, I realized that I wasn't having any more problems with my car and there was nothing in the sediment bowl to empty. Modern cars aren't as obviously impacted by dirty fuel because modern fuel injection runs 30-40psi through injectors rather than at 2 - 5 psi through a carburetor but you still would like to be sure you're getting clean fuel.
Many years later I bought a used boat that had been sitting for a couple of years and took it to an outboard engine specialist for recommissioning. He got it running good and gave me the advice to never buy no-name brand fuel at the marinas, but rather only use either Exxon or Chevron. He was convinced that their additives helped keep the gas from going stale so quickly which is important in a boat that isn't in constant use.
Recently tho, I'm getting suspicious of a local Exxon station. I sometimes think I've gotten a tankful of 87 after paying for 93 because a couple of times in the last year it would ping till I refueled or added some octane booster. I read somewhere that the pumps with three separate hoses were better because there was no chance of blending octanes. I haven't seen a pump like that in a long time. I don't know how much 87 is already in the hoses when you select 93. If it were critical for filling your lawnmower, it'd be a concern, but in a 17 gallon fillup, surely its only a quart or two.
Many years later I bought a used boat that had been sitting for a couple of years and took it to an outboard engine specialist for recommissioning. He got it running good and gave me the advice to never buy no-name brand fuel at the marinas, but rather only use either Exxon or Chevron. He was convinced that their additives helped keep the gas from going stale so quickly which is important in a boat that isn't in constant use.
Recently tho, I'm getting suspicious of a local Exxon station. I sometimes think I've gotten a tankful of 87 after paying for 93 because a couple of times in the last year it would ping till I refueled or added some octane booster. I read somewhere that the pumps with three separate hoses were better because there was no chance of blending octanes. I haven't seen a pump like that in a long time. I don't know how much 87 is already in the hoses when you select 93. If it were critical for filling your lawnmower, it'd be a concern, but in a 17 gallon fillup, surely its only a quart or two.
the cars with ethanol free run better than those with ethanol?
For my runaround car with it's little 1200cc engine I use whatever is convenient, normally Shell Fuelsave unleaded which is about 95 Octane.
However for my Triumph with it's twin carburettor 6 cylinder engine I use Shell V-Power Nitro+ which is 99 Octane rated. This car would have been run on 4 Star Leaded petrol but was designed to run on 5 Star back in the 60's and it loves the V-Power!
My XJ will also get the V-Power fuel once I've finished my renovation and it's back on the road. The first time I used 99 Octane in my old XJ was like giving it amphetamines.
However for my Triumph with it's twin carburettor 6 cylinder engine I use Shell V-Power Nitro+ which is 99 Octane rated. This car would have been run on 4 Star Leaded petrol but was designed to run on 5 Star back in the 60's and it loves the V-Power!
My XJ will also get the V-Power fuel once I've finished my renovation and it's back on the road. The first time I used 99 Octane in my old XJ was like giving it amphetamines.
To start my car runs on (EU) RON95 E10. When warm it runs on RON115 LPG.
My car was made as RON91 was still available. So the lowest grade will do. And as it can take E10, it'll get E10. I've never put anything else in it since buying it last year... No performance problems. The old 3.2l will do it's top speed and more (according to GPS).
My car was made as RON91 was still available. So the lowest grade will do. And as it can take E10, it'll get E10. I've never put anything else in it since buying it last year... No performance problems. The old 3.2l will do it's top speed and more (according to GPS).
Haha dang wawa that grocery store has gas stations? , so now all bigger stations are taking over like wawa because of the tax increases, and we never have self serve in sc..
strange that lower octane is better than the higher one.
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From: Virginia beach va
UK and German octane ratings are different than here in the US. Second, most US states don't sell gas without 10% ethanol (if you can find ethanol free gas, buy it, it is much better). I use Sunoco 93 octane (US method). WaWa here in VA is 92 octane whereas most others are 93. For what it is worth.
UK and German octane ratings are different than here in the US. Second, most US states don't sell gas without 10% ethanol (if you can find ethanol free gas, buy it, it is much better). I use Sunoco 93 octane (US method). WaWa here in VA is 92 octane whereas most others are 93. For what it is worth.
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Joined: May 2010
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From: NE
NJ had low gas tax and no "self serve" ... anybody going through always filled up. The tax went up .23 on 11/1 .. so it's going to make NJ gas less appealing. My local Shell station had to switch to Conoco -- Shell gas was alway a few cents more and with WAWA around he was loosing to much business