98 RON in a GTI

[geoff_gti]

In WA all of the 98RON fuel comes from the BP Refinery at Kwinana. Use whichever you like, it's all the same.

Interesting, didn't know that one! My local BP happens to be one of the few that takes the IGA 4c discount vouchers; but last fill still cost me $96.

[dangerous_daveo]

From what I was told by one of the engineers that worked at both refineries in Brisbane, the BP product burns cleaner than the Shell product. I mean, it isnt much, but it was a little. Also keep in mind that Caltex servos didnt used to have the 98 up here, so obviously something has changed along the line. Either way 2c over 50L is $1... Just fill up when it gets to 1/4 left.

That said, work pays for my fuel so its BP for me!

[mrx]

+2 it's all the same here!

Just get onto fuelwatch and figure out who is the cheapest on the day.

As luck would have it, the United just down the road from where I live is always near the top of the list! Not that the price really bothers me, since I do so few kilometres that I only need to fill up about every 3 weeks.

[JustCruisn]

I've found that Shell is more expensive than BP, especially after removing Optimax from the line up. Where are you getting cheap V-Power?

Vpower is just a new name for Optimax.
Shell Grenard Rd Rocklea cheapest for Sth West. Or Sandgate Rd Virginia when im on the Northside.

[ozgriff]

Isn't VPower 100 RON, while Optimax was 98. Plus I noticed an increase in price when my local shell swapped one for the other.

[99gti]

Yup - I got Vpower racing the other day for 5c more than Vpower 98. For the sake of my pocket change, I got the Vpower racing

[brad]

Isn't VPower 100 RON, while Optimax was 98. Plus I noticed an increase in price when my local shell swapped one for the other.

No, Optimax got rebranded to V-Power & is 98RON.
V-Power Racing is 100RON & 5% ethanol

[gerhard]

No, Optimax got rebranded to V-Power & is 98RON.
V-Power Racing is 100RON & 5% ethanol

With all this fuel discussion, no-one has mentioned ethanol blend until now.

Has anyone used E10 blend (which is supposedly 95 ron) when unable to find either 95 or 98?

[Maverick]

With all this fuel discussion, no-one has mentioned ethanol blend until now.

Has anyone used E10 blend (which is supposedly 95 ron) when unable to find either 95 or 98?

Why? I wouldn't put ethanol near my car, other the fact that it's a complete con (less kms per tank) ethanol isn't the best for your fuel system. I also have fundamental issues with the subsidies that manufacturers of ethanol are given and the fact that it takes far more energy to make ethanol then you get out of it.

[gerhard]

Why? I wouldn't put ethanol near my car, other the fact that it's a complete con (less kms per tank) ethanol isn't the best for your fuel system. I also have fundamental issues with the subsidies that manufacturers of ethanol are given and the fact that it takes far more energy to make ethanol then you get out of it.

You have expressed some personal views, but they don't answer the question.

The question was, if you can't get 95 or 98, can you use E10 which is 95 equivalent.

[ozgriff]

My dealer when asked the question said 'stay away from ethanol'.

There seems to be some conflicting information, but apparently 60% of cars in Australia can use ethanol blends.

Fuel Injected VW cars from 1986 are supposed to be use 5 or 10% ethanol. I'm not sure if this includes Direct Injection.

[brad]

You have expressed some personal views, but they don't answer the question.

The question was, if you can't get 95 or 98, can you use E10 which is 95 equivalent.

I still haven't worked out what the octane of the BP/Shell/Mobil/Caltex E10 is.

United do an E10 95RON which is 92RON unleaded + 10% ethanol. I don't have a turbo car (yet - 2 weeks to go) but I use 95RON in my AGG engined Golf & it feels like it has a bit more torque than with straight 95. I think this is because ethanol burns slower & cooler. Fuel economy is consistently 0.3L/100km worse than straight 95. I also like the fact that the ethanol helps clean the injectors & combustion chambers.

A mate has an XR5 Focus with the 5cylinder turbo (Volvo engine) and runs 95E10 all the time and reckons the car loves it.

According to one site I looked at:

Volkswagen All Volkswagen petrol engine vehicles will operate satisfactorily on E10 but Volkswagen does not recommend it.

but according to

http://www.autoindustries.com.au/ethanol.php/2007/05/00000005.html

all post 1986 fuel injected VWs are fine for e10.

I guess what it boils down to is that if there is no straight 95 or 98 available then 95e10 will give better anti-knock properties than plain old ULP.

If you are running low on fuel & aren't sure where the next PULP will be and you don't feel comfortable with E10 then you are probably better adding 95E10 sooner rather than later so that it mixes in with as much straight PULP as possible, therefore reducing the % of Ethanol.

Personally, I'd have no problems using it.

edit: IIRC ALL FUELS in NSW are now minimum 2% ethanol -
edit 2: Some Audis don't like ethanol - Audi A3 1.8L (Engine Code ‘APG’ 2000 onwards)and A4 2.0L (Engine Code ‘ALT’ 2001 onwards)

[Manaz]

IIRC ALL FUELS in NSW are now minimum 2% ethanol

Yep, I read this the other day. It ****s me that the government mandates stuff like this - ethanol causes as many problems as it solves, and yet we're having it shoved down our throats.

[gerhard]

I still haven't worked out what the octane of the BP/Shell/Mobil/Caltex E10 is.

United do an E10 95RON which is 92RON unleaded + 10% ethanol. I don't have a turbo car (yet - 2 weeks to go) but I use 95RON in my AGG engined Golf & it feels like it has a bit more torque than with straight 95. I think this is because ethanol burns slower & cooler. Fuel economy is consistently 0.3L/100km worse than straight 95. I also like the fact that the ethanol helps clean the injectors & combustion chambers.

A mate has an XR5 Focus with the 5cylinder turbo (Volvo engine) and runs 95E10 all the time and reckons the car loves it.

According to one site I looked at:


but according to

http://www.autoindustries.com.au/ethanol.php/2007/05/00000005.html

all post 1986 fuel injected VWs are fine for e10.

I guess what it boils down to is that if there is no straight 95 or 98 available then 95e10 will give better anti-knock properties than plain old ULP.

If you are running low on fuel & aren't sure where the next PULP will be and you don't feel comfortable with E10 then you are probably better adding 95E10 sooner rather than later so that it mixes in with as much straight PULP as possible, therefore reducing the % of Ethanol.

Personally, I'd have no problems using it.

edit: IIRC ALL FUELS in NSW are now minimum 2% ethanol -
edit 2: Some Audis don't like ethanol - Audi A3 1.8L (Engine Code ‘APG’ 2000 onwards)and A4 2.0L (Engine Code ‘ALT’ 2001 onwards)

That's a well thought out reply, thanks Brad.

I have used the United E10 in my Jackaroo 3.5l for a few years now with no ill effect, and a friend with a Turbo Territory also uses it with no apparent ill effect.

When I was shopping around for my Golf GTI (2 weeks or so to wait) one of the dealers stated they use ULP95 in all their vehicles, never 98, and that they had encountered no negative issues. I presume they wouldn't care if their demo cars ran on lower performance, as it would save them a fair bit over a year in fuel costs.

[ch1533n]

r u for real ???

That's a well thought out reply, thanks Brad.

I have used the United E10 in my Jackaroo 3.5l for a few years now with no ill effect, and a friend with a Turbo Territory also uses it with no apparent ill effect.

When I was shopping around for my Golf GTI (2 weeks or so to wait) one of the dealers stated they use ULP95 in all their vehicles, never 98, and that they had encountered no negative issues. I presume they wouldn't care if their demo cars ran on lower performance, as it would save them a fair bit over a year in fuel costs.