Different brands of petrol

[hzbloke]

I feel that my bike runs better on one brand of petrol than the others. I don't want to compare specific brands but I'm curious if others find that, say, 98 octane from company A works better than 98 octane from company B (or C or D).

[n3303j]

I feel that my bike runs better on one brand of petrol than the others. I don't want to compare specific brands but I'm curious if others find that, say, 98 octane from company A works better than 98 octane from company B (or C or D).

Where are you getting 98 octane fuel?

[Daniel Kalal]

Where are you getting 98 octane fuel?

Australia uses the RON method while the US uses the (R+M)/2 method to define octane level.
Roughly, 98 RON is 93 (R+M)/2

[twowings]

We have an independent station here that sells all grades of ethanol-free gasoline...my Norge and my MINIs have never run better or gotten better mileage...

[Guzzistajohn]

I don’t notice any difference with my carbed bikes or FI

[malik]

Here in Oz (on the RON system, we have (generally) 98, 95, 91, & 91+E10. For the heron head small blocks, 95 is recommended, but I have found no significant usage or performance difference between 91 & 95. Or 98, for that matter, except for Shell 98, which can cause problems - bad running, non starting when warm - aparemtly the additives Shell puts in for the high performance car fuel injected systems doesnt agree with our simpler system. Bear in mind that the additive mixes appear to vary from refinery to refinery, as well as from brand to brand, so local experiences can differ. From reports, there seems to be more noticeable differences in the premium products, and less in the others - I've not noticed any particular difference in the 91s all over the country. But then heron heads seem to be forgiving.

[Tusayan]

I have repeatedly and on multiple bikes seen substantial differences in fuel consumption (as much as 25%) when using non-alcohol fuel.

[bad Chad]

I have found just the opposite.  No matter the brand or even ethanol vs no alcohol seems to make any difference in how it runs. I still prefer 100% petrol

[Ncdan]

I like yo run the corn free fuel but I must admit I can't tell any difference on the road when I must use the 10% plus fuels. I think modern vehicles are, by design, capable of using any gasoline nation wide.

[Tusayan]

My experience is roughly 10-15% better fuel consumption with non-alcohol fuel at the same altitude, plus about the same improvement again when running (say) 5,000 ft above sea level on an injected bike with altitude compensation.   The effect of altitude does complicate the issue, given that non-alcohol fuel is often more available in mountainous US states.

On a 2018 tour in Idaho, Montana etc my best tank of fuel on a Ducati ST was (believe it or not) about 60 mpg. At home near sea level and with 10% alcohol fuel I have rarely if ever done better than 45 mpg.

Although energy content of alcohol fuel is lower which unavoidably leads to lower mpg there is more to this, particularly with open loop fuel mapping.

[beetle]

There are 4 refineries in Oz, producing about 65% of petrol in the country. Mobil, Caltex and BP. Plus a company called Viva. As Perrazimx says, it's the propriety additives each brand puts in that can affect performance. Plus, there's always the crud in the storage tanks at the servo.

I've run 91, 95 & 98 RON in the Griso, from all brands, including the "independents". I usually go for the highest Octane available. I typically pick Caltex or BP on the road. I use Mobil locally, 'cos it's the closest to home. It used to be a United. I've not noticed any real performance issues with any particular brand. The worst fuel I've ever used was from the Emmdale Roadhouse on the Barrier Highway. I don't even recall what "brand" it was, but they only had 91 RON, and my (and Roper's) Griso ran like a farty arsehole.

[Bulldog9]

I find most of the name brand fuels to be about the same. Where I run into problems it's with the No name off-market gas stations that sometimes have lower quality fuels that they buy on the market. We have a local chain here called liberty that routinely has bad gas. but it's five to ten cents a gallon cheaper than the name brand across the street so they get a lot of business.

There is a pretty direct correlation between fuel economy and the percentage of alcohol in the fuel. The whole thing is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. Supposedly fuels with an ethanol mixture burn cleaner, but if you have a 10 or a 15% reduction in fuel economy, you're burning more fuel so what is the net gain or loss? I don't know, but some engineering types will probably have an answer...

I can't really tell the difference in my fuel injected vehicles when running pure gas versus ethanol mix, but my carbureted vehicles run much better on pure gas. As a habit I add either seafoam, lucas, or marvel mystery oil to all my vehicles with carburetors whenever I put ethanol based fuels in them.

[kingoffleece]

I have E0 near me.  Use it for everything.  What's disappointing is that no matter what I use or where the E10 and E0 mpg are the same.

[hzbloke]

Could it be the additive package put into the base fuel that possibly makes one brand behave differently to others? When I put water in my whisky it burns differently depending where the water came from.

We can leave E10 out of the conversation. It's pointless piss of the devil.

[Rough Edge racing]

I have E0 near me.  Use it for everything.  What's disappointing is that no matter what I use or where the E10 and E0 mpg are the same.

 I use the 90 octane western NY non ethanol in my bikes and property maintenance equipment...But not in my truck or Jeep because it's 40-50 cents a gallon more expensive than E10.. Like you I notice no performance difference unless the 93 octane E10 is required to suppress pinging..

[kingoffleece]

Yep.  I wish I saw the reported increase in mpg.  After more than 20 calculations I've concluded it's not available (mpg gain) for my bikes or Mini Coopers.

[Rough Edge racing]

  Our daughter lives in West Seneca, I notice the gas in the Buffalo area is about 5 cents more a gallon than near Rochester...And gas on the west side of Rochester is a few cents less than the east side....