Which petrol station do you use?

[StoneY]

Funny thing with octane ratings - my 02 SS750 I had got like 50km extra range on 95 as opposed to 91 (2 valve 748cc) but the ST4 only got like 10-15 km's extra range when compared and its a 4 valve 916

Our cage does way better on 95 or 98 though, Caldina Turbo, gets 460 kms to a 91 tank and about 570 kms on a 95 tank
Thats a BIG difference and well worth running on the 95 even with the price diff

[steve_t]

Funny thing with octane ratings - my 02 SS750 I had got like 50km extra range on 95 as opposed to 91 (2 valve 748cc) but the ST4 only got like 10-15 km's extra range when compared and its a 4 valve 916

Our cage does way better on 95 or 98 though, Caldina Turbo, gets 460 kms to a 91 tank and about 570 kms on a 95 tank
Thats a BIG difference and well worth running on the 95 even with the price diff

Caldina Turbo will be retarding timing due to knock from the lower octane fuel and making less power.

[baptist]

Now that is over 2.18 I tend to use those supermarket vouchers with up to 25c off up to 100 ltrs.
Get a car load then "jerry can" some for the bikes. Easier with small bikes with small thirsts I guess.

Exactly what I do, the jerry can fills the bike and the lawn mower, only ever taken the bike into a petrol station twice I am afraid I am more interested in the discount vouchers than any particular brand. My thinking is kind of "who cares" we get ripped off anyway.

...and yup nothing beats a BP BC pie, especially when your wet and cold...

How about a steaming hot home made Steak and Mushroom pie ready on the table as you walk through the door (I can dream can't I?)

[Geeen]

There is an independently owned BP here in Hamiltron on Te Rapa Straight. They're the only one in Hamz I think. And they're the only one that charges the credit card surcharge

If you mean the one next to Hamilton Motorcycles it's gone now. Went past the other day and the tanks were being dug up and shop is closed.

[steve_t]

If you mean the one next to Hamilton Motorcycles it's gone now. Went past the other day and the tanks were being dug up and shop is closed.

Really? Doh. I guess there's just no competing with big business

[Stylo]

You can thank me later

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I use what ever is closest. It all comes from Marsden point anyway, so all basically the same thing.

The pretty young lady who works at my local Mobil station has breasts bigger than they should be for her little frame so........that's where I fill up and so ends my scientific input to this thread.

[Old Steve]

There's been a fair bit of misinformation in these posts. I worked for Caltex for over 20 years, worked as their Technical Manager in NZ for a year and a bit, represented the company on the team which liaised with Govt and introduced unleaded petrol in NZ, and worked for over 8 years in cCltex's International Technical Center in Sydney (mainly on lubricants, but did some work on fuels). I am a bit biased about Caltex, I like their petrol additive technology. Worked on getting Caltex their BMW approval for their additised petrol, and that's a story and a half. Haven't worked in the industry for nearly 10 years now though.

There's 2 different octanes. Octane is the measure of a fuels resistance to knocking, preigniting. RON and MON, one is Research Octane Number and refers to the fuels resistance to knock under high speed, other is Motor Octane Number and refers to the fuels resistance to knock under low speed high load conditions (such as pulling away from a corner in a higher gear. The NZ fuel specs have a minimum limit for both RON and MOn, there;s usually a 10 number difference, MON is lower. The less difference, the better the fuel is. So 91 has lower limits of 81/91 for MON/RON, 95 has limits of 85/95 MON/RON. There are also limits on the aromatic content, volatiliy, olefin levels, and a whole lot of other factors. American "octane" is RON + MON / 2, so 'standard 91' here is 86 there, 95 here is 90 or 91 there. It's that simple

Auckland is the only area which gets pure Marsden Point petrol through the piupeline. BP, Caltex, Mobil and Shell (or Greenstone actually) are all partners on WOSL, Wiri pipeline terminal. Gull tankers into Auckland from Mt Maunganui I think. A lot of the rest of the petrol used in NZ is imported, usually from Thailand or Singapore. Marsden Pt petrol is VERY good, when Caltex did it's BMW tests in California we had to ship 200 Litre drums of unadditised petrol to San Fransisco for the tests. They landed the day of the earthquake there and went missing for 2 weeks. Was found, additised and the test was run, and BMW rang the additive company asking what new technology they had because the results were the best they'd ever seen - that was largely down to the quality of the Marsden Pt petrol and the additive technology combined.

But the base fuel in any area is completely the same, tanker comes in and fills all the comapny's tanks. It's the additive which makes the difference. Petrol leaves deposits on the back of valves in fuel injected engines, and gums through carburettors. These valve deposits absorb fuel when a rich spray is produced on start up),making starting difficult, then the fuel evaporates out of the deposit when the engine has warmed making the engine run rough. The additive should clean these valve deposits, and clean out carburettor gum. On the BMW test, they weighed the valves before and after running 5,000 miles I think, could have been more. The Caltex valves had no weight gain, absolutely no increase in weight - BMW had never seen anything like it.

Using 95 if your engine only needs 91. I don't believe it helps. If the engine has an electronic management system and knock sensor then it will advance on the higher octane fuel and you may see a small increase of fuel economy but I don't think its worth it. Using Gull, I wouldn't as some polymers used in fuel systems might not be compatible with ethanol. I just use Caltex Techron 91 in GLORIA (though there are some on this forum who think Hyosungs would run on pig urine - they won't by the way).

[bsasuper]

Caltex does clean your engine, my car ran on nothing else for the last five years, had to do a head gasket change, and the inlet valves were like brand new.

I run the bike on caltex or shell (96 octane) and have found shell runs the best.

[Wannabiker]

I try and stay away from Ethanol blended gas. There has been some cases in the states where the plastic fuel tanks on Multistradas (02-08, not the new model) have expanded and jammed between the frame members. The thought is that the ethanol blend has reacted with the plastic tank, causing it to expand.

[Captian soup]

@ old steve
THANKS thats a really clear and knowledgeable answer..

[Hopeful Bastard]

How about a steaming hot home made Steak and Mushroom pie ready on the table as you walk through the door (I can dream can't I?)

Easy... Turn up at Fatt Max's door step.. He sure would have one ready... Or about to be taken out of the oven


Anyhow... I fill with BP as I have an AA card. Unless the price has just gone up and somewhere else is still at a cheaper rate.

As much as everyone bleats on about how bad the AA are... I have needed them over the last 3 years.. (Locked keys in car and no spare key as out of town) Key snapped in Ignition Barrel at a Petrol Station in Palmerston North and seeing as I am not the current insurer of my car and it only has 3rd Party, I have needed someone who I wont be paying hundreds of dollars to on a weekend, After hours!

[FruitLooPs]

I don't understand why though, the octane rating is about how easily it is detonated. So the higher number means it's easier to detonate, so more of the fuel detonates and therefore you get more out of it? Yep that sounds good I'll stick with that till someone tells me otherwise or I can bother researching it.

Actually the higher the octane the more resistant to igniting and the slower burning the fuel is. 91 octane is more explosive/lower flashpoint than 95/98 under identical conditions (temp/pressure etc). The comparatively slower burning flamefront on higher octane fuel helps when ignition occurs by controlling the rate of combustion inside the cylinder, good in high compression or turbo engines under boost.

[Wannabiker]

Actually the higher the octane the more resistant to igniting and the slower burning the fuel is. 91 octane is more explosive/lower flashpoint than 95/98 under identical conditions (temp/pressure etc). The comparatively slower burning flamefront on higher octane fuel helps when ignition occurs by controlling the rate of combustion inside the cylinder, good in high compression or turbo engines under boost.

Correct...10 points

[Berries]

The pretty young lady who works at my local Mobil station has breasts bigger than they should be for her little frame so........that's where I fill up and so ends my scientific input to this thread.

S'funny. That's why I shop at the local Countdown store instead of New World.

[Shadows]

Because my bike has such shitty fuel range I use which ever retailer means I don't find myself crawling through the desert to a fuel oasis crying "petrol... petrol...".
This means I stop at about every second petrol station.