What's your preferred fuel?

[sars]

Hey, wondering if you guys have a favoured fuel type? I've heard of people swearing by Gull gas, but some think it may cause damage or produce less power//more power in certain engines?? I've tried trying different ones in the CBR and tried to distinguish any difference but I can't really, the only thing I noticed is that when I run Gull gas the bike smells nicer... maaaaybe I get more response with BP98 but I dunno...

[Flip]

Modern vehicles, incl my tractor are not that fussy these days. Most modern vehicles have a anti-knocksensor that detects pre-ignition and backs off the ignition timing to protect the motor.

Gull have to get their fuel off shore so some times the fuel spec can vary a bit. Gull are not part of the marsden refinery agrement. They also don't have acess to the wiri and chch pipelines, so incur some addittional expense trucking fuel in the 2 major markets in nz.

All the other fuel is much of the same in NZ. Caltex add a squirt of fuel system detergent which is a good idea. Octane is a fuels ability not to ignite under compression and has nothing to do with power. The more a motor compresses the fuel the harder the pistons are pushed down by the burning mixture, high compression race motors need high octane fuel. The grunt a motor can produce is a function of its tuning not the fuel selected. If you ran white spirits (60 octane unleadded fuel) in a race motor it would preignite and damege the motor or ran 100 octane race fuel in a low compression vintage motor it would not burn fast enough and heat up the exhaust system to reh hot and might damage it.

[Ruahine]

On my CBR i noticed that Gull fuel, while cheaper, gave me less km/l than standard non ethanol blends. It actually worked out to be a false economy. I didn't notice any difference in power between the different brands though. According to the owners manual it will run fine on 95 or 98 and can cope with 10% ethanol blends.

[Mike.Gayner]

It's just petrol, don't overthink it. Put in the octane rating per your handbook. Anyone who tells you X brand is superior, or Y brand causes engine damage, should be shot in the face.

[mossy1200]

Ran 98 with ethanol in the morning 295kph average and gps showing final speed 297 at finish line before power off.
Ran 96 in the afternoon when temps hotter and other bikes running slower than the morning 304kph average, gps showing final speed 309 at finish line.

Couldn't feel the difference in acceleration though.

[Gremlin]

I've seen modern bikes (newer than 2005) have their fuel lines turned to mush by ethanol blends of fuel. I'm staying well away from ethanol for as long as possible, despite what manufacturers claim.

Other than that, pick what works. I've found Caltex gives reasonable economy without going to 98 grade fuels for the BMW, and the Hornet is fed Caltex 91. The BMW fuel tank is large enough to earn smartfuel credit too.

[ducatilover]

It's just petrol, don't overthink it. Put in the octane rating per your handbook. Anyone who tells you X brand is superior, or Y brand causes engine damage, should be shot in the face.

This is not entirely true, for your average vehicle anything is generally okay.
However, the Gull force 10 is not ideal for economy, eth needs to be run richer to burn well. And it's just a waste of time without having a set up for it, running a flex sensor and adaptive ECU.
It also gobbles moisture, I spose it's hygroscopic

Modern vehicles, incl my tractor are not that fussy these days. Most modern vehicles have a anti-knocksensor that detects pre-ignition and backs off the ignition timing to protect the motor.

Gull have to get their fuel off shore so some times the fuel spec can vary a bit. Gull are not part of the marsden refinery agrement. They also don't have acess to the wiri and chch pipelines, so incur some addittional expense trucking fuel in the 2 major markets in nz.

All the other fuel is much of the same in NZ. Caltex add a squirt of fuel system detergent which is a good idea. Octane is a fuels ability not to ignite under compression and has nothing to do with power. The more a motor compresses the fuel the harder the pistons are pushed down by the burning mixture, high compression race motors need high octane fuel. The grunt a motor can produce is a function of its tuning not the fuel selected. If you ran white spirits (60 octane unleadded fuel) in a race motor it would preignite and damege the motor or ran 100 octane race fuel in a low compression vintage motor it would not burn fast enough and heat up the exhaust system to reh hot and might damage it.

Many vehicles are pretty happy on your average 91/95, but there are also a lot that want higher octane fuels. A fair few Hondas and whatnot of JDM origins ran different timing to our NZDM ones (IE: the B16A EK Civic SiR and VTiR) and the JDM ones aren't too chuffed about our 91 fuel.
Same goes for the 5.7 Holdens, they have a disgusting head design and detonate to fuck on 91, the knock sensors pull a shitload of timing and they are gutless as fuck, use more gas and get a bit warm when you load em up.

On the other hand, a mate's Escort rally car would make no more power on Av gas , but will det to death on 91.

So, run whatever the hell you want, but I, personally run 98 in my bikes (they all tend to have ignition advancers anyway). A fair few bikes will happily run on 91, but the likes of your 600RR will be running more efficiently with decent petrol.

[Tazz]

oooooo shit that's a can of worms mate! To be honest I've never had a good pie or cookie at a Gull station so I stick to Z and BP purely for food and opening hour options
I got bored of the mileage tracking needed to see what minuscule difference what makes 6 vehicles ago, now if it runs and is not noticeably worse, I'm happy.

[Richard Mc F]

91 leaves more money for beer

[EJK]

91 leaves more money for beer

*Sigh* I'll say again, put diesel. It's cheaper.

[kiwi-on-wheels]

98 in mine.... but its old, it just runs nicer

[awa355]

98 in mine.... but its old, it just runs nicer

Same here. On super, the little V twin idles smoother, has better response under load, doing better mileage per tank and adds less than a dollar more to the cost of a refill.

[WNJ]

Run 98 seems to run smooth get 280k per tank

[unstuck]

I just use whatever I can syphon out of the cars hiding out the back of the pub, those bastards shouldn't be on the road anyway. Let them walk it off.

[Mo NZ]

*Sigh* I'll say again, put diesel. It's cheaper.

What sort on a numb nuts comment is that?

Perhaps you can name a few bikes that actually run on diesel.

BYW If you add the RUC'S and the difference in the Rego prices ( for example a ute ), to say nothing about routine maintenance, you have to do high k's to beat a petrol powered vehicle. Plenty written about that.