OZ gas quality

[bonnie john]

i keep hearing that our gas is some of the worst in the world, from a composition point of view. and that it's quality is inconsistant, whatever that means

i understand that better fuel economy can be achieved through running a higher octane rated fuel (amongst other things), i'd like to try it for myself

so, can any ockers help me out with the best fuel to run in my stable : 2003 VY SS ute, 1992 fatboy harley, 1969 BSA ROCKET III and a briggsy victa (j/k)

 

[Max_Wander]

Just a quick question about OZ gas. is it clear and colourless or is it tinted "yellowish green"?

 

[crinkles]

max, aussie petrol has a pale purple dye in it.
http://www.shell.com/static/au-en/downloads/fuels/tds/shell_unleaded_pet_tds.pdf


bonnie john, i always hear bad things about our petrol too but i simply don't believe it.

places where you will get problems are low turnover joints.

guy at toyota said they hardly ever have ANY issues with clogged fuel filters unless neglected over 2 or 3 maintenance cycles (75,000 km for my camry). the filter is more to stop a batch of bad fuel from ruining everything.

FWIW i think we got pretty tough fuel standards - top notch with respect to many countries in the world. it is statutory requirements too. i think as long as you buy from good turnover stations you're OK.

whether you can get better fuel economy by using higher octane fuel is a contentious question. i don't think so to be honest, but my best run ever was on shell 98. but i have come within 2% of that consumption using regular 91 octane.

 

[sprintman]

Wrong, Oz has fuel only betterd by Japan, and only just. U.K also has great fuel. 98 RON everywhere

 

[bonnie john]

hi sprintman

i'm really going by my harley buddies

they say "the modern h.d.'s won't run properly coz of our fuel. some was sent to h.d. hq for analysis and came back with a report that was not of good enough quality"

this is only hearsay as far as i'm concerned, however ...

i own a 1992 fatboy which specifies 87 octane or better. it pinks on our regular, despite electronic timing and (i believe) knock sensing capabilities

since changing to premium, the prob has lessened considerably

t/y johnny

p.s. bike owned since new, as close to stock as possible. also only buy my petrol from busy "big 4" i.e. caltex, mobil, shell or bp and usually add ucl

Originally Posted By: sprintman
Wrong, Oz has fuel only betterd by Japan, and only just. U.K also has great fuel. 98 RON everywhere

 

[virginoil]

Originally Posted By: Max_Wander
Just a quick question about OZ gas. is it clear and colourless or is it tinted "yellowish green"?


Our regular unleaded 91 Ron is a red purply colour. (150ppm sulphur max)

Our premium unleaded 95 Ron is a yellow greenish colour. (50ppm sulphur max)

Our ultimate unleaded 98 Ron is a yellow greenish colour. (50ppm sulphur max)

 

[Durango]

Originally Posted By: bonnie john
i keep hearing that our gas is some of the worst in the world, from a composition point of view. and that it's quality is inconsistant, whatever that means

i understand that better fuel economy can be achieved through running a higher octane rated fuel (amongst other things), i'd like to try it for myself

so, can any ockers help me out with the best fuel to run in my stable : 2003 VY SS ute, 1992 fatboy harley, 1969 BSA ROCKET III and a briggsy victa (j/k)




bonnie john,

I'd run the highest octane gas in your hog and do some experimentation to see how your mileage differs from one octane to another. If the quality of the gas is in question I buy what I can afford and put in a bottle of Techron every other month.

Durango

 

[Shannow]

Plus, the Harley recommendation for 87 is probably the American 87, which is either MON, or (RON+MON)/2, our 91 (RON) probably isn't the fuel for it.

I'd also question how an enquiring mind would get a reasonable sample of fuel over to Harley for testing

 

[crinkles]

Originally Posted By: virginoil
Originally Posted By: Max_Wander
Just a quick question about OZ gas. is it clear and colourless or is it tinted "yellowish green"?


Our regular unleaded 91 Ron is a red purply colour. (150ppm sulphur max)

Our premium unleaded 95 Ron is a yellow greenish colour. (50ppm sulphur max)

Our ultimate unleaded 98 Ron is a yellow greenish colour. (50ppm sulphur max)


correct, premium is yellow dyed. purple must only be for unleaded 91.

 

[crinkles]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Plus, the Harley recommendation for 87 is probably the American 87, which is either MON, or (RON+MON)/2, our 91 (RON) probably isn't the fuel for it.

I'd also question how an enquiring mind would get a reasonable sample of fuel over to Harley for testing


+1

BP's 95 unleaded TDS http://www.tds.bp.com.au/pdf%5C5688_M95ULv1.pdf gives the RON95, and MON85.

so (RON + MON)/2 = AKI 90... the 87 reqd by american cars is AKI...

 

[bonnie john]

i haven't any idea

but if it was me, i'd prolly try and take some over in a bike on a trip to sturgis etc. but, i don't know whether they can be shipped with fuel in the tank.

when i imported a camaro into nz in 1986, i'm sure it had fuel left in it, coz i drove it off the wharf ( after about 10 G in duty, tax and gst had been "levied")

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Plus, the Harley recommendation for 87 is probably the American 87, which is either MON, or (RON+MON)/2, our 91 (RON) probably isn't the fuel for it.

I'd also question how an enquiring mind would get a reasonable sample of fuel over to Harley for testing

 

[Boomer]

Crinkles, when MON and RON are far apart, they average out as you noted but a large difference can cause issues in burned pistons, etc. There was a problem with this in Germany, I believe, maybe in the early 90s.