Have you ever used Premium Unleaded petrol in your vehicle instead of Regular Unleaded? Did it seem to go further, dollar for dollar? Did it have any noticeable effect at all?
If your car is optimised to run on Regular Unleaded 91 RON (Research Octane Number), then using PULP may have a marginal effect on the fuel consumption and cost saving.
So if, hypothetically, a vehicle was designed to operate on any octane (which is never the case), using 98 RON would give a seven per cent increase in power or a seven per cent decrease in fuel consumption compared with using 91 RON. Cars that are designed to run on PULP 98 RON may still run on 95 RON but you may lose around three per cent of power, or increase fuel consumption by this amount.
Therefore, if ultra premium fuel costs more than seven per cent more than 91 RON, is it economically unwise to use it?
Have you used Premium Unleaded and noticed any improvements in your vehicle’s fuel economy or performance?
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Hi Jono
I’ve got a 2.2L Mazada 6 and use 91RON fuel. Mazda recommend 95RON. Nothing has gone wrong with the car and it’s done 88,000km. I’m not a mechanic though so wouldn’t know the long term effects of doing so.
I enjoyed reading the above comments. My wife’s 2002 Pug 406 3 litre V6 requires min. 95RON fuel. We havn’t noticed a lot of difference between brands except for price, which makes no sense if economy at the tank is all you are after. After travelling to Brisbane and back to Albury via Sydney i have decided that fuel prices are incredibly inconsistent. The east coast definitely has a holiday surcharge and it is based around highway petrol stations, particularly where motorists have limited choice. Because of this, it doesn’t tend to show up in NRMA fuel price watch figures which don’t include PULP prices anyway for some strange reason. On Jan. 8th, Shell were charging $1.49.9c / litre for Optimax at Thornleigh in Sydney (only servo on southbound side between freeways). I drove to Goulburn (2 hours away) and paid $1.36.9c /litre for Mobil Synergy 98 at the Big Merino highway stop. I noticed in a previous 2008 NRMA fuel pricing review it was claimed that Shell / Coles were ripping off the public, and recommending the authorities do something about it. That obviously hasn’t happened.
I use 95 & 98 in my e46 325 BMW
I find a lot of variation eg sometimes I get better fuel economy from 95 v 98 octane.
Sometimes it is the other way around.
I always record my fuel economy and whehre I buy fuel from.
It is my observation that I get better fuel economy using Shell v Caltex. Mind you, this may be a placebo.
My Mazda 3 MPS runs fine on E10 and averages about 9 litres per 100 kilometres driven smoothly. My Toyota Echo seems to run best on ULP, it uses slightly more E10, about 0.5 litres more per 100 klms. My Mazda MX5 runs nicely on PULP. You choose the fuel that suits your car best. Hard to get accurate comparisons because traffic keeps getting in the way.
i have a 2009 ford xr5 turbo, its say to use 95 or higher, my saleman told me to use v power as its t6he best. so i did i did a trip of 320kms on it and got 9.4 as my adv, 1 step climb rest mainly flat, thought that was a bit high on the adv, so the next trip on the same route i used bp ultimate and i got 9.0 did the same route on mobil 8000 9.1 same route on votex 98 8.7 and votex 95 got 8.9 so there is a clear winner here
I used 98 RON on my Toyota Prado when I do long drives. I found the engine doesn’t struggle much when negotiating uphills and also good for overtaking when you needed that extra bit of power. And for long journeys, I think it adds about 10% more mileage as well compared to using the regular 91 RON. (BTW I never use E10.)
In mechanical engineering terms, the higher the Octane level the higher the HEATING VALUE therefore more energy released during combustion.
So, if all things being equal. using petrol with higher Octane rating should give you more power or mileage.
I own a Jaguar X Type and a BMW 323i. I have driven them both on 95 RON and 98 RON fuels, and for the life of me didn’t notice any difference whatsoever.
My opinion is stick to the cheaper 95 RON fuel
I have recently converted to using PULP in my 2007 Nissan X trail ST. My car was having a regular hard to start problem. I previously used regular unleaded and somtimes E10 unleaded. My Nissan service advisor told me the use of E10 has damaged my car! I was told I should only use Premium fuel to clean out my engine! The car has improved with the hard to start issue and is running alot smoother on premum fuel. I have tried all the major brands and have found BP Ultimate and Caltex Vortex to be the best. Shell V-Power is terrible, burns very quick thus mileage is low and gives me those hard to start problems!