With so many guys on here talking about using 95 RON, 98 RON and higher, and claiming to make up to 30% difference in power output, and so many others asking whether this more expensive fuel is going to benifit them I just thought I'd start a thread to help educate people and dispel some common misconceptions.
1. If your engine is not designed to use premium fuel, it will not benefit.
When I say 'not' I mean in any noticeable way. Sure, you may get a 0.2 or 0.3% change in fuel use or power output, but it is barely measurable, and certainly not noticeable.
2. Premium fuel is not 'better quality' or cleaner than normal unleaded.
Believe it or not, all fuel comes from the same place. It is all refined and then put into storage containers. Chemists then add chemicals to this fuel to determine what it will be called ie. Premium, ultra, regular etc. In fact, premium fuel has more chemicals added to it than regular unleaded.
The deciding factor for which manufacturers designate the engine to use, is DESIGN. The design of the engine (generally the compression ratio of the combustion chamber) decides whether the engine will NEED high octane fuel, or not. Engines wil compression ratios of 8 or 9:1 do not need premium fuel, nor will they benefit. It's not a choice that manufacturers they make, it's a need.
Standard Commodore engines do not need premium fuel, nor will they benefit from it.
I just hear so many stories of people wasting their hard-earned money on premium fuel and not realising that it's no better than regular. Their mate told them that they got an extra 50 km or 100km from a tank, or they think their car 'feels' better with it. One-off anecdotes unfortunately do not make good proof.
There's one main reason fuel companies push it onto consumers (apart from those few that actually need it), because it is more profitable. More $ for the same product. They don't lie, a 0.08% fuel consumption decrease is a decrease, but they happily leave this data out of the marketing dribble.
If you want to know more about it, then I recommend you read some engineering books, or peer reviewed documents (not a forum or manufacturer's website). Please don't waste your money.
I am happy to answer any questions/comments/disagreements that you may have.
1. If your engine is not designed to use premium fuel, it will not benefit.
When I say 'not' I mean in any noticeable way. Sure, you may get a 0.2 or 0.3% change in fuel use or power output, but it is barely measurable, and certainly not noticeable.
2. Premium fuel is not 'better quality' or cleaner than normal unleaded.
Believe it or not, all fuel comes from the same place. It is all refined and then put into storage containers. Chemists then add chemicals to this fuel to determine what it will be called ie. Premium, ultra, regular etc. In fact, premium fuel has more chemicals added to it than regular unleaded.
The deciding factor for which manufacturers designate the engine to use, is DESIGN. The design of the engine (generally the compression ratio of the combustion chamber) decides whether the engine will NEED high octane fuel, or not. Engines wil compression ratios of 8 or 9:1 do not need premium fuel, nor will they benefit. It's not a choice that manufacturers they make, it's a need.
Standard Commodore engines do not need premium fuel, nor will they benefit from it.
I just hear so many stories of people wasting their hard-earned money on premium fuel and not realising that it's no better than regular. Their mate told them that they got an extra 50 km or 100km from a tank, or they think their car 'feels' better with it. One-off anecdotes unfortunately do not make good proof.
There's one main reason fuel companies push it onto consumers (apart from those few that actually need it), because it is more profitable. More $ for the same product. They don't lie, a 0.08% fuel consumption decrease is a decrease, but they happily leave this data out of the marketing dribble.
If you want to know more about it, then I recommend you read some engineering books, or peer reviewed documents (not a forum or manufacturer's website). Please don't waste your money.
I am happy to answer any questions/comments/disagreements that you may have.