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95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:24 pm
by zx-10r
Has anyone else noticed how 'shit' your bike runs on 95 compared to 98?
I usually put any permium i could get at a specific petrol station into the 10r, which went probably getting 95 most of the time. Then a few months ago i put in vortex 98 bascially filling a whole tank becuase i was pretty low, and the effect was amazing. Could feel it stright away, more grunt at low revs, vibrations were a little different, good different.
Now ive been going out of my way to get 98 lately so ive been spoiled and today put 95 back in (no choice- but in hindsight, i did have more options just further away), and it runs alot weaker down low

Im thinking of going for a 250k ride just to empty the tank quick smart and get 98 back in
Anyone else here feel a significant difference with 95/98 (or higher) they put in thier bikes?
Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:56 pm
by Head_Mechanic
zx-10r wrote:Has anyone else noticed how 'shit' your bike runs on 95 compared to 98?
I usually put any permium i could get at a specific petrol station into the 10r, which went probably getting 95 most of the time. Then a few months ago i put in vortex 98 bascially filling a whole tank becuase i was pretty low, and the effect was amazing. Could feel it stright away, more grunt at low revs, vibrations were a little different, good different.
Now ive been going out of my way to get 98 lately so ive been spoiled and today put 95 back in (no choice- but in hindsight, i did have more options just further away), and it runs alot weaker down low

Im thinking of going for a 250k ride just to empty the tank quick smart and get 98 back in
Anyone else here feel a significant difference with 95/98 (or higher) they put in thier bikes?
Ordinary UL fuel is 91 octane, Vortex (PUL) is 95, BP ultimate is 98 . Most 95 UL is crap , PUL 95 will improve motor performance and give better KPL.98 octane (BP ultimate and other brands goes one step better again. Some motors can have spark plug problems when 95/98 is used . But it still worth trying the higher octane.
Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:04 pm
by Strika
I always run mine on that really good stuff...91!

It don't fucking matter what fuel I run...I'm still slow!

Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:25 pm
by 6maniac
This is an interesting angle....
http://www.carsales.com.au/advice/2008/ ... aster-7513
Manual says 91....have tried 95 and 98.... fuel consumption is constant for all octanes.
Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 10:17 pm
by Soundwave
I always run premium 95 octane petrol, usually BP but sometimes i use Shell as well. I heard that 98 oct. is supposed to be tailored towards cars than bikes and would have an adverse effect on the bikes motor.
Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 12:18 am
by zx-10r
Soundwave wrote:I always run premium 95 octane petrol, usually BP but sometimes i use Shell as well. I heard that 98 oct. is supposed to be tailored towards cars than bikes and would have an adverse effect on the bikes motor.
its hard to know what is fact and what is fiction and may depend entirely on make or not, a study like that would take a long time.
Bike says minimum 95, but yeah, definately a big difference between the two (vortex 95 and vortex 98)
In regard to consumption, its again hard to tell what is true, but in theory (yes theory haha ) if you o have a higher octane petrol, you are going to get more enegry from 1 litre than 1 litre of lower octane, so theortically you should use less litres to get you from A to B. Doing a test on your odo would probably be fairly inaccurate due to acceleration,wind, road surface etc those things being pretty hard to keep the same.
strika, you should try the high octane stuff, it will make a difference you can feel

Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 6:31 am
by MickLC

Not another fuel thread
It makes no noticable difference to the Crim if I run 95 or 98, both to the bum dyno or my fuel economy....I've kept a log of it for the last couple of years so the variables should've averaged out.
There isn't more "energy" in 98 than in 95, what 98 lets you do is run higher compression and/or more advance without pinging because it burns slower. If I put 98 in the Surfer it will barely run at all because it's not got the higher compression, but by your theory I should be going faster or further.
The biggest noticable difference will be on engines with a knock sensor that can adjust their timing to suit the octane of the fuel they are running. I'm fairly certain the Gumby doesn't have one of these.
Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:18 am
by Glen
I've never noticed any difference on 95 or 98. I whack whatever I can get in it. For you to notice a difference I would've thought the octane rating would be so low that the thing would have to be pinging it's head off.
Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:25 am
by Glen
Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:47 am
by ty
I'm still laughing at the Strika = slow comment - almost spat coffee over my computer.
Mick C's right - it'll really only make a difference on bikes that can automatically adjust to the fuel (though I thought it affected the mixture/injection rather than the timing, maybe it's both?), I think you can feel a difference too if your carbs are set appropriately on carby bikes. (perhaps I've just sparked another debate on this

)
With the way my last 9 was jetted I could tell a difference between the 95 and 98 fuels, but the way fuel prices were there wasn't enough power or economy difference to justify the price

For the previous 9 with standard jetting, and the zzr6 before that, I couldn't tell the difference.
The postie gets the cheapest shit I can find

ty
Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:10 pm
by mick_dundee
I run mine on BP Ultimate almost exclusively, not that i'm that good a rider I would know the difference, just that I think the cost diffrence on a 16L tank is fuck all so why not spoil it

Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:12 pm
by Soundwave
Also, any difference between carby and efi motors on 98 octane fuel?
Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:40 pm
by Neilp
Maybe its dependant on altitude !
Neil

Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 6:58 pm
by MickLC
Neilp wrote:Maybe its dependant on altitude !
Neil


it had to be said
Re: 95 compared to 98 octane
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:24 pm
by tim
I've started noticing some little backfiring (when "blipping" to change down) and I think it's since I put BP 98 in my gs500, I hope that's all it is...... next tank back to 91 or 95. I was told to not use shell pulp.....