Unleaded Fuel questions. Worth putting additives when filling up the tank?

eatwell365 on 24/04/2014 - 06:42

Have few questions about filling up a car (A4).

Read previous thread here in ozbargain re premium petrol . It helps.

Few questions:

  1. Is it worth to put additives (eg. fuel injection cleaner, engine flush) when filling up the car? Tried an engine flush for $28. No difference on driving afterwards.
  2. When filling up 98, some say it's specially formula to clean … Are all 98 the same? Shell, Caltex or 7eleven to a smaller independent store.
  3. When manufacturer suggests min95/98, will you strictly fill min 95 every time. It used to be around 6 cents difference between 91 and 95. It was 11 cents at the browser.
  4. Not sure if anyone notices a new E95. Do you think it is a new fuel or just relabelling for marketing purpose (ethanol increases the octane number)?
Automotive

Comments

  • ESEMCE on 24/04/2014 - 08:25
    +5

    1) No
    2) Depends where you live, and therefore where the fuel is sourced
    3) Yes, strictly fill up 95 minimum or risk voiding engine warranty. The Engine Computer will determine the octane rating and attempt to alter the engine characteristics to suit, but doesn't have a program for 91 octane.
    You bought a "luxury" car, you should be able to afford to keep it running!
    4) New fuel

    • Smulder on 24/04/2014 - 08:53
      +1

      Agree with your points, except for the luxury car comment.

      We recently bought a Suzuki Alto. It takes 95 octane. It was $10,400 brand new… Hardly Luxury.

    • Randxyz123 on 24/04/2014 - 11:34
      +1

      Agree with your answer for 3. If you have a car that requires premium fuel use the premium fuel. SIMPLE.
      Also as said above me not just luxury cars use the premium fuel. The normal unleaded fuel is becoming less and less common….

    • eatwell365 on 25/04/2014 - 00:20

      Thank you for the info.
      It is more a matter of ozbargain spirit re point 3 - don't want to pay extra when there is no obvious benefit/reason (Now I learn there is. Thank you)
      In US, most station sells 89 as standard and E15 or higher. In Australia, we are seeing more new cars with premium fuel spec. And the premium fuel price is going up.

  • airzone on 24/04/2014 - 09:39
    +1

    Plenty of non-luxury cars use 95 min octane rating… But you really need to understand this when you buy the car so you can factor in running costs.

    But when it comes to using lower ratings, I have used 91 in my old car along with an octane booster when I got caught in the middle of nowhere once. The car was a turbo skyline so I just drove it off boost until I had cycled in a new tank of fuel. Of course this is a different story to an NA car that requires premium fuel due to a higher than normal compression ratio lol.

  • 2jzzzz on 24/04/2014 - 13:38
    +2

    Do not put engine flush in fuel, it goes in the oil before an oil change.

    • eatwell365 on 25/04/2014 - 00:23

      Thanks for the correction. It was the Total Fuel System Cleaner that I used.

  • xuqi on 25/04/2014 - 02:25

    I have used 98 octane for years. Current cars are; 2013 Megane RS265 RB / 2012 RS5, which require it.

    Who knows what additives actually do, but the high performance engines certainly do better and require the 98 octane fuel.

    Even in older cars (say 98+ Mazda 323's, Ford Laser Turbo), the higher octane fuel provided better performance, and fuel economy.

    In the greater scheme of things, one tends to waste much more money on things such as; Purchasing unrequired items (Damn you OZB, damn you…. :), flowers, cups of coffee, eating out, etc. etc. than filling up with the more expensive fuel.

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