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Gasoline

The engine REQUIRES 91 or better. Just read the engine emissions tag on the frame under your seat (RT) or frunk (F3). This changed in 2013 when the compression ratio in the 998 was raised and for all 1330s. 2012 and older merely recommended the higher octane. I can feel the difference running the low quality fuel when I get stuck with it. Some don't care. But is it really worth the dollar or two to not use the required fuel and substitute a lower quality alternative the bike has to work around?

I think the question was what to use when 91 isn't available (true in many high-altitude areas in the West; the highest I can find is 88)? I don't think anyone is trying to save $$ on gas, just $$ on expensive repairs.
 
I consistently get better than 4-5km per litre extra milage from 95/Premium than I get from 87/ULP, which pretty much means I get almost 100km greater range from a 20 odd litre tank of Premium than I get from a tank full of std ULP! (Range is quite important to me, especially since I have & prefer the 998 motor/smaller tank!) Besides, my Spyder clearly likes running on the Premium better & it lets me know in no uncertain terms that it's Not Happy Jan if I hafta feed it 87!! Not sure if that's due to the (relatively minor) air intake, exhaust, & tuning mods my Spyder is running, but it IS very uncomfortably obvious that my RT DOES NOT run as well on 87 as it does on 95 or better

Peter, are you at or near sea level? Just curious. For whatever reason, in the intermountain west anywhere above 5000', anything higher than 88 Octane is simply not available at most stations. Drop below that altitude and it's more common. The suppliers seem to be going with the conventional wisdom that the thinner air at altitude mixed with the gas is less inclined to induce pre-ignition (knocking and pinging).
 
Peter, are you at or near sea level? .....

Yeah, Nope! :dontknow:

'Home' is at 800 metres (wazzat, maybe 2500 feet?) but a lot of my ryding is in our 'Outback' &/or up in the 'High Country', so I'm frequently on roads at altitudes of anything from 15m BELOW sea level to maybe 2000 metres above sea level, and the Spyder doesn't really seem to care much at all. It gives its best performance AND range while drinking 95 RON fuel, there's no real difference to be found except in my wallet from running 98 RON fuel, and there's obviously significantly lesser performance & range when running 87 RON fuel - and I simply stay as faaar away as possible from anything with 10% or greater ethanol in it! :thumbup:

Our Servo's don't seem to restrict availability of higher RON fuel at higher altitudes, but then I believe our highest fuel outlet open to the public is in the small township of Cabramurra (pop 37) at an altitude of about 1488m/4882 feet - the Snowy Hydro Scheme owns the town, if you've got a moment, it's well worth checking them both out on the interwebs! (The town AND the Snowy Hydro Scheme ;) ) They had 87 & 95 RON fuel there last time I visited... :dontknow:
 
Yeah, Nope! :dontknow:

'Home' is at 800 metres (wazzat, maybe 2500 feet?) but a lot of my ryding is in our 'Outback' &/or up in the 'High Country', so I'm frequently on roads at altitudes of anything from 15m BELOW sea level to maybe 2000 metres above sea level, and the Spyder doesn't really seem to care much at all. It gives its best performance AND range while drinking 95 RON fuel, there's no real difference to be found except in my wallet from running 98 RON fuel, and there's obviously significantly lesser performance & range when running 87 RON fuel - and I simply stay as faaar away as possible from anything with 10% or greater ethanol in it! :thumbup:

Our Servo's don't seem to restrict availability of higher RON fuel at higher altitudes, but then I believe our highest fuel outlet open to the public is in the small township of Cabramurra (pop 37) at an altitude of about 1488m/4882 feet - the Snowy Hydro Scheme owns the town, if you've got a moment, it's well worth checking them both out on the interwebs! (The town AND the Snowy Hydro Scheme ;) ) They had 87 & 95 RON fuel there last time I visited... :dontknow:

You're lucky you don't have a powerful corn grower lobby. That's why we are forced to use 10% ethanol. Environmentalism has nothing to do with it.
 
You're lucky you don't have a powerful corn grower lobby. That's why we are forced to use 10% ethanol. Environmentalism has nothing to do with it.

It's our sugarcane growers here that are trying to push ethanol fuel onto everyone, atm they need to be fairly competent mixed farmers with an alternative paying crop for cane's 'off season'. If they could develop a large enough 'year round' demand for their cane they could specialise in just that, drop everything else, & effectively make more $$ by becoming less efficient overall! :shocked: Our V8 Supercar Race Series currently runs 'high percentage' ethanol fuel in an attempt to convince everyone that it's safe & worthwhile, but most are smart enough to realise that those race engines get stripped down & rebuilt quite often, and it doesn't take a genius to work out that where they formerly used to do say 20 laps on a tank of dino fuel they can now only do 15 laps on the same capacity tank of ethanol fuel.... :rolleyes:

Still, while there may well be some valid reasons behind the push to develop alternative fuels & increase the volume & percentage of ethanol fuels used, I just don't like the hypocrisy of growers & governments trying to con us that the only reason they are pushing it at all is that 'it's all for our good' & has nothing to do with anything else, when there is obviously a whole lot more involved & at issue! And that's even before you start talking about the longer term potential issues associated with running higher quantities & percentages of ethanol fuel and thereby encouraging & even subsidising formerly viable mixed farm product producers to convert into mono-culture businesses reliant upon just the one crop that's heavily subsidised and that can't really feed us or anyone else anyway; or discussing the longer term implications that the drive to increase our reliance on a less efficient fuel may bring with it as a result of that subsidised production; nor that it is not necessarily all that great for anyone's economy OR the planet's overall health in the long run; or ..... nah, I had my turn in the hot seat, paid my dues, slogged my guts out, served my country, destroyed my health doing it, hopefully even made the world or at least my little part of it a touch safer for my kids & their kids, so now I reckon I should be able & allowed to go out & spend more of my time enjoying it while I can, & maybe even continue avoiding using ethanol fuel for as long as I can while I let the next generation stuff up the planet in their own way! :shocked: And it seems they are doing that pretty well without my help, even if lots of my generation just can't let go... :dontknow:
 
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I think the question was what to use when 91 isn't available (true in many high-altitude areas in the West; the highest I can find is 88)?

At higher altitudes, the 88 IS high octane.
It will be fine.
Just don't fill up and immediately go back down to sea level.
 
I use a Lucas Oil product called Safeguard Ethanol conditioner. It prevents the corrosion,

IF.....your machine was built to use ethanol, then there will be NO corrosion to prevent, at least not any more than has always been the case in some circumstances.

The ONLY time a stabilizer is needed is during times of non-use.
Pick your own interval: two weeks, 30 days.........
 
I didn't know that. Thanks.

Maybe because as stated it is NOT TRUE.

There is no "octane sensor". The knock sensor can only adjust for spark knock; it does nothing for pre-detonation due to compression or to glowing carbon deposits, just to name two conditions.

THIS is why running the recommended octane is important.
The engine can NOT adjust for everything.
 
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