Olly_

The numbers aren't directly comparable - North America uses AKI (which is an average of RON and MON) to measure octane, pretty much everywhere else including Europe just uses RON.

87AKI = about 91 RON (not available in the UK)
91AKI = about 95 RON (equivalent to UK regular unleaded)
93AKI = 98-99 RON (equivalent to UK super unleaded)

SultanOfSwing

I'm still using the cheapest either way.

Bloody Americans just have to be difficult though, eh?

macliam

Olly_

Of course

chawkins99

US oil prices turn negative as demand dries up

zzrmark

And so you should be. Most US road going vehicles are set up to run on 87 (hence 'regular'), you only need a higher octane rating if your fuel system is set up to run on it, presumably it's pricier at the pump because of demand because it sure as shit ain't because it's better for the average vehicle. Think of it in the same way you might think about alcohol. 40% can give you a great alcoholic drink, drinking higher % surgical spirits though is not great for your innards!!!

Moving on. Crude has gone down the toilet today, stocks entering negative values, with talk of producers resorting to paying their customers (in transport terms presumably that'd be the refineries, followed by the gas stations) to try to reduce the surplus as they have hit maximum storage capacity. What the heck happens when we've filled the last available jerry can? I'm trying my best here but my gas guzzler is hardly going to make a dent in what would have been used by BA's grounded air fleet!!!

EDIT: Damn, beaten to it by the other Floridian.

SultanOfSwing

Other than the fact that I am just cheap anyway, that's why I'm using it, because my car doesn't need (or won't benefit from) 89 or 91.

caretaker

I like to put a little bottle of fuel injector cleaner in my gas about every 4 or 5 tanks.

ddsrph

Regular down to 1.49 here in southern TN. I think the big thing with octane rating and engine needs is compression ratio. Regular gas is more straight chain hydrocarbon versus more branch chained in the higher octane fuel. Additives play a role also. The regular gas ignites and burns faster than the branch chain hi-test. This causes knock in high compression engines. My 1946 airplane engine is low compression and was deigned for 80 octane. This fuel was discontinued and now only 100LL. (That stands for low lead) is available. Which has 5 times the lead of the old 80. I have to dig the lead out of my spark plugs every year at annual.

macliam

It's a trade-off.... higher tuned engines need higher octane fuel or they will start to "knock". In the old days, they got around this by adding some nice lead to the mixture and that made everything sweet, but had the unfortunate by-product of killing people and spreading micro-layers of lead everywhere. Higher tuned engines normally mean more efficient, but sometimes that's just converted to more power rather than more efficiency. Again, an answer (in the US) was to build huge V8 blocks and swill petrol through them like there was no tomorrow.... but then teeny-tiny Porsches and Lotus (is the plural Loti???)would still leave them behind on the road.

You have the luxury of cheap fuel, so efficiency isn't a driver. You also have an industry that is self-sustaining and probably does what the UK industry did in the old days, just re-cycles old engine designs and pockets the cash. In Europe fuel is expensive, but we still want performance so our motors are tuned to higer octane fuel and manufacturers have built more and more efficient engines over the past 20 years. How that work for imports into the US (like SoSs Opel block), I have no idea..... except he might well get the same "feel" from a sub-1 litre engine in Europe now.

zzrmark

I used that stuff on a vehicle once, it took three applications before I sussed that it was the clogged fuel filter that was responsible for the bunny hopping...

zzrmark

I believe the plural of Lotus is lot-of-ass.

Supercrazy898

I have a car that burns a lot of 93, but I haven't filled up since quarantine due to working from home. It's been quite nice enjoying not having to leave.

el collado kid

Our the petrol prices you all quote per gallon or litre,I can not remember.

caretaker

In the US they're using the US gallon (128oz) and US dollars. In the Canadian thread we're using litres and Canadian dollars. Not a problem unless you want to compare the two. When I try to use conversion charts it isn't always apparent which gallon they're using. I had a fishing buddy who was a former NFL and CFL football player, and he told me about his salad days when he wheeled around in a big white Cadillac. I asked what sort of mileage it got, and he gave me a quizzical look - and informed me that when you're flush like that you just hand over the credit card, and he never bothered checking his mileage.