Which fuel grade to use?

[C3P0]

Re: Which fuel grade to use?

And also the percentage of highway and city driving that is the factor to consider.

So it seems our cars love the highway and really drink when in traffic. I guess the car is not light.

+1. To me it's mainly the % of H/C driving that makes the most difference.

btw, I don't care if I spend $30 or $50 more on petrol, but I am still interested in my car's FC because I am programmed to calculate. And I am a good translator too! C3P0 FTW

 

[dazza]

Re: Which fuel grade to use?

I admit I do monitor my FC for whatever reason. Maybe its a guy's obsession with statistics. My GF monitors it more closely though, as she can tell whether Ive been driving like a HOON or not!

What I would be very interested in with Fuel Grade though, is a real comparison of HP/Torque with different Fuel Grades. I still wonder why the manual for the 335 says to use RON95 and not 98.

 

[kenntona]

Re: Which fuel grade to use?

I think tracking the FC is useful only if you are tracking it againt:

(1) a timeline on your car - example FCs throughout the year to spot a trend if any, else it should be rather constant.... (service signal?)
(2) a benchmark - for instance, stock FC figures indicated by manufacturer, but this can be way off if your factors are not comparable:

Factors to consider when comparing with other cars:

- driving style, heavy foot or light foot, quick acceleration or slow take off
- loads - even with same car, are you often alone or full load?
- D/SD/Manual mode, example, if using manual, are you using the right gear?
- aircon
- tyre sizes, pressure

 

[[email protected]]

Re: Which fuel grade to use?

Yup agreed that tracking fc is important. All else being equal, if one fine day fc drops and does not recover, it could be a sign of something more serious.

 

[C3P0]

Re: Which fuel grade to use?

Factors to consider when comparing with other cars:
- loads - even with same car, are you often alone or full load?

+1.

I didn't say anything else! Happy New Year!

 

[156F1]

Re: Which fuel grade to use?

Think we are comparing to see if our cars are running within common range of FC for the same model car.

For a 320i, I would consider 7.9km/l high, given that it has a 4-cylinder 2l engine. The autobox cannot be that inefficient. I know of a 320i manual that does 12km/l consistently and the driver is also quite rev happy one.

I use get a little better FC around 8.2km/l on my 525i without the paddle-shift, so I guess driving the car in DS/M mode does consume a bit more fuel.

 

[xj40]

Re: Which fuel grade to use?

I'm driving a '09 E60 525.
Running on 19" staggered.

My FC can range from 7.0 to 8.0km/L....on RON 98 shell / caltex. All depends on how hard I drive and whether I get jams in the morning traffic consistently.

Do take out your manuals to read.
I remember reading in the manual that RON 98 is most suitable and anything lesser will result in lesser power and the anti-knocking function may be activated.