Myths about the fuel we use in the philippines

[docdodj]

I just want to rant and get it off my mind....

This is just me but one thing I keep hearing is that our fuel is less pure compared to those abroad. And these people would say that it is the reason why our fuel can't be used for imported cars, that you should use the special fuels with the better blend, etc. A epiphany I noticed was just my recent vacation in LA, I needed to gas up the rental car and I noted that the highest octane rating for their fuel is 87. Here in our country, our fuel rating is around 95-97 percent. In fact I never saw even in chevron (caltex) or any other gas station a fuel rating greater than 90 (it seems they add ethanol in higher concentrations to their gas) anywhere in LA, and I mean from Pasadena down to San Diego. So now I find myself laughing and grinning when people posts that the lower blend fuel in our country (usually 93) causes their "engine to knock", "have a lower pull", poor response time", etc. Driving around LA never made any noticable changes to engine performance (and this is freeway running at around 65 to 80 mph/ 100-120 km/hr) despite the fact the car (a honda 2010 CIVIC) used a 83 blend from shell. I guess people tend to be gullible to those marketing strategies...

[Type 100]

Yes and no.

From what I understand they compute the octane ratings slightly differently in the US. We refer to the RON (research octane number) here for our fuels. In the US, they use the RON and the MON (motor octane number). Their computation for their final octane ratings is (RON+MON)/2.

More info here.
Car Bibles : The Fuel and Engine Bible: page 3 of 6

[yokknekk]

yung kumpare kong 3rd engineer sa oil tanker ang sabi kulay lang daw talaga ang kaibahan ng mga gasolina.

[yebo]

different engines too. engines sold here have higher compression ratios (more power from smaller displacement) while in the US they compression ratios are lower. they can do this since they do not need to squeeze HP from smaller engines, karamihan sa kanila v6 or v8. and if their car happens to be a 1.6 liter they do know it is an economy car, not a fast one. sa pilipinas kahit 1 liter lang na kotse dapat mabilis. so since the compression ratios of our engines are higher these engines also need higher octane fuel. another reason for the lower compression ratios is the US is the EPA rating of the car. lower compression ratios = less NOx. sa pinas basta hindi umusok pasado sa LTO.

[niky]

US AKI ratings are more reflective of the knock resistance of various fuels under load versus RON.

Let me say that again. US AKI ratings are more reflective of the knock resistance of various fuels under load versus RON.

The Philippine RON, or Research Octane Number, reflects how easy it is to make a fuel knock given certain compression ratios only.

The MON, or Motor Octane Number, is combined with this to get AKI, or Anti-Knock Index.MON reflects how easy it is to make a fuel knock given certain timing, fueling and load variables. The load part is important, and is why even so-called "high octane" gasoline here can cause knocking in Philippine traffic.MON is usually 10 points lower than RON, but some fuels with higher RON will have lower MON than others.

Thus, RON is very, very misleading. Ask anyone who used the previous "97 RON" Blaze versus the "95 RON" Shell V-Power. On the dyno, tuning for V-Power (advancing the timing to take advantage of knock resistance) gave us more power and less knock than the supposedly higher octane Blaze. The new 100 RON Blaze is much, much better, but since we have no way of knowing MON for any of these gasolines, there's no way of saying whether it's 5 octane points better than V-Power or less.

And then, there's the problem of water and fuel contamination, which leads to varnishing and deposits in the fuel systems of high-pressure direct injection. And the problem of poor additive mixing, which causes some stations' "93 RON" to act more like "87 RON" in our cars. Those additive packages aren't just food coloring. Without them, your modern "92 RON or higher" car would run like crap on the gas coming out of tankers.

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This is not to say that US fuel is great. Since they have an E10 mandate, and are pushing for E15 and even E85, many owners are suffering from poor fuel economy and compromised performance as diluted gasoline is forced down their throats. There are even websites set up to monitor gas stations and provide users with lists of non-E10 gas stations.

[uls]

I just want to rant and get it off my mind....

This is just me but one thing I keep hearing is that our fuel is less pure compared to those abroad. And these people would say that it is the reason why our fuel can't be used for imported cars, that you should use the special fuels with the better blend, etc. A epiphany I noticed was just my recent vacation in LA, I needed to gas up the rental car and I noted that the highest octane rating for their fuel is 87. Here in our country, our fuel rating is around 95-97 percent. In fact I never saw even in chevron (caltex) or any other gas station a fuel rating greater than 90 (it seems they add ethanol in higher concentrations to their gas) anywhere in LA, and I mean from Pasadena down to San Diego. So now I find myself laughing and grinning when people posts that the lower blend fuel in our country (usually 93) causes their "engine to knock", "have a lower pull", poor response time", etc. Driving around LA never made any noticable changes to engine performance (and this is freeway running at around 65 to 80 mph/ 100-120 km/hr) despite the fact the car (a honda 2010 CIVIC) used a 83 blend from shell. I guess people tend to be gullible to those marketing strategies...

dami kasi naniniwala higher octane = more power

higher octane only means the gas has additives that prevent it from combusting under pressure

high compression engines need higher octane coz lower octane gas can combust even before spark which can damage the engine

turbo and race engines need high octane gas coz of high compression

higher octane gas allow engines to run with advance ignition timing

if you're driving an ordinary car you don't really need high octane gas

and syempre California has only low octane gas coz they have strict emissions rules

kaya may tinatawag na "California emissions"


---


http://www.exxon.com/USA-English/GFM...y_gas_faq.aspx

Why should I use your premium gasoline (91-93 octane) instead of regular (87) or midgrade (89)?

To find out what octane your engine needs, first check your owner's manual. The recommended level is often 87 octane. Some models have high compression engines which are designed to utilize the octane levels of 89, 91 or higher.

Ordinarily, your vehicle will not benefit from using a higher octane than is recommended in the owner's manual. But if your engine knocks or pings at the recommended octane level, you may need a higher octane gasoline to prevent the knock. Knocking may occur under certain conditions. A small percentage of vehicles may knock because of variations in engines of the same model due to manufacturing tolerances, or because of an unusual build-up of engine deposits. Other factors such as extremely hot weather, changes in altitude or hard driving conditions (like towing a heavy load) may also cause knocking. Many modern vehicles are equipped with an electronic device that detects and eliminates light knocking before you hear it.

What is California Air Resources Board (CARB) gasoline?

CARB gasoline is a type of reformulated gasoline designed to reduce emissions. It reduces the emissions of NOx and volatile organic compounds, has lower benzene and sulfur levels, and limits the amounts of aromatic and olefinic compounds in the blends. It is required throughout the state of California.

For more information on CARB gasoline, visit the California Air Resources Board website.

[uls]

btw, pag dating sa diesel, mas ahead ang California sa Pinas

they switched to ultra low sulfur diesel in 2006

dito high sulfur parin

[Type 100]

dami kasi naniniwala higher octane = more power

higher octane only means the gas has additives that prevent it from combusting under pressure

high compression engines need higher octane coz lower octane gas can combust even before spark which can damage the engine

turbo and race engines need high octane gas coz of high compression

higher octane gas allow engines to run with advance ignition timing

if you're driving an ordinary car you don't really need high octane gas

Agreed.

Or in layman's terms, higher octane = smoother, more controlled burn rate.

A high-compression engine can sometimes run lower octane fuel. An onboard "knock sensor" will detect the lower octane fuel and retard ignition timing accordingly. With this, though, the engine will not make all of its rated power because it's not running on fuel it was designed for.

It's completely the other way around from what most people think - "OH I'LL RUN HIGH OCTANE GAS ON MY STREET CAR SO IT'LL GAIN XX HP!" That's not how things work, folks.

Let me share my first-hand experience. I've gone to trackdays in my Jazz since 2009 and I run Petron Xtra Unleaded in every single event. No problems whatsoever. It'll hit redline all day and never complain on "poor man's gas" because its L13A3 engine was designed for 91 RON fuel. Putting high octane is a total waste of money if your owner's manual says you don't need it.

[uls]

A high-compression engine can sometimes run lower octane fuel. An onboard "knock sensor" will detect the lower octane fuel and retard ignition timing accordingly. With this, though, the engine will not make all of its rated power because it's not running on fuel it was designed for.

yup. forgot to mention that. meron naman knock sensor so if you use lower-than-recommended octane gas the ECU will detect knock and retard ignition timing to eliminate it but it results in sluggish engine performance

[vinj]

yup. forgot to mention that. meron naman knock sensor so if you use lower-than-recommended octane gas the ECU will detect knock and retard ignition timing to eliminate it but it results in sluggish engine performance

On the other hand, you can also get slightly better response by advancing the timing on the car from the stock setting and using higher octane fuel. Thus, is it safe to say that it's not the fuel per se that's responsible for the power but rather the adjustments the engine makes as a result of the type of fuel used?

[uls]

^^^^

yup that's right

[sagingsaba]

Can someone explain euro ratings of diesel fuel and what can we can safely use for crdi engines. TIA

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[Bitulo]

I just want to rant and get it off my mind....

This is just me but one thing I keep hearing is that our fuel is less pure compared to those abroad. And these people would say that it is the reason why our fuel can't be used for imported cars, that you should use the special fuels with the better blend, etc. A epiphany I noticed was just my recent vacation in LA, I needed to gas up the rental car and I noted that the highest octane rating for their fuel is 87. Here in our country, our fuel rating is around 95-97 percent. In fact I never saw even in chevron (caltex) or any other gas station a fuel rating greater than 90 (it seems they add ethanol in higher concentrations to their gas) anywhere in LA, and I mean from Pasadena down to San Diego. So now I find myself laughing and grinning when people posts that the lower blend fuel in our country (usually 93) causes their "engine to knock", "have a lower pull", poor response time", etc. Driving around LA never made any noticable changes to engine performance (and this is freeway running at around 65 to 80 mph/ 100-120 km/hr) despite the fact the car (a honda 2010 CIVIC) used a 83 blend from shell. I guess people tend to be gullible to those marketing strategies...

Fact 1 - octane number is an indication of the ability of the gasoline to prevent knocking of the engine. The higher the octane the better the ability of the gasoline to prevent knocking. Generally, higher compression ratio engines have a higher minimum octane requirement. But in the Philippines, majority of the cars have compression that is satisfied by a minimum of 91 Research Octane Number.
Fact 2 - your car's manual states the minimum octane number that your car can take. If your manual says minimum of 91 Research Octane Number (RON), then you should use a gasoline with an RON not lower than 91, or else it will knock. You may however use higher RON without the engine knocking.
Fact 3 - present day computer controlled engines operate such that the computer always automatically and instantaneously advances the engine's spark timing up to the point of slight knocking. So if you use a higher RON like 95, the computer automatically advances the timing some more, up to the point where there is very slight pinging and this advance will give more power. If however you have a gasoline with a lower RON, say 92, the computer retards the timing appropriately thus resulting to lower power.
Fact 4 - it is true that another octane rating is the Motor Octane Number (MON), but here in the Philippines, we use RON in our gasoline labels and in the car manual. The important thing is that the basis of comparison is consistent - meaning RON in the manual compared with RON in the gasoline label. If your car came with a MON gasoline specs, then you should find a way to convert the MON into the equivalent RON. By the way, the MON testing is done under a more stringent testing condition, and this used more often in testing aviation gasoline (Avgas)
Fact 5 - in the older engines with carburators, the advance timing is manually set everytime we use another octane number in order to take advantage of the additional power afforded by higher RON. If we do not manually advance the timing, the higher octane has no benefit at all.

I hope this gives some enlightenment to our Tsikoters.

[frenchtower]

I just want to rant and get it off my mind....

This is just me but one thing I keep hearing is that our fuel is less pure compared to those abroad. And these people would say that it is the reason why our fuel can't be used for imported cars, that you should use the special fuels with the better blend, etc. A epiphany I noticed was just my recent vacation in LA, I needed to gas up the rental car and I noted that the highest octane rating for their fuel is 87. Here in our country, our fuel rating is around 95-97 percent. In fact I never saw even in chevron (caltex) or any other gas station a fuel rating greater than 90

Just a correction. We have 91 in California

[HonestTruth]

is shell fuel save a myth???

[olidotcom]

is shell fuel save a myth???

good question sir.. hope somebody can answer.. but from my previous experience.. i always use Shell Fuel Save.. but few months back when my suking gas station was offering same price for their next level Shell Gasoline.. (forgot the product) I observed that my fuel consumption went bad.. Haven't tested it again since tipid mode tayo :D