
Originally Posted by
niky
What I'm saying is... "stay with a gasoline you know won't cause knock" and "I don't absolve Hyundai completely of this issue" (I said something to that effect a few pages back)
Coming from the Ford side of the fence, as I'm a Ford owner, myself... People have had issues with the Lynx and Focus on lower octane fuels, and those aren't luxury cars. Chevrolet has had issues with the Optra that required programming. CATS warns people sometimes not to use certain gasolines or not to go to certain stations with some Chrysler vehicles, as some of the poorly formulated local gasolines can cause "Check Engine" warnings and activate "limp mode". The high strung Miata 2.0 sometimes makes a lot less power when it detects bad gasoline.
My car is retuned for "95", and should be safe with anything between 94-100, but I've had "97" fuels that caused a loss of performance compared to "95"
I've experienced this with modern diesels from various manufacturers, as well. I've had a pick-up from a Japanese manufacturer die on me due to bad fuel. (Tip: don't fill up at Shell on McArthur highway near Santa Lucia... that's a flood-prone area and their tanks are compromised)
It's not hard to understand. Some gasolines are garbage. All modern cars are programmed to cope with a wide variety of conditions... but if the ECU and the oxygen sensors see something that is way outside their adjustment range, then they can't cope.
Others simply play it safe by detuning their engines all the way. In other words, so your car can work on goat's pee, manufacturers like Mazda and Nissan back in the 90's programmed their cars to run extra-rich... which the customers didn't like, either, as it made them gas-guzzlers. Toyota did this too with the Revo. Honda with the CR-V.
I trust that eventually Hyundai should have a reflash suited to local conditions... if the problem becomes widespread enough (as with the Optra issue) but until then, there's a simple solution. Spend the extra 1 peso per liter to buy Premium over Unleaded and avoid certain branches like the plague. What's so bad about that?
Again, lay blame where blame is due. Some local stations have poor QC, poor mixing, and oftentimes, you don't get the RON you're paying for (which has led to both Petron and Shell re-stating RON in the past). Why should I be mad at my own car for something that I know is the fault of the fuel?