The Best Fuel?

[CRUNCHER]

In a few weeks I will (hopefully) take possession of a new Honda City. After years of driving a diesel I would appreciate some advice on the best fuel for my new City.

What I am asking is what is the difference between E10 91, E10 95 and E20 as far as engine care and engine performance is concerned?

Most of the old threads I have turned up focus on cost and fuel consumption. I can factor in these myself. What I want to know is what is best for the engine and what will give me the best ride. Disappointingly the dealer was little help and the advice was little more than "up to you." Most of my driving is short trips around town.

Thanks for the help.

[Ace of Pop]

E 20. no Probs. No argument, the City loves it. The Moped and Tyre Fitting Lot will argue as usual. . Nice Choise.

[IMHO]

If the primary criteria are engine care & performance, and cost is no object = Caltex Techron Benzene 95 @ ~45 Baht/L - nothing beats a good benzene fuel, and the Techron additives do a good job of keeping the internals clean.

If cost or availability in your area is a problem, my next vote would go to Shell V-Power Nitro+ @ ~40 Baht/L, but it's an Ethanol blend.. It's my fall-back when there's no Techron Benzene available.

Admittedly, you may not notice much or any difference in a 120HP 1.5L...

Edited April 21, 2013 by IMHO

[Ace of Pop]

Viable comment, but the average Guy is happy wIth 32 Bht a Litre,against your 40Bht. The Honda Range runs well on E85,if you can find any North of Watford. KMPL doesn't drop as much that it warrants hi price fuel.Ask any New Civic user.17.5 on E 20 for me anyway. Coldnt find E20 last week so i used Gasoholl 95 and the TING dropped to 15.5... Worst i can get is 8.5 driving like a TUNA MAN . P.S. Don't go Off Topic or bring Humour here, its life and death to some.

[culicine]

Give all of the fuels a try and see what works best. I don't fine any noticeable difference in performance/economy between E20and E10 in my suzuki so far. Got close to 20km/l on an open run to Ratchaburi recently on E20. Perhaps the V-powers and nitros will give a slight increase in performance, but I don't see these as economical due to their high cost.

[thaipod]

My wife has a CR-V 2.4 and wants to change over to E85 I was wondering about performance and efficiency and the availability in most service stations.

Also do you need to be near empty to change over ?

[IMHO]

My wife has a CR-V 2.4 and wants to change over to E85 I was wondering about performance and efficiency and the availability in most service stations.

Also do you need to be near empty to change over ?

Well, if it was bought before September 2012, don't put any E85 in it

If it's a MY2013 (new shape) model, just go ahead and pump it in - there's no need to empty the tank first - all that's going to happen is you'll be running slightly less than 85% Ethanol for a while.

Fuel efficiency will drop on E85, but it will cost less per KM to run. As for availability, that's very hit and miss. Around greater BKK there's a few stations but upcountry you're unlikely to find it. No problem, just fill with E20 or E10 if you have to - it's perfectly fine to run odd mixes.

[Thailaw]

If the primary criteria are engine care & performance, and cost is no object = Caltex Techron Benzene 95 @ ~45 Baht/L - nothing beats a good benzene fuel, and the Techron additives do a good job of keeping the internals clean.

If cost or availability in your area is a problem, my next vote would go to Shell V-Power Nitro+ @ ~40 Baht/L, but it's an Ethanol blend.. It's my fall-back when there's no Techron Benzene available.

Admittedly, you may not notice much or any difference in a 120HP 1.5L...

I use about 1 tank of fuel each week, and for the reasons you give I fill the tank with Caltex Techron every fourth (or fifth) tank. I use gasohol 95 or E20 depending on what is available otherwise. I prefer Shell fuels if I am close to a Shell station. I really don't see any difference in performance between the fuels I use -- no knocking or pinging ever, and pick-up seems to be the same regardless of the fuel I use. And 1 tank in 4 helps to balance the much higher cost of the Caltax fuels -- I certainly wouldn't use it every time I fill up. I understood that gasohol was actually a better engine cleaner/solvent than gasoline, and the big issue between gasohol and benzine is higher engine heat and upper head cooling and lubrication.

The OP, I think, really got the best advice from the dealer -- "up to you". Try a tank full of each fuel type and see which one give the best performance. I expect that he won't find any noticeable difference among fuels, but you never know.

[Big Guns]

The best fuel for performance and engine care is petrol which in this country is only available as Benzine 95. If you are only keeping your car for 3 or 4 years then ethanol shouldn't cause any problems.

My wife usually runs her 2.0 170 bhp Focus on 95 benzene and she feels there is a notable difference between that and gasohol in both performance and economy. For myself I always run my Ducati on Caltex 95 Benzine when I can get it and it runs a lot better on 95 than 91. I avoid ethanol as it rots the plastic tank fitted on Ducatis.

[Ace of Pop]

If its Rated as 95,thats what you get, ethanol or not. All in the Mind.Most Cars seem faster just after a washing and polish..

[Big Guns]

If its Rated as 95,thats what you get, ethanol or not. All in the Mind.Most Cars seem faster just after a washing and polish..

Sorry Ace the 95 is the Octane, the ethanol content is going to impact on your economy and the longer term impact on the engine may be debatable. As for performance in theory the ethanol content shouldn't reduce performance. For my Ducati I'd rather have 98 but its not available here. 95 is the minimum grade in the UK.

[Ace of Pop]

Sorry but it doesnt make a difference in New Models with engines developed for it.Drop to Gasohol,91 you may sence a difference on a small engine. But then your a Crafty Gun, leave the Mrs in a Ford and Ride a Duke

[Kwasaki]

OP "cruncher"

Have a 8 month old City in the camp great motor and never used anything but E20 but if not available you can use just about anything esle other than E85 and diesel of course.

Have a Yaris 2008 as well running a long time on E20 and never any problems.

Edited May 28, 2013 by Kwasaki

[tua2kee]

Have tried gasohol 95, 91 and E20 on my Honda jazz since yr 2009. No prob so far. Perf wise, minimal difference. So now just keep using E20

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 2

[CRUNCHER]

OP "cruncher"

Have a 8 month old City in the camp great motor and never used anything but E20 but if not available you can use just about anything esle other than E85 and diesel of course.

Have a Yaris 2008 as well running a long time on E20 and never any problems.

Thanks. Early days yet, but so far so good on E20

[Kwasaki]

OP "cruncher"

Have a 8 month old City in the camp great motor and never used anything but E20 but if not available you can use just about anything esle other than E85 and diesel of course.

Have a Yaris 2008 as well running a long time on E20 and never any problems.

Thanks. Early days yet, but so far so good on E20

Yep ! E20 will be OK and the cheaper of petrol fuels..

I understand peoples concerns and wanting the best for their cars but a lot of it has nothing to do with the manufacturers who have spent millions on development and design on components of engines, never mind your Thai dealer, Honda will say E20 is OK to use in your Honda City.

It is also OK to mix other fuels with E20 within the tank at a fill station that does not have E20 available, 91 gasohol is the next step and so on up the price scale.

[commande]

Wow, never knew that people loved their cars so much that choosing fuel was so difficult. It is a low performance car engine like most Thai versions of cars with basic 4 cylinder engines. The book will tell you what the minimum type of fuel is to use which is probably 91 Octane up to E20, read your book to verify though. If the book doesn't say you can use E85 fuels no matter what the octane rating is don't use them. It really is that simple.

Benzene is the best but in a car like that it will only make a difference in your perceived mind (you paid more so it has to be better right) and none in the cars performance unless you just happen to get a tank of bad gasohol.

Benzene in high performance bikes, absolutely makes a difference, then again they have high compression and high revving engines, your car doesn't.

Edited May 29, 2013 by commande

[culicine]

I've given the beans to my suzuki swift many times, and note no real difference between E10 and E20. Economy is still pretty good, so I stick with E20.

[HarryMilton]

Viable comment, but the average Guy is happy wIth 32 Bht a Litre,against your 40Bht. The Honda Range runs well on E85,if you can find any North of Watford. KMPL doesn't drop as much that it warrants hi price fuel.Ask any New Civic user.17.5 on E 20 for me anyway. Coldnt find E20 last week so i used Gasoholl 95 and the TING dropped to 15.5... Worst i can get is 8.5 driving like a TUNA MAN . P.S. Don't go Off Topic or bring Humour here, its life and death to some.

You're the one who's off-topic here! He specifically said he didn't want advice on cost and consumption.

[bubba]

Ethanol has lower energy content than pure petrol. Ethanol contains about 23.5 MJ/L energy content, while pure petrol contains about 35 MJ/L. Gasohol would therefore contain less energy, which should result in not only lower km/L economy, but also in performance. Back when I could find pure 91 octane petrol, I noticed the difference in acceleration between pure 91 and E10 gasohol when accelerating uphill on the same tollway on-ramp that use each day. It would seem to follow that E20 would offer lower performance than E10.

[WarpSpeed]

Give all of the fuels a try and see what works best. I don't fine any noticeable difference in performance/economy between E20and E10 in my suzuki so far. Got close to 20km/l on an open run to Ratchaburi recently on E20. Perhaps the V-powers and nitros will give a slight increase in performance, but I don't see these as economical due to their high cost.

You wouldn't really, but as IMHO says it's more about what's happening INTERNALLY in your engine then what's being felt in performance.

[WarpSpeed]

If its Rated as 95,thats what you get, ethanol or not. All in the Mind.Most Cars seem faster just after a washing and polish..

Actually reality states that they are.. but surely I digress ..

[BSJ]

So, is this what all car forums have become? Worrying about which fuel to put in the shopping trolley which was designed to run on anything you can buy at the pump.

[wilcopops]

If the primary criteria are engine care & performance, and cost is no object = Caltex Techron Benzene 95 @ ~45 Baht/L - nothing beats a good benzene fuel, and the Techron additives do a good job of keeping the internals clean.

If cost or availability in your area is a problem, my next vote would go to Shell V-Power Nitro+ @ ~40 Baht/L, but it's an Ethanol blend.. It's my fall-back when there's no Techron Benzene available.

Admittedly, you may not notice much or any difference in a 120HP 1.5L...

...and the science behind that????

[wilcopops]

If you look at gaz stations in Europe now they offer two kinds of fuel - diesel and gasoline (some offer LPG) - the point being that modern engines run on anything.

[Shurup]

If the primary criteria are engine care & performance, and cost is no object = Caltex Techron Benzene 95 @ ~45 Baht/L - nothing beats a good benzene fuel, and the Techron additives do a good job of keeping the internals clean.

If cost or availability in your area is a problem, my next vote would go to Shell V-Power Nitro+ @ ~40 Baht/L, but it's an Ethanol blend.. It's my fall-back when there's no Techron Benzene available.

Admittedly, you may not notice much or any difference in a 120HP 1.5L...

...and the science behind that????

The science behind using Benzine 95 @ 45Baht/L is that the benzine releases more energy than ethanol when burned. More energy - more power to the wheels - better fuel economy. IMHO's second choice - Shell Nito+ is just a personal preference.

There will be enough difference to feel it when burning benzine comparing to gasohol even on a small 1.5L engine.

Cost wise it may or may not be better, while it will get you more km/L, cost of the benzine is about 25-30% higher than the 91 E10, increase in km/L won't be that high. While the Benzine 91 was available, it was the best fuel for most of the cars/bikes on Thai roads.

[wilcopops]

If the primary criteria are engine care & performance, and cost is no object = Caltex Techron Benzene 95 @ ~45 Baht/L - nothing beats a good benzene fuel, and the Techron additives do a good job of keeping the internals clean.

If cost or availability in your area is a problem, my next vote would go to Shell V-Power Nitro+ @ ~40 Baht/L, but it's an Ethanol blend.. It's my fall-back when there's no Techron Benzene available.

Admittedly, you may not notice much or any difference in a 120HP 1.5L...

...and the science behind that????

The science behind using Benzine 95 @ 45Baht/L is that the benzine releases more energy than ethanol when burned. More energy - more power to the wheels - better fuel economy. IMHO's second choice - Shell Nito+ is just a personal preference.

There will be enough difference to feel it when burning benzine comparing to gasohol even on a small 1.5L engine.

Cost wise it may or may not be better, while it will get you more km/L, cost of the benzine is about 25-30% higher than the 91 E10, increase in km/L won't be that high. While the Benzine 91 was available, it was the best fuel for most of the cars/bikes on Thai roads.

You may think that is science but iit isn't - you certainly don't want to apply something that simplistic to the internal combustion engine - unless you want to blow it up!

[wilcopops]

Rather than worry about the "best" fuel, you might want to worry about the "best" filling stations......the main problem you'll experience with fuel in Thailand is DIRTY or CONTAMINATED fuel.

Storage tanks can get water in them or dirt. I've had to replace fuel line parts due to "dirty" diesel.

Gas and diesel with "additives" and fancy names are in short just a way to get gullible punters to pay more for fuel.

Edited June 17, 2013 by wilcopops

[Shurup]

You may think whatever you like but the BTU of benzine is higher than BTU of ethanol so here's a science for you even though it sounds as simple as that. Higher BTU, hither the power output. For the same reason diesel engines have so much more power and better fuel economy in the same package as gas engines, diesel BTU is a lot higher than benzine.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[wilcopops]

You may think whatever you like but the BTU of benzine is higher than BTU of ethanol so here's a science for you even though it sounds as simple as that. Higher BTU, hither the power output. For the same reason diesel engines have so much more power and better fuel economy in the same package as gas engines, diesel BTU is a lot higher than benzine.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

If you think that changing the forecourt fuel in your car make any significant increase the power, you are seriously mistaken.

Edited June 18, 2013 by wilcopops