Mobil fuels - 95RON

[gjm 3258]

Mobil have (finally?) introduced a more widely available 95RON unleaded fuel.

It has long - always? - been the case in the UK and Europe that unleaded petrol was available in 3 forms: a lower octane version, a good version (95) and a super version (98).

This morning, we found 95RON at a local Mobil station. The Mercedes much prefers this, and so (I think) does Miss M's 318i. At 170.9 per litre, with a 10c per litre discount for spending more than $40 on fuel, I couldn't see a reason not to use it.

We have been running 91RON, but the car seems smoother and generally happier with 95. More so than the occasions when it has had a tank of 98.

I've spent a few minutes looking for details of the fuel specifications/compositions online but they appear pretty well hidden. All I found was reference to Mobil's 98RON fuels sold in the Wellington area potentially having up to a 10% ethanol content.

Still... 95RON fuel = A Good Thing.

[KwS 2425]

Whats the fuss? BP and Z both do 95RON. (except at Featherston St Z, which removed 95 and only does 91/Diesel... which was my tipping point for going exclusively BP)

98 is the way to go anyway, bugger putting that 91 swill into anything.

Edited September 21, 2016 by KwS

[huff3r 347]

Just now, KwS said:

Whats the fuss? BP and Z both do 95Oct.

98 is the way to go anyway, bugger putting that 91 swill into anything.

And Caltex! Agreed on the 91, even my ride-on gets 95 (admittedly only so that I always have a jerry can of 95 at home in case I need it).

Also for what its worth, I've never run my 316ti on 91, but on 95 it has always been primo, and it's not enough more expensive to even consider running 91, but i fully believe Miss M's 318i will go well on the 95 as well. (700+kms to a tank in my 1.6!)

[gjm 3258]

I've been looking for 95 for a long time, and simply not found it locally, anywhere. Today was the first time I have seen 95 at a local station.

98 may be great, and definitely the right thing to use in anything performance-oriented, but it is typically hellishly expensive and the 10% ethanol can make a nasty mess of fuel system components in older cars.

I'd hoped to find that 95RON was brewed differently and didn't contain ethanol. This is the case in the UK - 95 is petrol, 98 is often (but not always) a petrol/ethanol mix.

[KwS 2425]

BP is pure petrol, no corn water there. The smaller stations generally have 95 instead of 98. Z doesnt do 98, only 91 and 95.

Looks like Mobil will be bringing in (or has already started) pure 98 instead of their ethanol blend they use currently.

Edited September 21, 2016 by KwS
Spelling. Need more sleep.

[gjm 3258]

Don't see many BPs on my south (of) Auckland travels, and the ones I've seen only have 91 or 98. And BP are typically 5-10% more expensive than Mobil.

Fingers crossed Mobil do sell non-ethanol 98.   I know the Gull 98 does contain ethanol.

We don't have what would be considered high-performance cars so while 98RON wouldn't necessarily be wasted, it'd not be of the same benefit as it is in an M3, for example.

[gjm 3258]

Therein lies the issue - until today, I'd not seen 95 available at any of the stations we frequently pass, so the choice was between 91 (not ideal) and 98 (at a significant difference - up to 30c per litre - in price).

I remarked to the cashier at the station where I bought 95 today that it was nice to see it available. They seemed almost surprised, and certainly pleased, that someone was using it.
98 was 12c per litre more expensive than 95. Bearing in mind the simpler EMS on an M43, are we going to see enough benefit to make it worth using the higher octane fuel?

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

Interesting, I have always followed the reasoning you use Graham- 98 not worth the significant margin over 95, where 95 is available. Being rural also, 98 is often quite expensive relative to the other offerings.

I have been (so far) unable to find a significant difference in my own cars in terms of fuel consumption between 95 and 98.

All of which would be redundant, if only I could find a manual diesel...

[zero 1162]

What are the differences/benefits of 98 petrol (BP I think?) over 98 petrol ethanol mix (Gull)?

 

I always use 98 from gull because of the price and its close to my house, but I will definitely switch if there is a better option.

[*Glenn* 854]

I use 95 (Z) in everything that has a spark plug that I own, including cars, rideon, chain saws, weed eaters & mowers. I wouldn't put Gull or blended fuels in anything I own.

[zero 1162]

12 minutes ago, *Glenn* said:

I use 95 (Z) in everything that has a spark plug that I own, including cars, rideon, chain saws, weed eaters & mowers. I wouldn't put Gull or blended fuels in anything I own.

Thanks Glenn, could you expand on that?

Why is Gull or blended fuels bad?

[*Glenn* 854]

I didn't say it was bad... I just won't use it and many customers with Euro cars say that their vehicles don't like it

[zero 1162]

Thanks Glenn.

What do you mean by 'their vehicles don't like it'?

I'm genuinely interested, cause I will switch if my cars will respond better.

 

Nathan

[M3AN 4016]

2 hours ago, 3pedals said:

...the local Mobil does 98 at the same price as 95...

General location? 98 is brutally expensive anywhere near me (Ellerslie).

[aja540i 1906]

1 hour ago, *Glenn* said:

I didn't say it was bad... i just won't use it and many customers with Euro cars say that their vehicles don't like it

I ran a tank of gull blended 98 through the 540i and It ran like a sack of broken ar5eholes, havent touched It since!!

[NZ BMW 368]

I usually go to Z, but I have not seen a station in years which didn't have 95. I switch between 95 and 98 as I just reach for whatever is the highest number at the station... 

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

Most of the Mobils around Mt Wellington / East Auckland only do the 95 and not the 98, I have to go to Green Lane when I need to fill up the M Cars, everything else is happy to run on the 95. But it's not cheap there.

I have recently noticed how much the prices vary, same brands, different areas.. the North Shore are getting rorted on what they are paying compared to out East. I think they call it the Gull effect, they dropped their price 10c / litre for 36 hours and everyone else on Ti Rakau followed suit.. diesel at 87.9c / ltr from Mobil plus discount on the fuel card, sweet.

[gjm 3258]

Gull have shaken pricing up no end. OK - many of their stations are unmanned, reducing overheads significantly, but taking diesel as an example, diesel at Hampton Downs is 26c a litre cheaper than at the Mobil at Mercer.

Mobil in Drury is several cents a litre more expensive than Mobil on Gt South Road in Papakura.

Buyers are obviously not sufficiently discerning, or prices would be a lot closer!

[gjm 3258]

46 minutes ago, aja540i said:

I ran a tank of gull blended 98 through the 540i and It ran like a sack of broken ar5eholes, havent touched It since!!

Interesting... We noticed very little difference between 91 and 98 in the 318i, but on 95 it definitely seems much smoother. While I doubt there is a boost in low-rev torque, the engine is so much smoother that 4th gear at 1500rpm no longer feels like the engine is struggling - it's smooth.

[qube 3570]

Caltex 95 for me because close and takes bp fuel discount cards which gives me about 50 dollars discount every 2 months off full tank

[zero 1162]

What would be interesting would be a lab test of the different manufacturers of 98 fuel.

Sure, there would be fluctuations depending on different batches but a good enough test with enough samples would average that out.

I've always run Gull 98 in my beemers since I've owned them, and now I'm a little nervous.

[M3AN 4016]

1 hour ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

Most of the Mobils around Mt Wellington / East Auckland...

Not sure if you're locked into Mobil but if not and Lunn Ave is convenient the BP there is 98.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

Fuel card for the work cars is Mobil, so have to use them. Used to be BP but Mobil offered a better deal so we swapped.

When I want 98 for the race car I tend to go BP though so that's worth remembering.

[huff3r 347]

3 hours ago, zero said:

Thanks Glenn, could you expand on that?

Why is Gull or blended fuels bad?

They are known for adding butane to their fuels to boost octane rating. I don't know enough about petrol to know what effect this has, but I'd rather just avoid it anyway.

Edited September 22, 2016 by huff3r

[Herbmiester 923]

I know most of the Mobil 98 came from Altona in Aussie or from Singapore, from what I remember BP was Aussie or Singapore as well.