98 Premium unleaded

[Bens101x]

I've had my Aurion for a couple of months and I've always put the 98 Premium Unleaded in ! Is this the best fuel for this car I previously had a VF Commodore and always put it in that.

Cheers Ben

[Tony Prodigy]

98 isn't necessary, but being a high quality, low Sulphur fuel, it will burn more cleanly than the lower grade fuel beneath it. Not much in terms of power gains. It's all academic really. I'd save my money and stick with 91 RON. If the manufacturer calls for 98 RON it is because their engine has a higher compression ration and relies on the octane boost to keep it from detonating. The Aurion's engine is very forgiving in that it will happily run on anything you put in it, even E10 believe it or not. Save your money at the bowser and put it toward a high quality synthetic oil and do regular oil changes.

 Win/Win.  

[campbeam]

There are existing Forum posts relating to this topic. General consensus of opinion is that you are wasting your money using 98 PULP. The engine has been tuned to use 91 RON or higher. When petrol was cheaper earlier this year, I was filling up with 95 PULP. Now back to using 91 ULP. 

Last year, I did a return trip from Brisbane to Cairns using 95 PULP. It more proved that my leadfoot outwighted any expected fuel economy gains over 91 ULP.

Something else to consider is that 95 PULP should be a better quality fuel than 91 ULP.

End of the day, it is your choice what fuel you use.

[Noodle Boy]

The term 'best' is subjective. 98RON will vary from brand to brand, therefore one's perception on 98RON will differ.

This topic has been addressed multiple times, therefore a new thread is not necessary. 

Best fuel for Aurion? - Aurion / TRD Aurion Club - Toyota Owners Club - Australia

Best Fuel for Aurion's - Aurion / TRD Aurion Club - Toyota Owners Club - Australia

Different fuels for Aurion... What do you use ? - Aurion / TRD Aurion Club - Toyota Owners Club - Australia

Some of those earlier threads are somewhat redundant now that the fuels have been re-blended by the brands. The generic perception is these 2GR engines are developed to run on 91RON and will only benefit from using 95RON, whilst 98RON is an overkill due to it not being highly strung enough to see the benefits. In saying that, I notice better throttle response and fuel economy when running on either 95RON or 98RON versus 91RON.

As Tony pointed out above, is the Sulphur content is of a concern with respect to pollution and carbon build up, then yes 98RON may be best as it's known to contain the least ppm relative to its lesser blends. 

[bob007]

If your car doesn't need 98 Octane, then don't use it as it's burning a hole in your pocket, but it Toyota say 95 or higher...that's what you must use.  As for carbon build up, I had a 2001 Corolla and it ran on 91 octane for 18 years with no problems...I did every now and then get on the M4 and drive at 110km for some time as I do now with my Camry...I'm told that's all you need plus regular oil changes.  

[Tony Prodigy]

6 minutes ago, bob007 said:

every now and then get on the M4 and drive at 110km for some time as I do now with my Camry...I'm told that's all you need plus regular oil changes.  

It's as simple as that. Most of us drive locally and in peak hour traffic, but yes, you need to occasionally get it out on an open road for at least 20 -30 minutes at least, to burn all that carbon crud away. Still do those regular oil changes too.

[Novicebutnice]

On 6/8/2021 at 4:26 PM, Tony Prodigy said:

It's as simple as that. Most of us drive locally and in peak hour traffic, but yes, you need to occasionally get it out on an open road for at least 20 -30 minutes at least, to burn all that carbon crud away. Still do those regular oil changes too.

Isn't that what the "Italian tune up" is for?? 

[Novicebutnice]

On 6/8/2021 at 9:02 AM, bens1x said:

I've had my Aurion for a couple of months and I've always put the 98 Premium Unleaded in ! Is this the best fuel for this car I previously had a VF Commodore and always put it in that.

Cheers Ben

From my own experience with my current MY17 RZ Camry which is min 91 Octane,

I haven't used 91 octane fuel in my current car, since I determined with my last car (05 Corolla sedan) that while the car did run without issue, it seemed as though the car used the fuel noticeably quicker than higher octane fuels, as well it felt as though the power/torque curve had changed.

In regards to 95 octane versus 98 octane, for a car tuned for 91 octane, unless you are driving the car above 5000RPM all the time, than 98 has no benefit.

And in fact for my car, gave inferior performance compared to 95 below about 5000 RPM.

Driving in the city you won't notice much difference between the min octane fuel that your car is tuned for, and the max octane fuel that is available.

The higher the octane fuel, the higher the quality (lower sulfur)

On the highway is where I noticed the difference, slight increase in range, as well as while overtaking.

So in general I think the rule of thumb for petrol in terms of seeing some sort of a positive difference (which in general won't be enough to make up for the higher cost) is:

Tuned for 91 use max 95

Turned for 95 using 98 can yield some benefits.

However what also needs to be taken into account is that some cars seem to prefer some brands over other (my 05 Corolla didn't like 7/11 fuel, so I don't use it often enough in my MY17 Camry to see if this still rings true).

Given that here in Australia the base fuel is used by all the major brands, it has to come down to the secret herbs and spices that each brand adds to the base fuel to make their own unique fuel ("V Power", "Ultimate", "Amplify 98", etc)

 

Edited June 10, 2021 by Novicebutnice

[campbeam]

Another YouTube video by Auto Expert, John Cadogan. This time he is giving "Stumpo" a bit of a roasting with facts about RON vs dubious advice/opinion/thoughts. Sulphur content is well explained. 

 

[Tony Prodigy]

Haha Ash, we must be telepathic. I watched this same video yesterday morning. Stumpo got a royal roasting Cadogan style.