PCX fuel quality

[shivayash]

I realise this has been talked about previously however yesterday whilst in a rush I filled up with premium fuel by mistake, at £1.45 per litre is wasn't too expensive but I'm now convinced the engine is running smoother.

The mirrors I noticed some months back were vibrating more than usual, service time is next month. But now the scoot is silky again, after 30 miles of hard riding with this higher grade of fuel.

May consider it every couple of fill ups to keep the injector jet nice and clean etc.

Anyone else noticed this sort of 'improvement'?

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1414668203.033447.jpg (59.05 KiB) Viewed 2462 times

[JoshM]

I realise this has been talked about previously however yesterday whilst in a rush I filled up with premium fuel by mistake, at £1.45 per litre is wasn't too expensive but I'm now convinced the engine is running smoother.

It's all in your head. If you want to "think" it's running smoother... go ahead, give the gas companies more money.

[shivayash]

Yep - I know you are right, but the detergents this stuff has, is that snake oil too?

[yak]

This topic gets debated a lot. The mechanic who works on PCX at the dealership told me to use the Super Unleaded ( i told him that most forum members ran their bikes on the lower octane fuel). The owners manual says to use the higher octane ( i didn't get an owners manual when buying the scooter so i am talking about the one you find online).

Go to your profile on this forum and add the details about your scooter and your location. Forum members appreciate that information.

[Alibally]

The owners manual says 91 octane. Ordinary unleaded in the UK is 95 so that's fine. Super unleaded is 98 and 99 is available at some Tesco fuel stations.

[iceman]

Didn't realise normal unleaded in the US is lower octane than we get - that explains why it's about four times as much to purchase the 'normal' fuel here

[DAB]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline

US and UK numbers are not equivalent.

[kramnala58]

US and Imperial gallons are different, but a liter is a liter. There are 3.7854 liters in a US gallon and 4.5460 liters in an Imperial gallon. You can convert the difference in currency on any one of a number of web sites and from there you can figure out the comparable price. When you do, you will typically find that US gas is some of the cheapest in the world, barring some middle east countries and places like Venezuela.

A part of it is price fixing by the oil companies even though it is against the law. I used to live very close to the US-Canada border and knew someone who drove a fuel truck. When it was not available at the US location he would be sent to Canada to pick it up and the same fuel that he would pick up was also sold at the pump in Canada for about 15% than it was at the pump in the US.

[Mel46]

There is also a different way of calculating octane in the United States. Our owners manual says 87 octane . As far as high test vs lower octane, here in the USA there are a lot of stations that are mandated to put 10% ethanol in the lower two grades. The high tea is ethanol free, so yes, they will run better with high test, but you would probably be better off putting an additive in from Walmart. I use Seafoam or an ethanol stabilizer in my gas tank if I don't find a station that is not carrying ethanol, which is not required in farming areas because farm equipment can't run on the 10% mix. In short, it depends on where you are. You could put it in if you wanted to, but it is detuned to be able to handle lower octane gas, so you may not be helping the engine as much as you think you are. Remember: single cylinder, two valve, low compression.

[Valiant]

Hmm, any particular downsides to burning to premium stuff?

I admittedly haven't paid much attention to the recommended octane number until I came across this thread. Though I've thus far filled my tank up maybe 3 times, though I don't often let it dip below half for too long(last fill-up was 1.5 gallons). It only has about 220 miles on the meter though, so I'd estimate somewhere around 75 mpg or so. I'm kind of curious if better fuel will let me run it longer, or maybe help with the engine break-in.

[yak]

Correction to my earlier post. The owners manual does NOT say to use Premium.

Here is an explanation from the guys who do the radio show called Car Talk. The higher octane provides no additional performance for vehicles designed to run on regular gas. But they don't mention anything bad that would be caused by using premium gas.
http://www.cartalk.com/content/premium-vs-regular-1#1

[you you]

US and Imperial gallons are different, but a liter is a liter. There are 3.7854 liters in a US gallon and 4.5460 liters in an Imperial gallon. You can convert the difference in currency on any one of a number of web sites and from there you can figure out the comparable price. When you do, you will typically find that US gas is some of the cheapest in the world, barring some middle east countries and places like Venezuela.

A part of it is price fixing by the oil companies even though it is against the law. I used to live very close to the US-Canada border and knew someone who drove a fuel truck. When it was not available at the US location he would be sent to Canada to pick it up and the same fuel that he would pick up was also sold at the pump in Canada for about 15% than it was at the pump in the US.

Litre please. Have some standards.

[kramnala58]

Litre please. Have some standards.

Both are acceptable, depending on your country .... tire/tyre; color/colour; neighbour/neighbor; and the list goes on .....

[Pcxdemon]

E10 91 unleaded works a treat..brings pepines in to the mix.

[iceman]

So, although the higher Octane with using Ethanol serves no real purpose in a PCX, the additives may help clear the engine up a bit if used every now and then - but is that true? Fuel is now cheaper in the UK than it has been for years, about £1.19/l at Asda for regular 95 octane, and a complete fill-up costs just over £9 - so I may pay 5-6p/l more every now and then for super-unleaded from Asda, Esso, Shell or such for the additives - but will those additives do anything in a PCX engine? (clearing muck out, not performance).

[Valiant]

I think you could simply purchase an additive separately and mix it with your next tank of gas to achieve the same effect. Which one is kind of confusing, given that the manual doesn't elaborate on this.

There seems to be some arm waving discussions over at the Forza section about the effects of ethanol, and how it can increase fuel consumption by about 10%. Might explain why I seem to average about 75 mpg right now... other than the 200 lbs fatass sitting on it .

Still, I think I'll burn up what's left in my tank and give the premium stuff a try. Not like I can't afford it given that each fillup only costs about 7 bucks.

[iceman]

I'm pushing the bike harder now (relative as I do not go above 40), but taking off from lights quicker, timing fast acceleration to try and stop some tale-gater going into my whilst leaving enough space up front to brake nicely, and until yesterday I was riding on a rear tyre over %20 deflated! (26 psi not 33). I still got 130mpg using bog standard Asda 95 el' cheapo fuel. I may treat the bike to an early couple of Xmas prezzies in the form of super-unleaded (less or no ethanol) fuel.