US vs UK forecourts

megakid · 24 Dec 2006 at 09:55

Ive just got home from a 10 day holiday staying with friends in Texas and one thing I noticed, apart from the incredibly cheap fuel, is that it was poorer quality.
I think the standard stuff was "83", premium being "87" and premium plus being "93" - Are these RON numbers or are they something different? I seem to remember reading somewhere that they are either MON or a combination of the two?

paradigm · 24 Dec 2006 at 09:56

Think its PON out there.

EDIT: Thing that annoyed me about US forecourts was having to pay FIRST. I mean FFS, how the hell am I supposed to know how many $'s worth of fuel will fill a Dodge Stratus from 1/4 full to full :confused:

Duke · 24 Dec 2006 at 09:57

No wonder they need 5 litre cars to get some power out of it

megakid · 24 Dec 2006 at 10:09

paradigm said:
Thing that annoyed me about US forecourts was having to pay FIRST. I mean FFS, how the hell am I supposed to know how many $'s worth of fuel will fill a Dodge Stratus from 1/4 full to full

The girls I was staying with used to get out, swipe their card in the pump, press which fuel they want (they use a common nozzle for all types of "gas" there). Next, put nozzle in car and lock the handle up. Get back in the car and wait for it to "click" when full. Replace nozzle, get receipt and drive off. Definately didnt choose how much they wanted before hand.

Vertigo · 24 Dec 2006 at 10:09

Biggest problem I had over there is with the rubber sheaths that go around the nozzles to collect the vapours coming back out of the tank. Maybe it was bad luck but everyone I used seemed to require immense force to push the nozzle into the filler neck, "concertina-ing" up the sheath in the process. I then have to stand there bracing myself against the car as the sheath tries to catapult the nozzle back out again.

Dandle · 24 Dec 2006 at 10:13

They use ROZ as a rating for fuel out there. 93ROZ is the same as 98RON i believe.

Dr Who · 24 Dec 2006 at 10:15

93 octane US is equivalent to 98 Super Unleaded in UK

Measuring octane - RON, MON and the difference between America and the rest of the world.
Just so you know, the octane number is actually an imprecise measure of the maximum compression ratio at which a particular fuel can be burned in an engine without detonation. There are actually two numbers - RON (Research octane number) and MON (Motor Octane Number). The RON simulates fuel performance under low severity engine operation. The MON simulates more severe operation that might be incurred at high speed or high load and can be as much as 10 points lower than the RON. In Europe, what you'll see on the petrol pumps is the RON. However, in America, what you'll see on the petrol pump is usually the "mean" octane number - notified as (R+M)/2 - the average of both the RON and MON. This is why there is an apparent discrepancy between the octane values of petrol in America versus the rest of the world. Euro95 unleaded in Europe is 95 octane but it's the equivalent of American (R+M)/2 89 octane.
In America, low altitude petrol stations typically sell three grades of petrol with octane ratings of 87, 89 and 91. High altitude stations typically also sell three grades, but with lower values - 85, 87 and 89.

From Car Bibles... http://www.carbibles.com/fuel_engine_bible.html

nutcase · 24 Dec 2006 at 10:16

They use AON, average octane number IIRC.

John_V85 · 24 Dec 2006 at 10:16

Paying beforehand is only really a problem for tourists. If you have a credit card you simply swipe that at the pump and then it will charge you accordingly at the end. Has to be a US credit card though as they ask you for your ZIP code as some form of security, much like asking for billing address.

One thing I do love is that you can simply click it on and then go away. None of thus standing by the car squeezing the trigger. Might sound a bit lazy, but when you have such a large tank to fill its excellent.

gurusan · 24 Dec 2006 at 10:16

In the states regular is 87 octane...plus is 89...and Premium is either 91 or 92 octane, depending on the state.

Not sure how that equates to European octane ratings but I can tell you that my friend had a 310whp turbo Civic Si that ran on pump gas as a daily driver.

10 psi and 10.4:1 compression ratio with fairly aggressive timing making that much power on only 1.6 liters....says something about the normal pump gas...not to mention the tuner's skills

Jokester · 24 Dec 2006 at 10:30

megakid said:
The girls I was staying with used to get out, swipe their card in the pump, press which fuel they want (they use a common nozzle for all types of "gas" there). Next, put nozzle in car and lock the handle up. Get back in the car and wait for it to "click" when full. Replace nozzle, get receipt and drive off. Definately didnt choose how much they wanted before hand.

Not something I would recommend doing, getting in and out of a car can generate static electricity, discharging that on the pump nozzle isn't too clever.

Jokester