ajobbins:
Unfortunately for motorists, it’s often unclear which ‘premium’ fuel (95 or 98 octane) is sold at which service station, as retailers are not required to display the price on the price board – only at the pump. On occasion, that means some motorists may unintentionally spend an extra eight cents per litre buying a higher octane fuel than the one they actually need.
That makes no sense. Why would the fact only the 91 price being displayed on the board someone make them fill their car up with a higher grade fuel than they need? I have never, ever seen a pump in New Zealand or Australia that doesn't have the octane grade displayed at the pump, along with the price. Sure, some may only have one either of 95 or 98, but it always has the octane rating (and the price) at the pump.
Because you pull in, only want 95 but they only have 91 and 98 on the pumps, so you either have to leave or overpay for the 98.
ajobbins:
High-octane mineral fuels do have marginally higher energy levels than lower grades, so fuel economy may improve slightly.
NO. That is the whole misconception and even the AA are perpetuating it *facepalm*
I asked someone who should know about this, and it came down to fuel being sold by volume, not by weight that there were slight differences. This came up with a discussion about the crappy gull stuff they filled with butane as a tax dodge, which is why I wont shop there. It was less dense so same liters would weigh less and have less energy in it was what they explained it as.
ajobbins:
In Europe, 95 and 98 octane are the two most common grades; in Japan it’s 91 and 96/98 octane. In the USA, the fuel grades range between 87-91octane. Australia mostly uses 91 or 95 octane.
No mention of the fact that they aren't comparing things equally (I doubt they even know the difference by the rest of the article). The USA figures are AKI and the rest will be RON.
Yeah the dumb is strong there, but ever since the AA started talking about support of speed cameras, they have lost the plot IMO. Remember how they started out with the badge on the car was so they knew who to warn about speed traps. Good organization then, hopeless now unless all you care about is people talking crap and getting cheaper roadside assistance if you are a paid up member.