Does Australia include NZ in terms of car manuals?

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Geektastic

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#265654 3-Feb-2020 21:30

Odd question. Bear with me.

The fuel requirement for a new Subaru Forester in the manual says

For Australia: 91 Octane or higher

Except for Australia: 95 Octane or higher is recommended

So...is NZ included in 'Australia' since we tend to share vehicle specs and if it isn't then how is their 91 different?

boosacnoodle

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#2412124 3-Feb-2020 21:47

Apparently Australia's fuel quality is one of the lowest in the OECD, so this may be why. Quite an interesting read actually as it seems Australia, and by extension probably us too, are not getting the most fuel efficient cars due to low fuel quality.

Source: https://www.caradvice.com.au/748124/australias-petrol-standards-and-cheap-fuel-to-remain-unchanged-until-2027/

Geektastic

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#2412129 3-Feb-2020 22:02

I thought we also sold 91 here? Do we not?

Bung

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#2412131 3-Feb-2020 22:16

The NZ brochure lists minimum octane requirement as 91 RON but qualifies the engine performance specs as being obtained on 95 RON as required by Australian Design Rule.

Scott3

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#2412135 3-Feb-2020 22:31

Geektastic:

Odd question. Bear with me.

The fuel requirement for a new Subaru Forester in the manual says

For Australia: 91 Octane or higher

Except for Australia: 95 Octane or higher is recommended

So...is NZ included in 'Australia' since we tend to share vehicle specs and if it isn't then how is their 91 different?

Generally I would say no. Quite often we get different spec cars from Austrailia.

As Examples:

Previous Generation Outlander is sold with coilover rear suspension in NZ & japan, but separate shocks in USA & Aust.
Subaru uses a different badge for the Legacy in Aussie
Aussie spec cars often offer a lower base specification than are offered here (hand crank windows etc).

I think a lot of this stems from the presence of used imports from NZ. It is desirable for our spec to match japan where possible. Also little need for Bargen basement new cars here when we can get good used cars from Japan to meet that need.

That said, Subaru NZ clearly are advertising the Forester as having 91 (I assume RON) as the minimum fuel requirement:

https://www.subaru.co.nz/showroom/forester/compare#state=compare&variants=133,137,139

To further complicate the matter, some vehicles have different Minimum fuel grades, to the Recommended fuel grade. My BMW was 91 Min, 95 recommended.

Scott3

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#2412137 3-Feb-2020 22:53

Bung: The NZ brochure lists minimum octane requirement as 91 RON but qualifies the engine performance specs as being obtained on 95 RON as required by Australian Design Rule.

Do you think that means that Subaru is required to have 95RON as the recommended fuel everywhere other than Australia as that is what the engine performance specs are quoted running on, But the ADR allows the car to be tested on 95 despite the minimum being 91, leading to the difference in that market?

If that is the case it is a bit deceptive of Subaru NZ to advertise power figures that are unobtainable on the minimum fuel rating in the same spec sheet (linked above). If this is the case, it sounds like if OP wants the advertised performance they need to run 95...

dolsen

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#2412141 3-Feb-2020 23:21

boosacnoodle:
Apparently Australia's fuel quality is one of the lowest in the OECD, so this may be why. Quite an interesting read actually as it seems Australia, and by extension probably us too, are not getting the most fuel efficient cars due to low fuel quality.

Source: https://www.caradvice.com.au/748124/australias-petrol-standards-and-cheap-fuel-to-remain-unchanged-until-2027/

Nz limit of sulphur is 10ppm from 1 July 2018, so, better than Australia. Doesn't mean that our market is big enough without Australia to get the more efficient cars though.

Geektastic

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#2412219 4-Feb-2020 08:29

So, based on all your helpful replies, it’s not terribly clear. It seems that (a) you can safely run the car on 91 but (b) it will run better on 95.

Does that sound about right?

It’s an improvement on the Range Rover it replaced, which was 98 if possible!