Pulp Vs Ulp

[IronFist]

I'm planning on a possible road trip with the IS250 and I'm concern with the availability of Premium Unleaded fuel - especially rural areas.

I've usually been in the major big cities where usually Premium in particular has always been available. My car always tasted 98 RON and nothing less.

I know our cars are designed to run on 95+ RON, however in the case of an emergency where I only fill it with regular Unleaded - Will this cause any long term damage?

Of course if PULP is available I will be filling up that.

Has anyone ever filled up with regular Unleaded and notice anything different with our engines?

[ProjectIS]

Hi mate,

Never have filled with anything other then the later. I would be very suprised to find a servo that didn't have a higher octane fuel @ their pumps so....... although I don't think you would find a significant issue if you did, I don't think that you would find yourself in a position that you had to! ;)

[cevu]

Hi mate,

Never have filled with anything other then the later. I would be very suprised to find a servo that didn't have a higher octane fuel @ their pumps so....... although I don't think you would find a significant issue if you did, I don't think that you would find yourself in a position that you had to! ;)

on the highway our cars are capable of 5.9 - 6.5L per 100 easy so on a full tank that will get you 800+ kms. i've been to brisbane and only did a refill about 2 hours out of brissie so i can confidently say that you'll be able to find 95ron+ within 800kms!

but in case u can't, the cheap stuff is no good. as soon as it went on you could hear the engine didn't like it and response was noticably worse! i had no choice, my distance to empty was 1km by the time i got to a servo! didn't realise the car was low! anyhow, i dropped in 5 bucks then drove to the mobil down the road and got 98Ron petrol! u should have seen the look on the guys face when i paid my $5! this guys driving a lexus but can't afford petrol was the look he was giving me! :-(

[FrankyX]

I believe they are capable of running ethanol fuels; however I am not one to run anything less than 95. I'm sure you'll be right though.

Depending on where you are going; just stop at servos with 95+ fuel even if your not near empty.

[pygothian]

Again...not really any help to your original post, but i've never put anything less than 98 octane in my lexus and merc. I have no idea if it really makes a difference, just went on what the dealers told me.

[Bluey]

My previous car had a twin turbo performance engine and the dealer said it could be safely run on normal ULP, for no more than 2 tanks, in a pinch. The engine management system will detect any pinging from the poorer fuel and adjust itself accordingly, once the better fuel gets back in, the system wil continue to monitor and adjust accordingly.

Therefore normal ULP will not be a problem for a tank, just put in the minimum needed to get to the next major town so the tank is near empty again, otherwise if it's still half full and you add PULP then you will end up with a mix somewhere in between.

Also, the car will run beyond zero on the range to empty, it seems to be about the same as the low level warning light on other cars. There seemed to be about 6-7 litres of fuel still in the tank when I filled up and had gone about 15km past the zero reading. So seems you could get another 80-100km on the highway, if you want to try for us....

[pygothian]

ohh hell...even get a jerrycan with some 98 octane in the boot as backup...that would be the best solution

[last1]

When I bought my car, the salesman assured me that I could use regular unleaded if I ever got stuck, but to resume to higher octane thereafter.

For the record, over the last 6 months, I have been alternating between 95 & 98 RON at each fill. I reckon 98 has more kick and 95 gives me a slightly poorer fuel economy figure. Mobil 98 seems to give better response than Shell & Caltex 98. Interesting to see other people's views.

Previous to the last 6 months, I had been running 98 Ron on all my vehicles for the past 10 years or so. (for the detergents it contained)

[Naz]

I have to agree the Mobile 98 seems to run better with the IS250. I used to find that with my IS 200 I used to get more kick with Caltex. No idea why? Anyone know? :)

[IronFist]

ohh hell...even get a jerrycan with some 98 octane in the boot as backup...that would be the best solution

haha..that's a bit extreme. I think I should be fine, if I find a servo with 95+ I'll just fill up just in case without being desperate enough to put in regular.

I've only used 98 RON from Mobil, Tried BP Ultimate 98 with 1 tank once and instantly got slightly lower mileage by the range computer - Put 98 Mobil back in and it went back to what it usually was. Same driving style, same distance.....strange.

The fuel door has a label saying something like it's Ethanol compatible but never used it in any of my car after hearing the negativity surrounding it.

Sticking to 98 RON, some servos I've found close the 98 pumps on the cheap petrol cycle then reopen them on the more expensive days

[pygothian]

I've only used BP ultimate 98, I haven't seen Mobil or caltex in perth that do 98 octane near where I live. Best ive seen them have is 95. But that was a yr or two ago when i last looked.

[IronFist]

Mobil call it Synergy 8000 and Caltex call theirs Vortex I think (never used that either).

95 RON is becoming harder to find in some parts of Sydney I noticed.

[Sapphire Cam]

Use of 91RON = Only in emergency of course, but would expect it would get you through fine (particularly on the open road), provided its only for a few hundred kms max and that you're not revving it. I think use of 91RON in city traffic would be risky (but you wouldnt anyhow?!) as the extra octane is needed most in acceleration.

95 or 98? = I usually run mine on 95RON, with every 3rd or 4th tank as 98RON. Economy and performance all good. But since the recent drop in petrol prices, I've now put 98RON every fill. Around town I'm getting about 0.4-0.6L/100km better economy with the 98 over the 95.

"Oils Aint Oils" = To Naz: well something to that effect! YES you're not wrong re. Caltex. I did some environmental auditing for Gilbarco a few years back (they are the guys that service/calibrate all the bowsers Australia wide) and they said without hesitation that Caltex refine the best fuel in Australia and make the best product. I find their 95RON is as good as some refiners' 98RON products.

I've also done a bit of work for the Shell Geelong refinery, and know for a fact that their 91RON fuel actually at times drops below 91RON (this should not a problem for IS owners, but some trivia for you all). Their 98 fuel (V-Power) is fine though. Reckon I've had a problem with their 95RON product at times though (poor economy)

[Art_76]

I've always used Shell V-Power in my car since new and when V-Power was unavailable earlier this year I tried the Mobil 98 Octane and found it quite good but i still got slightly more mileage from V-Power.

[kinjiru]

Use of 91RON = Only in emergency of course, but would expect it would get you through fine (particularly on the open road), provided its only for a few hundred kms max and that you're not revving it. I think use of 91RON in city traffic would be risky (but you wouldnt anyhow?!) as the extra octane is needed most in acceleration.

95 or 98? = I usually run mine on 95RON, with every 3rd or 4th tank as 98RON. Economy and performance all good. But since the recent drop in petrol prices, I've now put 98RON every fill. Around town I'm getting about 0.4-0.6L/100km better economy with the 98 over the 95.

"Oils Aint Oils" = To Naz: well something to that effect! YES you're not wrong re. Caltex. I did some environmental auditing for Gilbarco a few years back (they are the guys that service/calibrate all the bowsers Australia wide) and they said without hesitation that Caltex refine the best fuel in Australia and make the best product. I find their 95RON is as good as some refiners' 98RON products.

I've also done a bit of work for the Shell Geelong refinery, and know for a fact that their 91RON fuel actually at times drops below 91RON (this should not a problem for IS owners, but some trivia for you all). Their 98 fuel (V-Power) is fine though. Reckon I've had a problem with their 95RON product at times though (poor economy)

Thanks for the info Sapphire

[sun2on99]

I have been using 91ULP for the past 9 months, no problems at all. But from time to time I will use a tank of 98 to clean up the engine.

[Hank Scorpio]

I've only used BP ultimate 98, I haven't seen Mobil or caltex in perth that do 98 octane near where I live. Best ive seen them have is 95. But that was a yr or two ago when i last looked.

Thats odd. I always go to Caltex because they always have 98 and 95 readily available.