It's a question we get asked a lot and it's a question we thought it was about time that we answered. To find out we've fed our Holden Captiva 7 test car five different kinds of petrol over the past few weeks to see which was better.
The results might surprise you. An attractively priced family wagon, the seven-seat Captiva was perfect for the job. As well as E10 and standard Unleaded, we also decided to add Premium 95 and Premium 98 to the mix, along with the new E85, with 85 per cent ethanol mix that only some Saabs and Holdens can use.
There's nothing like being thorough. The young feller at the counter of our local servo was a bit concerned when we told him that we'd just filled up with E85. But we assured him it was okay, we knew what we were doing (some might disagree).
Seems some customers have mistakenly filled their cars with E85 with dire consequences if not designed to take the stuff. Think rough idling and engine failure ultimately. Holden has been making a big deal lately about its cars being E85 compatible, so our timing couldn't be better. Mind you, try finding a servo that stocks E85, it’s not easy they're few and far between.
OUR TEST CAR
The Captiva 7 CX is a mainstream, seven-seat family SUV. Priced to sell from $38,490, it has a 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine, all wheel drive and a five-star safety rating. The 3.0-litre V6, the smaller of the Commodore engines, produces 190kW of power and 288Nm of torque. It has a 65-litre tank and fuel consumption that is officially rated at 10.1 litres/100km giving it a theoretical range of 644km.
DID YOU KNOW?
Betcha didn't know the figures on fuel consumption stickers are based on Premium Unleaded 95. If you're like me, you just go looking for the cheapest fuel you can find when it comes to fill up. That's fine, but it means you're never going to see anything like the manufacturer's claim. Sucks doesn't it? The reason the test is based on Premium 95 is that not all cars will take standard unleaded, especially European cars.
ETHANOL
Ethanol is a type of alcohol. It is a renewable energy source and not as harmful to the environment as petroleum products. The US Environmental Protection Agency says one litre of ethanol reduces net emissions of COinf2 by over 90.9 per cent, so one litre of ethanol will save 2.11kg of COinf2.
Most cars built after 1986 can safely use petrol with ethanol added. In Australia, ethanol is made from sugar cane, red sorghum and the waste from starch production not from food sources. In the past ethanol has been blamed for being corrosive. But these days the ethanol sold in Australia must by law contain a corrosion inhibitor. Check to see if your vehicle is able to run ethanol blend fuel.
WHO'S RON?
Petrol carries a RON rating (Research Octane Number). The higher the number, the more compression the fuel will tolerate before it detonates. Generally fuels with a higher octane are used in high performance/high compression engines.
Most European cars are designed to run on Premium 95 RON unleaded because 95 is the standard over there. If you run your car on petrol with an octane rating below that recommended you might notice a knocking, rattling or a pinging sound which means the fuel is detonating instead of burning smoothly. This can damage your engine if you continue to use it.
URBAN MYTH
A trial undertaken in 1998 for the Federal Government showed that the use of E10 in vehicles designed for ULP increases fuel consumption by an average of 2.8 per cent but it varies from car to car. The NRMA's technical expert Jack Haley said it is a widespread but misguided belief that if you use a high octane fuel your car's performance will automatically increase. “You won't achieve any improved performance from using higher octane fuels unless your vehicle's engine is designed for them," he said.
ULP
Standard unleaded has an octane rating of 91. Locally produced vehicles, plus most Japanese cars, are designed to run on ULP and these don't generally benefit from premium or ultra premium petrol. The NSW Government had planned to phase out ULP this year but bowed to pressure because motorists whose cars won't take E10 would have been forced to pay more. Standard unleaded can however be hard to find and you might discover the unleaded that you're putting in your car already contains 10 per cent ethanol.
PULP
Premium unleaded petrol has an octane rating of 95. Most European cars are designed to run on PULP because that is the standard grade of petrol overseas.
UPULP
Ultra Premium Unleaded Petrol has an octane rating of 98. It's usually restricted to high performance sports cars. Shell used to sell 100 RON petrol which contained 5 per cent ethanol but stopped in 2008.
E10
E10 as its name suggests contains 10 per cent ethanol and has an octane rating of 94 or 95. It is fast becoming the default as standard unleaded becomes harder to find. In many cases it can be substituted for Premium in cars that require PULP. E10 delivers a bit more zip than unleaded, but your car will consume E10 at a faster rate because it does not contain as much energy and generally increases consumption by 1-3.5 per cent.
E85
E85 has an octane rating of 105. It's the newest addition to our service stations but only a small number of cars can use it, including some Saabs and Holdens. It is a cleaner-burning fuel that can enhance vehicle performance and reduce COinf2 emissions by up to 40 per cent.
Although there is less energy in a litre of E85, which means less range than petrol, the ethanol component has a higher octane rating, so you may notice an increase in power and overall performance. You might be surprised to learn that V8 Supercars have all run on E85 since 2009.
THE RESULTS
We clocked up more than 2600km over a four-week period, running the tank down to almost empty and refilling with a different fuel each time same car, same driver, same route each time. The prices quoted for fuel are all from the same outlet on the same day, which makes it a level playing field.
Apart from E85, there's not much between them in dollar terms. We got the best range and best fuel consumption from Premium 98 at 600km and 10.2 litres/100km. But of course 98 costs a lot more. The worst result came from E85 at 413km and 14.6 litres/100km. So unless you're particularly committed to saving the environment it's not the answer.
AND THE WINNER IS?
So, which is better E10 or standard unleaded? Ours was a real world test in real world driving conditions. While the figures may vary between different vehicles the relativities hold true. As our test confirmed expect better fuel consumption from ordinary unleaded at 11.1 versus 11.9 litres/100km.
Granted E10 is cheaper but the 2 cents a litre difference in price is simply not enough to warrant using E10 which costs $15.93 per 100km, compared to $15.08 for standard unleaded. E10 would have to be $1.26 a litre or less to justify swapping 7 cents cheaper not 2 as it usually is.
E85 on the other hand would have to be $1.03 to make it worthwhile 15 cents less. Based on our results you're better off sticking with standard unleaded, which will save you $170 over 20,000km or the course of a year. But it's interesting to note that running the good stuff (98), even though it's more expensive, will set you back only 21 cents more per 100km or $41 over the course of a year.
来源： http://www.carsguide.com.au/car- ... -29451#.Vd_Ec_mqpBc
测试车是CAPTIVA，总体来说就是综合来看91还是比e10划算，每百公里便宜8毛多，但98也并不贵多少，每百公里贵两毛一而已，但是高标号汽油并不能带来更好的表现，除非引擎设计的就是要求高标号汽油。这是众多懂车帝都存在的误区啊。
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好长。。。等会看看
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不同车型不同发动机的测试结果不一样的，还得靠自己测才准。
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再来个比较个油站文章的！？
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这个估计很难有，毕竟同个油站的油品也不能做到每一油罐车都完全一样
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新马3，实测加95的貌似最划算，但是不知道加95的是不是没有必要啊，但是压缩比这么高又不敢加低的
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马三应该不会要求这么高吧
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我是只用91的
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加91、95、98基本上成本相差不大，标号高点的一箱油能跑远点，这个跟我的经验一致。
E10一点也不省钱，这也基本是定论，所以加E10真不明智啊，除非你的车就好那一口
至于说标号高的油并不能带来更好的表现（performance）？ 我还是能感觉到不同，不知道他们说的performance具体是什么意思，仅指油耗吗？还是加速及引擎运转等？
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我以前也干过这种无聊事儿结果一样，91最经济，维州
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好吧，高压缩比的汽油发动机，用高标号汽油；低压缩比的汽油发动机，用低标号的汽油。具体的，自己去放狗吧----------是不是月经啊？
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车的说明书上说加什么就加什么呗 加高标号的没什么意思 不过现在家里俩车都是柴油的
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我的4.0 Falcon，试过几次98，真心感觉不出什么区别，后来就一直91了，E10一般是不碰的
我觉得有些地方美系车还是比较实在的，不像有些日系，买菜车加买菜发动机，还偏要95,的油，半年一次的保养，实在矫情
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Evoke 跑了8000，中间有2000是95 3000是98 剩下的是91，综合下来98确实会让引擎更平顺些，爬坡会有种幻觉转速低些。但是因为最近不开高速了，总开短途，看着那500公里11.5的综合油耗不爽，又滚回了91
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自测最准确 。
积碳多的车，相应会要求高一个号的油。
不同品牌。 不同标号多试试。
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