Premium or regular gasoline?

[GTM®]

GTM’s fueling solution with the PowerCommander, the Autotune 300 [dual λ (lambda-sensors)] and GTM’s Dyno developed, tested and proven custom map, will make your Moto Guzzi come to life like never before, while it utilizes 2 brand new wide-band sensors.
They are extremely reliable.
I have been running this setup on my Stelvio for 10+ years now and it has operated flawlessly all these years. GTM provides bi-annual review of your mapping file at no charge to the purchasers of this system.

Thanks for this Scott. I have been running PComm's since 2001, and AutoTune since ~2008 or so. My '13 STILL wears the prototype PC built for the Guzzi 8V engine in late '08. Zero issues, and incredible throttle response and fueling on ALL of my bikes and custom GTM builds. Only my Supercharged builds use a completely different Fueling system as the parameters are too extreme for the stock ECU.
Before anyone gets too excited, they are NOT (yet) available for the V100, and likely may never be. They are also not available for the V7/9, and only the V85TTs with ECU flashes via UpMap (for now). I will be testing to see if I can make one work on the V100s hopefully soon. I have to get into the ECU first to do so.

 

[MalcNZ]

Well this has been informative. Here in NZ we get 91 (standard) 95 and 98( Super) . All are RON measured . 91 presently sells at around NZ$2.74 / litre so is much dearer than you have in the US. 98 is around NZ$3.00 / litre. Unfortunately the 4 main oil companies decided a couple of years back to close our 1 only local refinery that supplied approx. 65% of local demand(they were hoping the Govt would pay for upgrades similar to what they got in the 1980's) We now rely on fuel imported from cheap refineries in Singapore or Malaysia. Quality can vary at times which is not a great issue with modern engine management systems but I for one have taken to using 98 only in my 85 V65. This means that the 60 horses are all there when the throttle is opened and not left out in the paddock as seemed common with lower octane versions. Also with some companies took to adding ethanol ( now acceptable at up to 3%) and methanol( up to 10%) to make cheaper low grade fuels meet the requirements but those fuels suffer from high consumption rate. As with any alcohol engine you use more fuel than in a pure petrol engine.

 

[john zibell]

Well this has been informative. Here in NZ we get 91 (standard) 95 and 98( Super) . All are RON measured . 91 presently sells at around NZ$2.74 / litre so is much dearer than you have in the US. 98 is around NZ$3.00 / litre. Unfortunately the 4 main oil companies decided a couple of years back to close our 1 only local refinery that supplied approx. 65% of local demand(they were hoping the Govt would pay for upgrades similar to what they got in the 1980's) We now rely on fuel imported from cheap refineries in Singapore or Malaysia. Quality can vary at times which is not a great issue with modern engine management systems but I for one have taken to using 98 only in my 85 V65. This means that the 60 horses are all there when the throttle is opened and not left out in the paddock as seemed common with lower octane versions. Also with some companies took to adding ethanol ( now acceptable at up to 3%) and methanol( up to 10%) to make cheaper low grade fuels meet the requirements but those fuels suffer from high consumption rate. As with any alcohol engine you use more fuel than in a pure petrol engine.

There is more energy in the lower grade (89/91 octane) than the higher grade. The higher grades are to prevent detonation/pre-ignition.

 

[Navy Boy]

Well this has been informative. Here in NZ we get 91 (standard) 95 and 98( Super) . All are RON measured . 91 presently sells at around NZ$2.74 / litre so is much dearer than you have in the US. 98 is around NZ$3.00 / litre. Unfortunately the 4 main oil companies decided a couple of years back to close our 1 only local refinery that supplied approx. 65% of local demand(they were hoping the Govt would pay for upgrades similar to what they got in the 1980's) We now rely on fuel imported from cheap refineries in Singapore or Malaysia. Quality can vary at times which is not a great issue with modern engine management systems but I for one have taken to using 98 only in my 85 V65. This means that the 60 horses are all there when the throttle is opened and not left out in the paddock as seemed common with lower octane versions. Also with some companies took to adding ethanol ( now acceptable at up to 3%) and methanol( up to 10%) to make cheaper low grade fuels meet the requirements but those fuels suffer from high consumption rate. As with any alcohol engine you use more fuel than in a pure petrol engine.

Hi Malc

Yep I use the highest Octane fuel I can here on the South Island. I have found that 95 runs perfectly well in both the V7 850 as well as my V100 though I'll use the 98/100 if it is available.

Interestingly I tried NPD's 100 Octane in my little Suzuki Jimny a couple of months ago (1.5 litre four cylinder motor with a standard compression ratio) and have found on more than one occasion that I get between 0.5-1 Km/litre improvement compared to running standard 91. I can't say that the Guzzis have shown much difference economy-wise but I always think that using the good stuff occasionally does no harm.

 

[Raven]

There is more energy in the lower grade (89/91 octane) than the higher grade. The higher grades are to prevent detonation/pre-ignition.

I see slightly lower fuel mileage with 93/94 octane because of the lower amount of energy in the higher octane fuel. My bike just seems to like the high octane and "runs" better. It could be the placebo effect also.

 

[Chet Van Aken]

Because octane is measured differently here in the US, your 95 and 98 rating is the equivalent to 91 and 93 octane here.
I usually use 90 octane no-ethanol fuel in my V100S, and I have used the 93 no-ethanol as well. If I'm not near a no-ethanol source, I use either the 89 octane midgrade or usually the 92 octane premium (10% ethanol).
I've never noticed any difference between any of them.

Run into this for many years with cars and bikes, If I'm feeling cheap, I alternate between mid (89) and premium (93) in the mid-west and South. The only vehicle I've ever had that was sensitive was a Cali 1400. Seems to me 91 US octane is fine all-around; I don't usually worry about ethanol since you really can't get away from it on road trips.