Petro Canada Ultra 94

[hmong337]

You guys using it? If so, how frequently? Sometimes? Rarely? All the time?

But most importantly, are you guys having any sort of issues with this stuff? Crickets?

[pheoxs]

100% Always, yes crickets (replaced HPFP last month, it came back), no other issues.

Running a FA20 Club tuned Vortech setup.

[Hagbard]

yes crickets as well from it stopped using it went to Shell Ultra 91

[hmong337]

Originally Posted by Hagbard

yes crickets as well from it stopped using it went to Shell Ultra 91

did they go away once you switched back to shell?

[wbradley]

Crickets, yes.

Possibly more power too.

Shell VPower gets slightly better mileage for the money, which I prefer. Too bad there are so few Shell stations where I am.

[Mr.Jay]

I do but will be switching over to Shell 91 since I've been reading how 93 Chevron over in the West here sucks ass.

[roddy]

I usually use Ultra 94. The car seems to like it best in the heat of summer (better throttle response and less "ping" than 91). Crickets like crazy. If I get really tired of the crickets, I run the tank really low, and fill with ethanol free Shell 91. Those are the only two types of gas my car has seen. In the winter months, it doesn't seem to matter which one I use. I find slightly better mileage with the Shell 91.

[Hagbard]

Originally Posted by hmong337

did they go away once you switched back to shell?

Yup so far they have not come back

[engsr]

I just filled up again with 94 (third tank in a row after using Shell 91). Noticed that my mileage has been a better, and this includes the use of air conditioning and more jackass moments than usual. I'd have to do the math but I think the extra $$ versus Shell 91 makes it a wash. I do like the concept of 7cents off per litre though.

Between Shell 91 and Petro 94, butt dyno says the 94 feels more responsive. As far as the crickets go, yeah, they're back, but I really don't pay attention to it. They never bothered me. It's more of an annoyance than an actual problem but some make it seem more of the latter.

[PMPB]

Threads like this are hilarious. One person will say their car is better on Shell 91 and the next will say that PC94 is better.

Also:

Originally Posted by roddy

...less "ping" than 91...

If you're car is pinging on 91, I suggest you NEVER use it, and that you should probably visit the dealership to have your knock sensor checked out.

[grodenglaive]

A few people have said the crickets were caused by the 10% ethanol. I thought that was bs until I experienced this myself.

PC- 94 (10% ethanol): crickets
ultramar 91 (ethanol free): no crickets
drummonds 91 (ethanol free): no crickets
ESSO 91 (10% ethanol): crickets!

I've only tried the ethanol free 2 or 3 times, so maybe it's a coincident, but I don't think so. I'll experiment some more.

[roddy]

Originally Posted by PMPB

Threads like this are hilarious. One person will say their car is better on Shell 91 and the next will say that PC94 is better.

Also:



If you're car is pinging on 91, I suggest you NEVER use it, and that you should probably visit the dealership to have your knock sensor checked out.

I was trying to not write a long winded post.

I think the reason for slightly better mileage on the Shell gas (in my case) is the 0% ethanol content. Ethanol is less efficient than gasoline. Seems plausible to me. I'd bet the E85 users have noticed a drop in mileage over pure gas (or even E10).

As for the ping, I don't get it a lot, but it does happen. If I'm on a two lane highway, and I'm getting ready to pass, I drop from 6th to 4th (sometimes even 3rd depending on speed). When I tap the throttle to rev match on the down shift, I get a quick snap of detonation (or ping...whatever term you want to use), then it is gone. This happens frequently on the 91, and occasionally on the 94. This may have something to do with the transient timing table that others have wrote about, but I haven't read enough about the issue to know or draw a conclusion. As an experiment, I tried using the Lucas octane booster with MMT. It makes a slight difference with the 91, and stops it altogether with the 94. I've heard bad things about MMT messing up spark plugs, sensors and cat. converters, so I don't use it frequently.
I also occasionally get a ping when up shifting. As I go into the next gear and get back on the gas, I get one quick snap of ping. This one is pretty rare though, and not repeatable like the down shift one.

[wparsons]

^^ I would have it looked at if you're actually getting pinging under no load (like a rev match blip).

I usually get petro 94, but used to run more shell 91 through it. A couple observations:

1) mileage was definitely better on shell 91 than petro 94, I track mileage on every tank and it was definitely repeatable under identical driving conditions (I used to commute ~40km's each way on the 407 with cruise control on every day).

2) ethanol content is not the only factor with the crickets, I've run full tanks of petro 94 without hearing the crickets and I've had full tanks of shell 91 that never stopped making noise. I find it has just as much to do with the weather conditions as it does the fuel.

The main reason I run mostly 94 now is because I get a discount card from the wonderful people at the 407 for a few cents/L off of 140L of fuel. If I use up all of it I switch back to shell 91 until the next month.

[f0rge]

I try to stick with Shell 91.

Even when I'm forced to go to Petro I only pump 91, too much ethanol in the 94 and you get worse mileage while paying more money.