On 7 Sept 2012 the Herald Sun, in their ‘Cars Guide’, did a test using a 7 seat Holden Captiva worth $38K with a 3.0 litre V6 engine.
The Captiva was driven over the same route by the same driver, covering 2,600 klm over 4 weeks.
Here are the results:
Fuel |
Klm per tank |
$ per litre |
Consumption per 100 klm |
Cost per 20,000 klm |
98 RON |
600 klm |
$1.50 |
10.2 L |
$3,058 |
95 RON |
570 klm |
$1.44 |
10.7 L |
$3,079 |
91 RON |
536 klm |
$1.36 |
11.1 L |
$3,017 |
E10 |
514 klm |
$1.34 |
11.9 L |
$3,187 |
E85 |
413 klm |
$1.19 |
14.6 L |
$3,472 |
Conclusion:
98 RON is the most expensive per litre, but
- you get the best range per tankful,
- it has the lowest fuel consumption, and
- and it is nearly as cheap per 20,000 klm travelled.
It will cost you about 21 cents more per 100 klm travelled compared to 91 RON and this works out at only $41 extra per 20,000 klm travelled.
As long as you do not use the extra power it gives you! You may as well buy 98 RON.
Note: These results are for this particular modern engine that may have the technology to adjust the engine settings to adapt to the particular fuel being used.
Older engines have to be manually tuned to benefit from a higher RON fuel.
Source:
http://www.news.com.au/news/fuel-for-thought-bowser-battle/story-fnejnq7a-1226466542636
This article was kindly provided by Geoff Lee