Summer Gas vs Winter Gas-Do You Notice Any Difference?

[Michael B]

My 2011 R1200 RT seems to be sensitive to different qualities of gas. I try to fill with Shell/BP/Marathon, always 93 premium, because of their superior additive packages. When on trips where I have to use off brands, my RT runs noticeably different with less power and smoothness.

 

That said, do any of you guys notice any difference between summer gas and winter blend? Now is the time when distillers are making the change.

 

Just curious.

[Michaelr11]

Yes, when the changeover to winter gas occurs (it already has here) I see a drop in gas mileage of 5% to 10%. On my R1100RT I get 40-42 on winter gas and on summer gas; 43-46.

[Dean Wirsing]

I've also seen my mpgs drop lately, from 49-50 down to 45-46 on my 07RT. My Honda Fit also drops from 32-33 down to 29 mpg. I'm in the Dayton Ohio area, so I would imagine our gas has switched over to the winter blend.

 

Dean

 

[tallman]

Only when siphoning...

[Firenailer]

I don't feel any change in performance but the gas mileage in both my RT and Tacoma 4x4 drops noticeably.

[Lighthiker90]

Only when siphoning...

 

It all tastes bad. My palate is not good enough to separate the blends.

[dirtrider]

Morning Michael

 

While it's true that winter blend gasoline has a larger percentage of butane in it & butane has slightly less energy it shouldn't make THAT much difference.

 

There are a lot of factors lowering cold weather fuel economy--

 

Like longer engine warm ups before riding (running an engine sitting still is getting 0 mpg), then you have things like thicker colder engine oil & thicker gear oils that cause more rotational drag, the engine runs in cold fuel enrichment for a longer time, the cold tires don't move as easily, the ambient air is usually more dense requiring more power to push the bike through the air, the windshield is usually run a bit higher, the rider usually wears heavier clothing & that alone increases air drag, electric heated clothing require more alternator output so a little more power loss there.

 

This ALL adds up to lower fuel mileage in colder weather.

 

[Devil Duc]

I noticed the same thing on my '07 RT last year about the same time of year in WI... MPG went from 49-51 to high 30's. In spring MPGs went right back to 49-51. Believe me when I say I was concerned about something being wrong. But this year so far MPGs only dropped to mid 40's. Whatever, I'm just going to drive it until the ice flies, and then get it back out when the roads dry up again since the car and truck drop about the same MPG percentage as the bike.

[Guest Kakugo]

Micheal, the RT is very sensitive to fuel quality, even more so than to Summer/Winter blend.

You'll get excellent mileage from Spanish Repsol 98RON or Swiss Shell ethanol-free 95RON, but when filling up in a no-name station in the middle of nowhere in France you'll see mileage drop almost instantly. You just have to get used to it and "plan ahead" or learn to live with it.

 

Winter blend causes a drop in mileage, but it should be under 1km/l (sorry for using metrics). Any other further drop can be blamed on fuel quality.