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camping above San Juan river,
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Old 8 Jun 2017
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Petrol grades in South Amercica
Hi All

I'm thinking of a trip to South America, which would take in all thirteen (well, twelve plus French Guiana strictly speaking) countries. I have two trucks, one petrol and one diesel and am considering the petrol for South America, but what is the petrol quality like there?

The engine wants 91 RON or above, is that something I can reliably find in South American countries? I'm a bit worried as it seems that petrol grades in the western hemisphere are pretty low.

Thanks for any insights,

EO
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Old 8 Jun 2017
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I don't have a clear, simple answer for you, but I'll offer the following in case they're of interest:

First, you'll spend some time at high altitude--3-4000 meters is not uncommon, and ~5000 meters quite possible. In those areas, low octane petrol is the norm because that's what works.

Second, in Brazil you'll find very high percentages of ethanol in most petrol. Best think about whether that's a problem for your vehicle.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark
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Old 8 Jun 2017
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Quote:
Originally Posted by markharf View Post
I don't have a clear, simple answer for you, but I'll offer the following in case they're of interest:

First, you'll spend some time at high altitude--3-4000 meters is not uncommon, and ~5000 meters quite possible. In those areas, low octane petrol is the norm because that's what works.

Second, in Brazil you'll find very high percentages of ethanol in most petrol. Best think about whether that's a problem for your vehicle.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark
Hi Mark

Altitude is a good point, that reduces oxygen density I assume and knocking, meaning a lower RON requirement.

Brazil is indeed a worry as I have read that petrol (not ethanol) is only 85 grade. If that's a European RON then my engine will not be happy. If it's a US (RON+MON)/2 then it's about 89-91 RON which should just about be good enough.

No idea what ethanol will do to my engine though, will have to look into it.

Cheers

EO
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Old 9 Jun 2017
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Some diesel in some countries is absolutely terrible stuff - Bolivia for example. I also remember a woman from germany who had a new Mercedes RV with a diesel engine...it didn't last long until the catalytic converter was buggered from the high sulfur diesel in argentina. The point is that while you can find Ultra-Low-Sulfur diesel in some locations in the major cities, most of the time in the rural area you cannot. Also remember a couple with a 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser that had to turn around coming south from Panama since the petrol wasn't 93 or above.
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Old 9 Jun 2017
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Originally Posted by gunt86 View Post
Some diesel in some countries is absolutely terrible stuff - Bolivia for example. I also remember a woman from germany who had a new Mercedes RV with a diesel engine...it didn't last long until the catalytic converter was buggered from the high sulfur diesel in argentina. The point is that while you can find Ultra-Low-Sulfur diesel in some locations in the major cities, most of the time in the rural area you cannot. Also remember a couple with a 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser that had to turn around coming south from Panama since the petrol wasn't 93 or above.
Not worried about diesel, mine is an old pre-common rail diesel with no emissions control, and will be very happy to have high sulphur diesel. We enjoyed thousands of litres of cheap Iranian diesel which I think has over 25,000 ppm sulphur (and stinks). Taking a ULSD vehicle out of the Europe / US and not expecting problems is just plain ignorant.

But we're talking about petrol... I know that my petrol engine is quite popular in South America as it's fitted to Hilux and Landcruiser models there, but it's possible that they have dropped the compression ratio, though I doubt it.

Problem is that once again the US chooses to use an arcane measuring system (RON + MON) / 2 meaning that '87' at the pump there is in fact 91-93 RON by the rest of the world's standards. So if south American countries follow this US convention the petrol is not as bad as it seems.

Cheers

EO
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Old 10 Jun 2017
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Petrol
First off, be careful what you call it. In Uruguay ask for a fillup with petrol and you will get diesel. In Argentina it's gasoil. In Chile diesel usually. Gas is bencina.

And so on and so on.

I live in Chile, have lived in Arg Uruguay and Brasil also. I have a bike and a car that call for min 97 and have often been stuck to put in lower unknown grades that were probably below 90 and they remain running. The ethanol seemed to kill performance and economy a bit but ran and didn't seem to damage anything. Usually you can get what they call 97 gas.

I also had a Hilux TurboDiesel and had a lot more problems getting adequate diesel. Not in Chile though, it's cheap and good there. Uruguay was the worst. And really expensive. I think you would be OK with an older vehicle.
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Old 10 Jun 2017
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Originally Posted by eurasiaoverland View Post
Problem is that once again the US chooses to use an arcane measuring system (RON + MON) / 2 meaning that '87' at the pump there is in fact 91-93 RON by the rest of the world's standards. So if south American countries follow this US convention the petrol is not as bad as it seems.
I would be extremely surprised if Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay use the US convention for petrol grades - those countries are far more oriented towards European protocols than American. Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia are more America oriented and probably us American protocols. The dividing line in the region is the Amazon basin - areas above it are 'Caribbean' and areas below it are 'Southern Cone'. The 'Caribbean' zone is also called an American Lake - hence the heavy American influence in those countries protocols.

Diesel is extremely abundant everywhere in South America - easier to find diesel than petrol. And it's cheaper. Keep in mind that there are sections of South America where you will be at 5000meters altitude - so consider which engine is better suited. And lastly, the most important factor in your decision should be the local availability of spare parts - since many of the countries have 500% import duties on spare parts.
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