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APR tune; great on U.S. gas, not so much on Canadian gas

VancouverGTI

VancouverGTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Vancouver
So, in the three years I've had my car, I've had a few opportunities to run U.S. gas, both on Stage 1 and Stage 2. In either case, the car runs noticeably harder, yet smoother on U.S. gas. Interestingly, the transmission also shifts much smoother on U.S. gas.

On Canadian gas, power delivery isn't nearly as smooth, the car doesn't feel as lively, and the DSG shifts rough. Not just under power, either, as low speed shifts are rougher, too.

In stock mode, the DSG shifts just fine on either fuel.

Here's the kicker. We have access to 94 octane Chevron Supreme Plus here in Vancouver, so I tend to run in the 93 octane map when I'm running Canadian fuel, yet the car pulls harder and runs better running U.S. 91 octane fuel on the 91 map!!

I can't help but wonder if there's something about the composition of Canadian gas that the APR tune isn't accommodating very well.

Has anyone else noticed this?
 
penpal

penpal

Srs Bzns
Location
Mississauga, Ontario
Car(s)
07 GTI , 12 R, 18 R
Ethanol? don't have chevron in ontario, but petro canada 94 has like 10% ethonal, it doesn't burn as well. i noticed using shell 91 my car runs smoother.
 
D

dark_knight

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Vancouver, BC
Mmm I gotta try some US gas then. I've been running unitronic stage2+ for a while and been fueling nothing but chevron 94 and always wonder why my car isn't running as hard as what people run in the states.
 
VancouverGTI

VancouverGTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Vancouver
Chevron Supreme Plus 94 has 0% ethanol, actually. Yet the Shell 91 I've gotten in the States has ethanol in it... but still put the Canadian Chevron stuff to shame.

Additionally, I've run Shell 91 here in Vancouver (which does have ethanol, I believe) for months at a time (on the 91 tune, of course), and it was the same as the Chevron Supreme Plus 94 with rougher shifts and poorer power.

Unitronic might be my next step. I figure if anyone's got a handle on Canadian gas, it'll be a Canadian tuner.
 
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VancouverGTI

VancouverGTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Vancouver
I think it does, actually, yeah. Probably makes more sense to refine closer to the market in question than ship it all the way across the country, but I'm just speculating. :wink:
 
V

vagike

Newbie
Location
Edmonton
Alberta has legislation saying all gasoline has to contain up to 10% ethanol.

In BC, Shell stations has supplied by Chevron from the states.

The refinery I work at pipe lines gas in BC to the petro-canada and 7/11 stations.
 
M

mrbikle

Go Kart Champion
Location
Hagerstown MD
Get meth

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
 
A

A41.8QTM

That's what she said
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
Car(s)
2008 GTI
Might be state by state but everything around me in VA has 10% ethanol.
 
V

vagike

Newbie
Location
Edmonton
All Petro-Canada refineries were bought by Suncor (Sunoco), where I work here in edmonton. We have a refinery in Montreal. The east coast buys excess gasoline from the EU too, since the demand is diesel over there.

John@Unitronic, you guys would have to try and order gasoline from the west for a true testing comparison. Each refinery runs different feed stocks, and run different processes. Therefore, what Montreal uses to blend gasoline is different from what we use at the Edmonton location, And there differences between oil companies. The testing for gasoline is so loose that there is a lot of room for variation.
I'll use Husky 92 or Petro (7/11) 91. The Shell gasoline is garbage in the Edmonton area. Shell's blending is poor in my opinion. When I use their gasoline, my gas mileage is almost a full 1L/100km worse.

As stated earlier, Alberta is already running 10% ethanol in ALL gasoline, and BC is slated for the same legislation to be in full compliance by 2020.
 
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