Petrol Quality/Octane Rating - 'Stan' countries

[Oisin]

Hi All!

What is the petrol quality/octane rating like in the stan countries? (RON) I plan on setting of on a trip to Japan early next year (I will ship from India to Japan.).

I own vehicle already that I would love to take, but it is generally run on high octane fuel. Its a Subaru Forester with a 2.0 Turbo engine, not massively powerful at 220hp but still is run on high octane fuel.

I can remap it to run on 95RON, all countries I plan on passing through do offer this but I cannot find anything on the stan countries sadly. I could sell and get a non turbo version, but being a car enthusiast as well I want the more interesting vehicle and really dont want to sell!

So wondering would there be any fuel issue for this vehicle? Anybody have any knowledge on this?

[AreWeThereYet?]

Those with a deeper knowledge of cars and driving will undoubtedly chip in, but here's my experience of talking to drivers in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the pre-Covid, pre-Ukraine invasion era.

Overall, I had the distinct impression that diesel was harder to find than petrol. In fact, I think that most of the cars I hitchhiked on, or was driven on to, were either petrol or LNG-powered. Then, again generalising, I think that Kazakhstan>Kyrgyzstan>Tajikistan in terms of fuel quality. And, obviously, cities are better than villages.

In Kazakhstan everyone sort of pulled over to any fuel station, and most of them were of brands I sort of recognised, such as Lukoil or Sinopec. Lukoil seemed to be preferred. Ditto in Kyrgyzstan, I remember the guy who was driving a car I got a lift on stopping at Lukoil to fill up 'cause it was better.

In remote places - think the middle of nowhere in the steppe, or the Pamirs, you have jerry cans or clear 1l bottles. On the Pamir Highway - this was in 2018, so things might've moved on since then - I didn't see a single petrol station from Sary Tash to Khorog, and the one in Khorog was from Sharq, if I remember properly, and on that particular day the petrol had to be manually pumped.

[Hugues]

...
In remote places - think the middle of nowhere in the steppe, or the Pamirs, you have jerry cans or clear 1l bottles. On the Pamir Highway - this was in 2018, so things might've moved on since then - I didn't see a single petrol station from Sary Tash to Khorog, and the one in Khorog was from Sharq, if I remember properly, and on that particular day the petrol had to be manually pumped.

I also have a petrol van and interested in that topic. And also, particular to above journey in the Pamirs, what kind of range should we aim for between 2 petrol stations ? Is 600 km sufficient ? more ? (i can bring extra jerry cans but...)

[murg]

I also have a petrol van and interested in that topic. And also, particular to above journey in the Pamirs, what kind of range should we aim for between 2 petrol stations ? Is 600 km sufficient ? more ? (i can bring extra jerry cans but...)

I've been there in 2019. There's a petrol station in Khorog. 95 Octane. On the route through the Wakhan Corridor there is no station. We (on motorbikes) bought fuel...
... at an Army Checkpoint in Chargush Pass. 5litres, 5 US$. ?¿ octane. Jerry can.
... from a local. Our guesthouse owner arranged it. 10 litres. ?¿ Octane. Jerry can.
In Murghab there is a Station opposite of the 'agriculrural bank' on the main road towards Kulma Pass, to your right. Huge tanks.

In Sary Tash you can't miss the Station.

You should have enough range for Khorog - Murghab as private sources aren't dependable.