Race gas price

[mtrhead]

Today I paid $1.39 for regular gas. In 2002 I paid about the same

2002 Sunoco 104+ was 3.25-3.75 gallon. Today? $12-15 gallon in a can
2002 VP Ms103 or Ms106 was around $6.00 Today? $14-20 gallon depend on bulk buy

Cam2 (100) was $7.49 at pump Today

Will race gas go down? It should some!!!

C75CE836-88D6-4A24-B93B-E90648192001.jpeg

[n2omike]

What is the price of Av-Gas right now? Part of me believes standard 110 race gas might be little more than Av-Gas. Wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't the exact same stuff with some different coloring. lol

Well, just did a search... It's just over $5/gal in most of the country. It was a little over $2/gal the last time gas was around $1.25. If you start seeing it come down, maybe race fuel will -slowly- do the same... but I don't see it.

http://www.100ll.com/

Looking at oil prices, if the base stock goes from $1/gal to $4/gal... the price of pump fuel pretty much does the same thing.
Technically, this increase should only raise the price of race fuel by $3. But, the retailers took FULL advantage of the price increase back then, and ran the prices of their fuels to to moon. Now that the base stock has done down by $1-2... do you really expect them to drop their rates to the old prices? It's all about greed...

If you want to race, you'll buy it... and they know it. Plus, they've made it harder and harder to get hold of Av-Gas, which is a more affordable alternative for a lot of guys. Bend over, or switch to pump gas or E85.

[Dragsinger]

One thing to consider is the fuel that was in stock, bought by the distributor, before the price drop. They paid more for that fuel so the price remains until the old inventory is sold. Once the old inventory is gone, MAYBE the price will change.

[hoffman900]

Race gas is a high quality boutique product by comparison, there is way more to it than the price of crude, and a lot of it will be dictated by how much a given fuel they make as well as the availability and costs of the additive packages.

If the economy tanks for the foreseeable future, then they will sell less and cut production to a level that maintains that price level. As the Saudi’s and Russians crush the US oil extraction industry, supply will go down, this raising prices on the base stock.

[treyrags]

One thing to consider is the fuel that was in stock, bought by the distributor, before the price drop. They paid more for that fuel so the price remains until the old inventory is sold. Once the old inventory is gone, MAYBE the price will change.

This. Most in my area are still around $5/gal, but some have dropped below $4 and one is as low $3.19

[David Redszus]

Will race gas go down? It should some!!!

Why should the price of racing fuel go down?

The price of racing fuel is only loosely coupled to the price of crude oil.
Race fuel has no real connection to pump gas, either in composition, packaging, distribution or pricing.

Pump gas may contain over 400 different components which are changing frequently.
Racing fuel may have 10 to 15 components which are as consistent as possible, although the
ratio in a blend may vary slightly.

The build process for the two types of fuel is different as well.

Pump gas starts as crude from which various hydrocarbon compounds are removed through the refining process.
After the valuable components are removed and sold separately, what remains is called pump gas. It is a subtractive
process with necessary complications and exceptions. Pump gas is produced in huge quantities, transported in pipelines
to distribution points, then sold in bulk from serve yourself pumps.

Racing fuels start with nearly pure hydrocarbons which are added together to produce the desired recipe.
They are produced in very small quantities (small for a refinery), packaged in small quantities in small expensive containers,
shipped overland by truck and sold in small quantities. They are stored at the retail sales point for lengthy periods of time
incurring storage expense and inventory expense.

Why doesn't the price of a race engine go down when the price of iron ore becomes cheaper?

[n2omike]

Why should the price of racing fuel go down?

Very colorful commentary...
The very first post showed race fuel prices before crude oil went up, compared to what it went to after. Sure seemed tied to the price of crude back then.

Your explanation of why race fuel is so expensive probably does apply to some boutique fuels. I have a good friend who's son raced Professional Motocross. 250cc engine making 49 horsepower at over 13k rpm. Fuel for that thing costs $50/gal. Most Race fuel isn't quite that fancy. Most of the standard 110, 112 etc has more in common with Av-Gas than super fancy blends. Av-Gas use to be just a little more expensive than pump premium, but is still handing around $5/gal, so that's a bit inflated as well right now.

In a fair world, Av-Gas should be between $3-4/gal, and 110-112 Race fuel should be about $6/gal. But, it's not a fair world, and they know we'll buy it... so that's what they will charge.

When someone said something about buying the hydrocarbon stock at a higher price, then the price falling... Yea, sure. They sure don't take that approach when they buy it low, then it goes up! They crank their prices INSTANTLY. lol

[mtrhead]

Will race gas go down? It should some!!!

Why should the price of racing fuel go down?

The price of racing fuel is only loosely coupled to the price of crude oil.
Race fuel has no real connection to pump gas, either in composition, packaging, distribution or pricing.

Pump gas may contain over 400 different components which are changing frequently.
Racing fuel may have 10 to 15 components which are as consistent as possible, although the
ratio in a blend may vary slightly.

The build process for the two types of fuel is different as well.

Pump gas starts as crude from which various hydrocarbon compounds are removed through the refining process.
After the valuable components are removed and sold separately, what remains is called pump gas. It is a subtractive
process with necessary complications and exceptions. Pump gas is produced in huge quantities, transported in pipelines
to distribution points, then sold in bulk from serve yourself pumps.

Racing fuels start with nearly pure hydrocarbons which are added together to produce the desired recipe.
They are produced in very small quantities (small for a refinery), packaged in small quantities in small expensive containers,
shipped overland by truck and sold in small quantities. They are stored at the retail sales point for lengthy periods of time
incurring storage expense and inventory expense.

Why doesn't the price of a race engine go down when the price of iron ore becomes cheaper?

I should of wrote race gas has historically been about 3 times the price of pump fuel. I remember the same rate in late 70's, 80's, 90's, and 2000's. This lasted until the Bull S&*% run up in about 2007. Race fuels then remained at 3x the huge run up in 07'-08' They never came back.

[Truckedup]

I have my bikes dynoed at Dynoteck in Batavia NY...The owner,Jim Czekala, asks only to bring the fuel you use,if it's race fuel,in a factory sealed container..He has the equip0ment and knowledge to check the Reid Vapor Pressure...He claims most containers fail the test...

The comment on the 50 buck a gallon fuel for the 49HP motocross bike....The best 250 4 strokes have near 50 HP out the box on pump gas, but some use various 12 buck a gallon race fuels...So what the deal with the special fuel?

[n2omike]

The comment on the 50 buck a gallon fuel for the 49HP motocross bike....The best 250 4 strokes have near 50 HP out the box on pump gas, but some use various 12 buck a gallon race fuels...So what the deal with the special fuel?

The 2020 CR250R makes 39 rear wheel horsepower 12,300 rpm. Getting another 10 hp, or 25% more power out of an already fine tuned racing engine takes some major doing... and he was making that 49 rear wheel hp several years ago. The 2020 CR450R makes 53 hp. The tech on these bikes is insane. The engines are GOOD to start wtih. There are no aftermarket heads, no stroker kits are allowed, still have to pass a sound test, etc. There is no easy tuning of the EFI at THIS level. You literally have to know someone hooked up with the factory bikes to do it custom, as that is your competition. Since throttle response is so important off the corners, the bike needs tuned at every throttle position throughout the rev range. The process to get it right literally takes all day. 99.9% of the racers out there do not have access, and it takes a major favor to get it done.

Once the engine is built, it has 5 hours of run time before it needs a COMPLETE rebuild. My buddy did all the engine work, and a lot of the suspension work/tuning on the bike. He was doing all the work, and still spending $100k+/yr on racing. Once you get to the top, it's a racket. It is dominated by the factory teams. They have access to parts and technology nobody else can get. They don't even make them go through tech. They also have access to tires nobody else can get hold of. My buddy's son was burning up out of the hole, and could NOT get traction. He ended up getting a favor, and was allowed to buy two of 'last years' rear factory tires. No fronts. No markings on the tires. With them, he blasted out of the gate. Could never get any others. Factory riders have traction control, electronic sensors all over the suspension, etc. Trying to compete with the factory guys will either make you go broke, or get your kid killed trying to keep up. The kid is retired from racing now, and works on the Supercross circuit for a company.

A competitive bike will cost around $50k to build, and will be outdated when next year's models come out.

A $250 pail of fuel is relatively cheap in the grand scheme of it all.

[GARY C]

Race Gas Prices will always be what the racer is willing to pay...

[jmarkaudio]

3.84 for AV-Gas a week or so ago.

[bob460]

Not race gas but regular fuel in Australia we have a TAX on top of a TAX on top of another TAX................i'ts all about the greed by the politicians.

If there is no racing, surely the race gas price will drop.........is my thinking wrong?

[engineguyBill]

Racing fuel is a very low volume product and is manufactured in small quantities. Therefore the price of this product is not comparable to prices of pump gasoline. Race fuel will always be a high dollar expenditure . . . . . . . .

[raynorshine]

Not race gas but regular fuel in Australia we have a TAX on top of a TAX on top of another TAX................i'ts all about the greed by the politicians.

If there is no racing, surely the race gas price will drop.........is my thinking wrong?

it sounds like the land of OZ is very similar to Canada....tax on tax on tax....

-race gas is a very small, niche market....i'm positive our Politickers potlickers don't give a flying rats arse