Gas Grades Available in Belize?

srbbnd wrote:

Hello,

I will be moving to Belize in a few months and have been unable to find information on gas grades available. I know diesel, unleaded and premium is available, but I was wondering if any expats knew what grades those correspond with to the U S. Anything below 87 would cause problems for my vehicle. Sorry if this question has been brought up before.

Thanks!

I understand your concern, but do not know the answer to your specific question. Most all the cars I have rented (don't need a car of my own in Placencia) have had the check engine light on, so I have a roll of black tape in my backpack I use to cover that warning light at night.

Unless your car is quite old and has carberation instead of fuel injection, it very likely has a Knock sensor mounted in the head to retard ignition timing when run on lower grade fuels. The owner's manual and stickers near the fueling point will often say only use the higher grade fuels. What they don't say is on lower grade fuel the performance (HP) will be lower but the automatic timing retardation will protect the engine, resulting in lower HP not engine damage.

I would never consider bringing a classic/high value vehicle to the harsh roads/speed bumps and corrosive atmosphere of Belize coastal areas period.

Having said that, I would love to drive my Wife's 2002 Jaguar XKR Supercharged 370 HP convertible (less than 15,000 miles on it) over the scenic, hilly, twisty Hummingbird highway, but have far better sense than to subject it to these harsh conditions. However I have no problem occasionally running regular gas in it when we are back in Texas.

I am curious, what vehicle are you concerned about?

I will bringing a Stella 4T and I am planning on getting a Jeep JL 2.0 Turbo, the Stella 4T is a pain to keep running and I have been reading up on the new Jeep 4 cylinder, and the warning about anything below 91 was a little ominous.