Yet Another Russia-Refueler

I finally got my long-term visa so I've started refuelling in Russia.

Picture taken in Svetogorsk.

The Finnish "fuel rally" to Russia is a phenomenon as old as the post-USSR Russia itself. Gasoline is so much cheaper there than in Finland, it makes sense to pay for the visa, pay for the trip and sit in a border queue for hours, just to buy a tankful of gas.


I drove 50 km with the fuel light on and once there, refueled 82,51 litres and a 10 litre canister at 89 eurocents / litre. This was 95 octane, since Russia is not in the EU, and thus there is no ethanol in their fuel. This means it's better quality and less "dry", therefore nicer for old engines.

The trick is to gather experiences from friends and acquintances who have been doing this a long time and know the local fuel stations. A good friend of mine has been going there for 15 years to refuel. For instance, he told me he knew some people have bought bad gas from the nearest Russian gas station. No experiences like that from the next one over, about 10km further. Also, Lukoil gas stations are generally pretty trustworthy. Lukoil is a very large Russian oil company who also owns at least parts of the Finnish oil company Neste.

I asked him a while back whether he'd ever been overcharged for a tank, or heard such. The answer was no to both. Really, so many Finns go to the nearest gas stations at the border that the companies can't really operate like that. Of course, I also counter this by buying Rubles in Finland and paying in cash at the station. Take the total amount that's displayed on the pump display and that's that. I guess it'd be easier to overcharge if you pay by credit card, and then you also run the risk of someone duping your card. 

I saved 55 eur on this tank including the trip there and excluding the extra canister.

Greetings From Särkisalmi

The 560SEC successfully ferried me and my PC to a LAN Party yet again. I took some time off to check out local rural roads and shot a memento.

Bowden Cable Fixes Transmission Hesitation

I can't believe what a difference 0.5 cm can make. I adjusted the so-called bowden cable that adjusts the transmission's shift points. Well actually, it adjusts how soon the transmission shifts when you have the throttle pedal at X %.

It used to hold third gear almost infinitely unless I almost released the throttle. Also on second I had to be very careful if I wanted to shift early. Early shifting is necessary to achieve any kind of fuel economy and I've got enough low end torque to use the higher gears.

After the adjustment, the transmission works like a dream. I can apply something like half throttle and I still get shifts at about 2k rpm. I can go full throttle and the trans will apply low-end torque without kicking down. The kickdown switch still works of course.

It feels like I just had a transmission job. I used to shift with feathering the throttle. This put slack in the powertrain so gears went in with a clunk. Now, with power on, it shifts smooth but fast. I still need to get rid of that slack, though.

This all made a difference in drivability too, since in leaving intersections, I can now just keep my foot in it and it'll shift.

For information on how to do this on your W126, see this thread on BenzWorld.