'Ultimate' Fuels

[sonic]

I was running low on petrol this afternoon and the Esso petrol station I pulled into only had their 'ultimate' high octane fuel, no ordinary unleaded, what difference would there be in performance, if any, compared to a normal octane level fuel.

 

[Arnold]

Is that the first time you've spotted ultimate fuels? Lots of places (BP, Sainsbury etc) do it. You won't notice any difference on a standard car though!

 

[frank]

sonic

i think if you could raise your compression ratio and advance the timing you would get more power from high octane
if not, then sweet fa imo

 

[sonic]

Its not that its the first time i've spotted it no, its just that i only ever use normal fuel coz i'm a tight**** and it was the only stuff they had and i was nearly out.

 

[jdmk11mike]

Shell Reckon You Will Get An Extra 6 Miles Per Full Tank Of Optimax,at Approx Extra 10p Per Litre Its Hardly Worth It!!!

 

[robbluek10]

hi sonic the only time i have felt the different between the two fuel type is when i put it in my 600cc motorbike it went crazy on the 99 octane stuff but never felt it in a car so i will stay with the normal stuff

 

[Blake]

in japan thay use a higher octain fuel dont thay?

so would your march not be set up for the higher octain stuff.

 

[sonic]

I suppose so, I'll find out if there's any difference in performance or not tomorrow on the motorway going to work.

 

[PeteST24]

You wont notice any difference on 1 tank. It will need at least 2 or 3 full tanks to notice anything, and then it will probably be in your head as the stuff is justthe same as 95RON fuel.

The only benefit you will get is it will clean your engines internals

Unless you have a mapped ECU to run on the stuff or a high powered turbo charged car its really not worth it.

 

[Arnold]

Shell Reckon You Will Get An Extra 6 Miles Per Full Tank Of Optimax,at Approx Extra 10p Per Litre Its Hardly Worth It!!!

I don't get how that could be true. Surely the fuel injectors will just dump it in regardless of what it is!

 

[joesouthgate]

The only benefit you will get is it will clean your engines internals

doubt it will even do that.
Higher RON is just resistance to detonation, so as frank said you can run higher compression/advanced timing.

 

[PeteST24]

doubt it will even do that.
Higher RON is just resistance to detonation, so as frank said you can run higher compression/advanced timing.

Its not the RON that cleans the engines its the additives added after production. Each company will use different addatives which are designed to clean the fuel lines, injectors etc. These are only added to the more high octane fuels due to price etc.

Arnold - I think its to do with how the fuel gets burnt, the ECU will detect the higher RON fuel and adjust its fueling and ignition to suit. Hence why it will take a few tanks full to get any benefit.

 

[Craig]

in japan thay use a higher octain fuel dont thay?

so would your march not be set up for the higher octain stuff.

Nail - head - hit.

Japan use 10RON petrol, I remember Beachboy saying that his March ECU'd car ran better, how much of a placebo that was though, I don't know.

The only time you will find a real difference with higher octane fuels is if your car is charged or has high comp.
Craig

 

[jabran200]

an import march will run better on 100 ron always. A u.k car will no not notice any significant difference.

 

[tse_adam]

yep its just a waste of money (for our micras anyway) especially when petrol is this expensive, is the ultimate stuff on 110p or something stupid?

i'll stick with my tesco or shell on 101!!

 

[sonic]

Right, after the run to work today I can confirm that it definately runs better at low revs, especially when cold, the engine is more responsive and picks up the revs a bit quicker, so the ecu must be set up for 100ron fuel.

 

[tse_adam]

i am surprised you noticed a difference with a na small engine car, the fuel must have cleaned up a lot of gunk in your tank and injectors! lol

 

[Swiper]

i am surprised you noticed a difference with a na small engine car, the fuel must have cleaned up a lot of gunk in your tank and injectors! lol

he has a march, so is mapped for this fuel, not the usual 95 stuff. so i'd have guessed it'd run better, although esso super is 98ron, but shell v-power is 99ron. so shell should be slightly better than esso.

 

[joesouthgate]

Its not the RON that cleans the engines its the additives added after production. Each company will use different addatives which are designed to clean the fuel lines, injectors etc. These are only added to the more high octane fuels due to price etc.

yer but really we all know it will clean jack

 

[PeteST24]

yer but really we all know it will clean jack

No the jack is in the boot with the spare wheel :laugh:

 

[Ceirwan]

I notice no difference in my car, but if found i got at least 20miles extra to a tank (160 instead of 140) on my motorbike, even though it was only a 125, it still probably wasn't worth it but for £8 for 160 miles i wasn't gonna complain!

 

[joesouthgate]

No the jack is in the boot with the spare wheel :laugh:

not in my car don't have a spare wheel or a jack just a sub.

 

[Courior]

a Bike magazine did this test on some 160bhp litre bikes... they did it properly draining the tanks, lines, injectors etc to make sure they were using the correct stuff and not a mix... the average on the same dyno in same conditions was 3bhp increase and 1ft.lb of tourque, one bike got 4bhp extra and 1.6ft.lb which is a lot on a 170kb bike.. but in a car unless you got a 200bhp turbo car that insists in the manual u need 99RON then its a waste of money except for the cleaning the engine bit, but thats debatable..

on my 1200cc bike it does make a difference to range and power/engine smoothness which is wierd cause with the higher ron i think its faster so i hammer it more so it should drink much more, but it drinks less.. and its carbed!