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alanross View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Super unleaded
    Posted: 02-April-2006 at 16:49

Brother cut and pasted this to me, It's from Banzai magazine about which super unleaded is meant to be best. Full write up in magazine is meant to be pretty good reading so will do probably next time I'm in W H Smith.

the tests were done on a cosworth YB engine with a t4
turbo, readings taken at 6500rpm and 2.0 bar of boost
plus an ignition advance of 13(little degree sign
should be after this!damn keyboard) advance before
increasing until detontation/pinking was heard.

normal unleaded at 95 ron peak power was at 516bhp at
10.75 advance as 13 could not be achieved without det

tesco 99 RON peak power of 523bhp with ignition only
being advancded by 0.75 to 13.75

Bp ultimate 97 RON peak power of 537bhp with ingnition
advanceded to 15

now for the interesting one Shell optimax 98 RON ran
peak power at 547bhp ignition avdvancded to 16. not
bad eh?

so in a nut shell, looks like optimax is definetly the
best of the bunch nearly 20bhp higher than tesco 99
and less chance of det. bit lenghty write up but
obviously this is quite an important subject, any
thoughts guys?

What's your thoughts?

Alan.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 03:02
None the local Scooby owners run their cars on anything else. The only other option is to buy the less expensive fuel, and keep on adding octane booster, but at av. £4/ bottle (get away with one per tank) the price of Optimax is not far away in any event.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 03:53
Practical Classics did the same experiment with a Volvo Amazon - slightly less power than a Cossie! They managed an extra 2bhp with Optimax. Have to say I ran a couple of tanks of Optimax through my car and noticed absolutely no difference at all, apart from a missing tenner from my pocket. Would probably work well in more powerful cars!

Strangely enough, Optimax in the Chevette with an octane booster made the world of difference, no pinking at all and extra power all across the rev range.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 04:40

that rings true.  i would have expected the best results from optimax.  it comes from a separate depot from all other petrols.  I believe it comes from Manchester area?  somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

whereas all the other fuels just come from plain old regular depots. 

Sadly no matter what I run I will not be pushing out over 500 horse though... so it aint that imortant for me.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 05:03
I tend to use 3 - 4 tanks Optimax then 1 normal & i'm not honestly sure if there is a difference, I heard somewhere that Optimax burns at a higher temp & could burn out your valves, but i don't really believe that TBH.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 05:08
5th Gear did a similar experiment with 3 different types of car.

A small family car A meduim one and then a Scooby and found that the small family made little or no power increase, the medium only a slight gain of about 5 bhp but the scooby saw about 20 bhp more.

I use optimax in the M3
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 06:36
Originally posted by gary gary wrote:

5th Gear did a similar experiment with 3 different types of car.

A small family car A meduim one and then a Scooby and found that the small family made little or no power increase, the medium only a slight gain of about 5 bhp but the scooby saw about 20 bhp more.

I use optimax in the M3


Clio, the Golf Gti then Scooby PPP I think.

I too use Optimax in the GT. Used to get 2-4mpg more when I used it in the 328i coupe.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 07:59

i've used optimax exclusively since it came out but i'm intrigued how it is not meant to be a replacement for super unleaded, more of an octane-boosted standard unleaded

i'm going to give Esso super a try next tank and see what that's like


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 14:37
In a "normal" car I tend to agree that Optimax and similar makes little or no real difference but that said I never use anything but, so I must be a bit of a mug LMAO however the car has never once missed a beat has almost 0 emissions (8ppm HC with a limit of 300?) so it might or might not do anything
On an M or Alpina car though? I would think it has some effect
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 14:45

from my owners handbook:

"The engine of your BMW ALPINA B10 3.3 / touring is configured for the use of unleaded petrol Super Plus with an octane rating of 98 ROZ.

Because the engine is knock-controlled it is possible to use different fuel grades, the minimum quality being premium-grade unleaded 95 ROZ.

The stated performance and consumption figures are achieved using Super Plus 98 ROZ while ROZ 95 will lead to lower performance and increased consumption."


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 14:46
Evo magazine did a similar round up a few months back, I'll dig out the issue and see if their results tally with Banzai's

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 15:31

I never knew Tesco did 99 RON.  That's news to me.  But there is no Tesco close by me anyway so it doesn't really matter anyway.

I have tried the Sainsburys super but I think you need to run it for a few tanks before you see anything.



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-April-2006 at 16:11
We can only get the 97 ron super unleaded at Tesco's up in the NW but its been almost the same price as shell Optimax recently which I normally use as I find the engine runs smoother and I get 3 to 4 more mpg which is about 10% to 12% more, so I don't mind paying the extra 5p or 6p per litre which only equates to 6% to 7% more. I don't find the 97 ron tesco fuel to be any better than normal unleaded.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-April-2006 at 02:34

Been in many Tesco stations and never seen they're super unleaded available.

Daz, at B.P. Grangemouth, there are 2 sides to the refinery. One side is where BP and Shell come from and the other is where the supermarket fuel comes from. And apparently there are differences in they're fuel. (brother used to work there and noticed this).

Since then he'll only fill up in a BP or Shell even though he's now got a Mundano Deesel. Must admit I have always used super but I never hammer my motor so I wouldn't notice any difference in what fuel was in there. Might have to slow it down as my missus is seeming to be getting a heavy right foot on the loud pedal these days!!

Alan.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-April-2006 at 05:12

Interesting you should say that Alan.  I have heard this before.  supermarket fuel is supposed to be "gash" I also heard that sainsburys use bp fuel though?  don't know if that is a pile of poo or not.  although it is believable as they are linked through that nectar system that we collect points for.  who knows...

but i know a shell truck driver and the optimax is definately supposed to be a different kettle of fish altogether.  he does not deliver optimax it comes in a separate lorry.

Daz



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-April-2006 at 06:04
The supermarkets do use BP & Shell fuel, they do not refine it themselves, & they get it cheaper, as they buy so much of it.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-April-2006 at 06:18

I find that when my car runs on petrol from sainsburys it runs badly but petrol from esso or shell and the car feels much more sprightly - I now stick to esso or shell but have to travel 10 miles to get it

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-April-2006 at 13:05
Tesco's 99RON achieves its octane by containing the maximum 5% bio-ethanol; this also means that it has a lower energy density so you'll use more for a given output.

There are lots of different ways of achieving a RON and they'll all behave differently in real applications.

The best thing about Tesco 99 is that it might bounce shell into giving us V-power 100 like you get in Germany... 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-April-2006 at 18:11
Mine is an Optimax junkie, you could smell that too on the rollers.
 I don't use it for commuting, only weekends so fuel costs are less of an issue for me.
Did a bit diggin ages ago on Tesco 99 and it's not in Scotland at all, nearest was Milton Keynes!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-April-2006 at 05:18

Originally posted by Jamie Jamie wrote:


Did a bit diggin ages ago on Tesco 99 and it's not in Scotland at all, nearest was Milton Keynes!

That figures... unless you live in London or near it you don't exist! 



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