53 replies to this topic

[millermilla]

My ERA hates 95RON, pinks under load and runs like poo, On the other hand it goes like stink on super unleaded

[The_Mistro]

although it is more expensive to fill your car up on super unleaded or ultimate or v-power, you actually get more mpg from it! so it works out about the same, the v-power does the injectors good and keeps them clean, my dad put one tank of bp ultimate in his 414 and it ran so much smoother, he refuses to use anything else, he reckons he is getting an extra 50 mile out of each tank as well!

i ran my mini on it for a bit and it made so much difference, i deffinatly thought min mins was more responsive!

[onlymelloyd]

what about if you still have to put lead additive in like me, will ultimate petrol still work/make a difference?

[Racer_Pete]

I was using Millers CVL TURBO addative when i was racing the stock car, I would say it made a diffrence but the timing was matched to suit running somthing like 24btdc.

[stickycreambun]

I seem to have it in my head that super UL and lead additive is the best substitute for leaded cars. I know Oscar seems slightly better to drive on super and ive not set my timing properly for a while.
My old Golf GTi was loads better running on 98 or when I could get it 99 ron!

[Ouster]

I think a certain element to it is a placebo effect - what you really need is a blind test to draw any meaningful conclusions. If someone told you you were running v-power but you actually had standard, you might still "notice" a gain in performance.

[brianmini]

I think a certain element to it is a placebo effect - what you really need is a blind test to draw any meaningful conclusions. If someone told you you were running v-power but you actually had standard, you might still "notice" a gain in performance.

I've done the whole v-power, bp utimate, sainsbury 98ron versus 95ron. I agree that your car appears to run smoother, idles better, better take off from junctions etc. This is probably down the the higher octane fuel burning in a more controlled manner. I wouldn't say I feel like there is more performance, but I do agree with the statement that the fuel lasts longer. My mini is a fun day car, so its driven reasonably hard (not caned), and infrequently. On a long mini run (like the Thistle Run) I can see an improvement in milage covered on the given amount of fuel.

Swings and roundabouts, you pay more for it, but it will get you a few miles further.

[Jake Blues]

About 15 years ago a little old lady I knew told me she would never use supermarket fuel as it was inferior to main stream makes such as BP or Shell, had a reduced mpg and cost her more money. I was sceptical but as I was doing my HND in Mechanical Engineering at the time I took the theory to our lecturers who agreed that as Shell and BP were Gulf States oil compared to the cheaper Eastern European oil sold in supermarkets (and therefore of a superior quality) this could well be true. I did a full test (in a C reg 1600 Cavalier) filling up from empty both BP, Shell, Tesco, Sainsburys and another supermarket (Safeway I think).
Results were striking! Shell and BP, although more expensive at the pump returned considerably high mpg than the supermarket fuels and after doing the maths actually worked out cheaper.
Latterly we have found that using BP Ultimate or Shell V Power in both Jake (1275 Stage 1 carb) and Hatter (1293 SPi) does indeed increase the mpg (measurable) and the performance (subjective).
In fact on recent runs down to Silly Mini Sunday and Riv Run at an average speed of 65mph, we got 55mpg out of Hatter and 45 from Jake! On the way back, going a bit faster we still got 45 from Hatter and 38 from Jake.
It is my opinion (!), therefore (and my practice) to never use supermarket fuels unless through absolute necessity (and then I use the higher octane stuff), and always fill up with Shell V Power as first choice then BP Ultimate.

[Sprocket]

The Fuel octane is only one part of the benefits of using Shell V Power. The upper cylinder lubrication and cylinder cleaning addatives are well worth the extra money on their own forgetting the higher octane rating.

Simply advancing the ignition does not make any real difference unless the engine has been built with compression ratios to take advantage of the better knock resistance of the fuel, basicaly you can run a higher compression ratio without suffering knock. The ignition advance is determined by how fast the flame burns and at the point that the peak cylinder pressures occur, spark too soon and the peak pressure happens before TDC, spark to late and peak pressure aoccurs after TDC. If the engine configuration has not changed, I would be carefull advancing the ignition any more than 1 or 2 degrees

[Burnard]

About 15 years ago a little old lady I knew told me she would never use supermarket fuel as it was inferior to main stream makes such as BP or Shell, had a reduced mpg and cost her more money. I was sceptical but as I was doing my HND in Mechanical Engineering at the time I took the theory to our lecturers who agreed that as Shell and BP were Gulf States oil compared to the cheaper Eastern European oil sold in supermarkets (and therefore of a superior quality) this could well be true. I did a full test (in a C reg 1600 Cavalier) filling up from empty both BP, Shell, Tesco, Sainsburys and another supermarket (Safeway I think).
Results were striking! Shell and BP, although more expensive at the pump returned considerably high mpg than the supermarket fuels and after doing the maths actually worked out cheaper.
Latterly we have found that using BP Ultimate or Shell V Power in both Jake (1275 Stage 1 carb) and Hatter (1293 SPi) does indeed increase the mpg (measurable) and the performance (subjective).
In fact on recent runs down to Silly Mini Sunday and Riv Run at an average speed of 65mph, we got 55mpg out of Hatter and 45 from Jake! On the way back, going a bit faster we still got 45 from Hatter and 38 from Jake.
It is my opinion (!), therefore (and my practice) to never use supermarket fuels unless through absolute necessity (and then I use the higher octane stuff), and always fill up with Shell V Power as first choice then BP Ultimate.

I would have to agree with you, and i plan to use BP ultimate and Shell V-power when i can.
I dont drive my self, but if my dad comes home after filling up, and doesnt tell me where he has been, i can tell the difference between the super markets and the ultimate and V-power fuels. This in a desiel though.

Chris

[greenlaner1]

all the fuel comes from the same place, the only difference between shell/bp normal unleaded and supermarket unleaded is the additives that are put in to the tanks at the garages. the fuel is "warehoused" at one site and kept in a large tank, which asda/sainsburys/bp/shell/esso etc all take the same fuel from, so it all comes from the same place wether it be eastern europe or the gulf states or anywhere.

where people might get confused is with ultimate and v-power, these are higher octane fuels, they can also be bought from supermarkets, i know there is a sainsburys near me which sells a higher octane fuel.

i've also seen a small independant garage selling 119ron might have to give that a try even though its £1.59 a litre

GL1

[tedmcedd]

this is very interesting!

i like to use ultimate or Vpower in the bean, as i do find he seems to idle better and he also has better mpg, driving up the A1 home from uni on a tank of high octane makes me use about 3/4 of a tank (larger type) where as on the standard fuel he will use almost a whole tank to get home.

i think the older leaded engines seem to enjoy the higher octane, unfortunately for me, here at uni there isnt a BP or shell near... only a total and an asda, of which neither sell the higher octane...

[Burnard]

I seem to have it in my head that super UL and lead additive is the best substitute for leaded cars.

I just asked my teacher about this, he says its because adding the lead addative effectivly reduces the octain of the fuel, so useing the super unleaded higher octain fuels with lead addative is equivlent to running a standerd fuel. which makes sence, but not sure its exactly correct.

Thats thing about the fuel all comeing from the same palce isnt true, different comanies do use different supplyers, big companies like BP and shell have there own refineries, which is why they have the better fuels, because they have the money and facilites to do so.

[Jake Blues]

all the fuel comes from the same place,

I'm sure there is more than one place in the Uk that fuel comes from...and I'm also sure that fuel from different sources aren't all mixed together...Gulf originated oil is recognised in industry as being a higher quality than eastern european I am told.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

my dad uses this in his company car becuase they give away alot of free Ferrari and Lemans things he just brings one home very couple of weeks

Edited by Mini-Mad-Craig, 19 May 2009 - 09:12 AM.