16 replies to this topic

[volcano-dan]

Ok whats the best fuel to put in my mini??? Is it vpower or standard 95 ron unleaded? Also my mini seems to drink the fuel quite rapid, is that normal? Also i can only seem to get £16 in a tank when the gauge hits red, is that normal?

Cheers all
Dan

[minislapper]

The best fuel depends on what your mini has been tuned for. If it is standard then it will have been tuned for standard 95 RON and should run fine on this. If you use V-Power or such like then you will gain benefits in the inlet valves etc staying cleaner and even being cleaned up but do not expect any more power.

[Dan]

Yeah, 95 ron unleaded will be fine but you will see slighty smoother running with any 97 ron fuel. In theory your car should tune itself to the fuel you put in but don't expect miracles. As everyone else you are asking questions without saying which Mini you are driving, your blurb says 1.3i but what year is it? We aren't all psychic.

Your tank can take 34 litres. Don't refuel when it hits the red, there's quite a lot of red on the dial if you look. See how much you are putting in every time you refuel and note where the needle was sitting then keep pushing it every time you fill up 'till you can get closer to 34 litres in it. Then you know how low the gauge can go.

[volcano-dan]

Yeah, 95 ron unleaded will be fine but you will see slighty smoother running with any 97 ron fuel. In theory your car should tune itself to the fuel you put in but don't expect miracles. As everyone else you are asking questions without saying which Mini you are driving, your blurb says 1.3i but what year is it? We aren't all psychic.

Your tank can take 34 litres. Don't refuel when it hits the red, there's quite a lot of red on the dial if you look. See how much you are putting in every time you refuel and note where the needle was sitting then keep pushing it every time you fill up 'till you can get closer to 34 litres in it. Then you know how low the gauge can go.

Its a 1997 1.3i cooper on 80000 miles, standard engine no mods, and standard exhaust. The red on the gauge is small, and when it hits red i refueled and it took £16, which is about 17 ltrs. No way will it take 34 ltrs, unless something is wrong. The tank looks so small in the boot, are you sure its 34 ltrs? Dan

[Sprocket]

Read the FAQ

There is room for 32 litres in the tank and roughly 80 miles range from the top of the red line into the black before the engine starts to complain.

You will NEVER get 34 litres into the tank!!!

Its just the Way the Mini tank is mate.

[Sprocket]

http://www.theminifo...p;hl=fuel guage

There you go!

[minislapper]

In theory your car should tune itself to the fuel you put in but don't expect miracles.

Only if its got a knock sensor which I don't think any injection Mini's were fitted with !

[Woz]

In theory your car should tune itself to the fuel you put in but don't expect miracles.

Only if its got a knock sensor which I don't think any injection Mini's were fitted with !

Whats a knock sensor ?

[minislapper]

A sensor that records knock which is the same as pinking and pre-ignition !!

They are there in modern cars to prevent pre-ignition problems and help in tuning. Because the fuel quality and octane levels change around the world then modern cars are designed to change their ignition timings to suit. The system will advance the timing until it senses knock and then back it off slightly !!!

[Sprocket]

Oh yeh, Doh, forgot to mention that about the fuel octane

The injection cars were designed to run on 95 octane or higher. The higher octane will not give higher performance unless the engine has been rebuilt to take advantage of it. For instance, higher compression ratio. Thats not the be all and end all of it though if you increase the compression, because as stated the ignition is a fixed map in the ECU(no knock detection). Increasing the compression ratio will change the ignition characteristics so will not be ideal even with the higher octane that you will have to use to prevent onset of knock (detonation).

The only thing you may notice is a less lumpy idle, but thats about it.

Just use the regular 95 unleaded and save your pennies

[Dan]

The only thing you may notice is a less lumpy idle, but thats about it.

<ahem> Hey thats all more or less what I put originally, then I remembered something about a knock sensor that I'm sure Calver or someone described in an early article on the MPi engine and changed my post. He even described where it was fitted. Wish I hadn't bothered now as I've only confused the issue, apologies. I remember Sprocket posting before about this sensor not existing and he knows the injection cars well.

[volcano-dan]

The only thing you may notice is a less lumpy idle, but thats about it.

<ahem> Hey thats all more or less what I put originally, then I remembered something about a knock sensor that I'm sure Calver or someone described in an early article on the MPi engine and changed my post. He even described where it was fitted. Wish I hadn't bothered now as I've only confused the issue, apologies. I remember Sprocket posting before about this sensor not existing and he knows the injection cars well.

Cheers guys for all your comments. I am running it to see how long it takes to run out and i have been on red for ages now. But my guage is just red then after that it goes back to white again, bo black line, so its hard to tell how long it will go for..... doh

[TimS]

Are you pulling the petrol nossel out of the filler neck? If not then the petrol hose will click off at only around 3/4 full.

[Rodders]

I always fill up at the red line as I cant afford to run out of fuel when I need the car to pick the kids up. and from red line to petrol in the filler neck is between £16 and £17 . so you are probably about right. Although the fuel does have to be in the filler neck before my guage will read full anyway.

[taffy1967]

I've heard that some owners have removed the fuel tank sender wire and adjusted it slightly so that it reads more accurately.

I believe one Mini Specialist actually sells the sender wire already bent to the correct shape for an accurate reading too?

Edited by taffy1967, 12 March 2007 - 04:33 PM.