In this months circuit driver, Tesco is bringing out super super unleaded with a 99 octane rating bettering Optimax (98). Although only at select locations.
Now you can do a favour for the dearest and the wife
I kept forgeting to mention this. It’s been in Basingstoke for a while and is only 4p more a litre. So that’s under a quid and if you use a 5p off voucher gained by purchasing Tesco produce it’s cheaper than normal fuel!
Ian
Jamie: Is there any in Edinburgh yet?
I may be wrong, but I thought we had been here before, and the technicl concensus was that the S1’s could not make any advantage of the higher octane rating…not sure about the Toyota engines
S1s could only take advantage if they have been mapped on 99. It’s a bit of a risk if you’re struggling to find some one day, unless you have seperate maps saved! (Assuming an Emerald ECU of course).
Believe the Toyota has a knock sensor, so can advance/retard ignition as necessary to take advantage of the higher octane.
Whether this produces any discernible effect is a matter of debate!
I may be wrong, but I thought we had been here before, and the technicl concensus was that the S1’s could not make any advantage of the higher octane rating…not sure about the Toyota engines
I thought the 190 was good for Super? In any case, we have definately discussed that fuel loses its bang over time (at the station or in the tank), so with a few more octane you’re always gone be getting the best. It does seem to drive better with it. Optimax is my fuel of choice.
Ian
Will take someone far more qualified than me in this area to explain, but I think Petrochemical Engineers have said that octane isn’t the be all and end all. There is more to fuel quality that just headline RON.
Optimax is my fuel of choice too!
From what I understand RON is a bit of a marketing tool it being the best the fuel can achieve. If you want to know more try here
http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/AUTO/F_Gasoline6.html
From what I understand the Yota engine has a high compression so will benefit the performance plus the learning ECU.
Believe 5th gear are doing a bit on fuel tomorrow eve.
As for in Edinburgh
CORSTORPHINE EXTRA
Meadow Place Road
Corstorphine
Lothian
EH12 7UQ
Is one of the big ones will be checking it out tomorrow.
On 5th gear they dynoed a Clio, Golf GTi & Subaru.
Shell Optimax produced 9hp difference from super market unleaded in the Subaru and 14 more torque.
The GTi Had smaller gains and the Clio none.
BP produced smaller gains than Shell.
Corstorphine Tesco has 97 super
So what is the best type of fuel for an S1???
Optimax for the S1, & some S2 owners have tried diesel (if you don’t believe me, do a search!)
Here are the locations for 99 octane more will be added…
http://www.greenergy.com/products/99_octane_locations.html
I wonder if there is a correlation with shandy sales at most of those stores?
won’t be trying this in the near future then looking at that list of sites, guess i’ll just have to stick with the Optimax.
I wonder if there is a correlation with shandy sales at most of those stores?
I take it then Russ that all the stores are in the South. SSSDSJ’s
John
Optimax for the S1
I thought that Nick Adams had confirmed that this fuel made no difference - at least in terms of power/torque - if running the standard engine and ECU?
Are you referring to any cleaning properties?
Steve
All I can say is that using Optimax in my K series stopped it “pinging”, under load, which it did when hot, & with other Super Unleaded. Any difference in power/performance - I couldn’t notice, to be honest! I just wasn’t keen on it running “lean”, & possibly burning holes in the pistons!
It was part of my deliberate “over servicing” to protect the engine eg changing the oil/filter every 2500 to 3000 miles come what may, with top quality fully synthetic (or what I then believed to be “top quality” - thanks Oilman for subsequently educating us )
Steve
All I can say is that using Optimax in my K series stopped it “pinging”, under load, which it did when hot, & with other Super Unleaded. Any difference in power/performance - I couldn’t notice, to be honest! I just wasn’t keen on it running “lean”, & possibly burning holes in the pistons!
It was part of my deliberate “over servicing” to protect the engine eg changing the oil/filter every 2500 to 3000 miles come what may, with top quality fully synthetic (or what I then believed to be “top quality” - thanks Oilman for subsequently educating us )
I use Optimax to get rid of pinking as well and it works.
Yes, yes we all know it cant improve performance as there is no knock sensor but that misses another important point - at least in my opinion.
In the old days of clockwork ignition you had to set the advance so that you didnt get detononation and that was always playing safe, or not …
Using a higher Octane would mean you could play less safe and get more power ( perhaps ) or just be happy that when the engine was getting very hot you would still be safe at high revs and consequently high volumes where detonation cannot heard so easy …
So … it seems reasonable that using high quality, higher octane fuel gives you an extra margin of safety with an engine that cannot adjust itself EITHER way , especially when thrashing it on the track …
Tesco 99 RON locations >
HTH
Nice one Alex.