Super Unleaded V

[K-rado 0]

Super Unleaded V’s Unleaded

 

Before you all ask, I have done the maths and the figures don’t stack up in terms of a cheap option. But what in the long term?

 

I have used a full tank of BP Ultimate and can confirm that you get better economy.

I recon about 16 miles per tank or about 1 mile/gallon

 

(60 Ltrs x 85p/Ltr =£51)

(60 Ltrs x 80p/lte = £48)

(1 gallon of super = £3.80)

 

This roughly costs an extra 80p/tank

 

But does it offer better performance? IMO yes. I would say it does, not having put it on the rolling road. But I think there is better pull.

 

What do you think CF? I have filled up again this morning with super to be sure to be sure. According to my ave fuel consumption. Normal Unleaded returns 28mpg

Super delivers 29mpg.

[stevemac 0]

I get more power with Optimax & that's what I'm sticking to... :wink:

[Supercharged 2]

Same here, with timimg set at 7 degrees I get more power and it costs no more to run on Optimax

[K-rado 0]

Yep. I Would stick Shell in too if there was one en-route. BP Sucks!

[pablo_vr6 0]

we dont get optimax over here so its 95 or 97. I cant tell the diff to be honest. I usually run ultimate or shell super tho.

 

on my fiat coupe turbo tho ultimate defo made the car run quicker.

[K-rado 0]

we dont get optimax over here so its 95 or 97. I cant tell the diff to be honest. I usually run ultimate or shell super tho.

 

on my fiat coupe turbo tho ultimate defo made the car run quicker.

 

I think optimax and ultimate are 97ron but they are a little more refined.

 

What do you think of the figures above. Worth the extra 1.20euros?

[pablo_vr6 0]

isnt optimax 98ron?

[K-rado 0]

with timimg set at 7 degrees [/quo.

 

And how pray tell do we do that with a dinner knife, bic lighter and a set of Halflours socket set?

[dr_mat 0]

Optimax is 95 ron with octane boost, which is highly volatile, so by the time it's sat in your tank for a week or two it's probably down to 95 ron. Ultimate is 97 ron, all day long, every day..

The figures quoted originally are interesting, but are completely statistically insignificant I'm afraid.. You'd really need to run some sort of controlled experiment to be confident that an observed 3% difference was anything other than random variance...

As I'm sure you were aware. :)

[dinkus 10]

with timimg set at 7 degrees

 

And how pray tell do we do that with a dinner knife, bic lighter and a set of Halflours socket set?

 

How quickly can you blink? :lol: ;)

 

And I tried super unleaded in my VR and found that it made precisely bugger all difference apart from lightening my pocket by a few more £.

 

It may give you slightly better fuel economy, but no more than driving a miniscule slower, or from the air temp being a fraction of a degree lower.

 

I'm sorry people, but I think you're being had. It may be 2 RON more provided that you buy it on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, but even then that's only a possible 2% improvement in performance for a definite 6% increase in price...

[g-dub 0]

so which one do i buy, optimax or BP, which one would be better for everyday use then add a octane booster when playing at the strip

[Fat Tony 0]

with timimg set at 7 degrees

 

And I tried super unleaded in my VR and found that it made precisely bugger all difference apart from lightening my pocket by a few more £.

 

It may give you slightly better fuel economy, but no more than driving a miniscule slower, or from the air temp being a fraction of a degree lower.

...

 

I think the thing with the G60's the knock (not sure on the spelling) sensor advances the timing so the G60's defo pick up some what when they are feed super. The other thing is VW recommend thats what they should be run on.

[stevemac 0]

So far as I'm aware -

so long as the rest of the engine is functioning correctly & the timing is set according to the octane being used - higher octane fuel will always yield more power... :shock:

 

If higher octane fuel is used without adjusting the timing to it's new optimum setting - little or no difference will be felt.

[Chris M 0]

This is all providing that the petrol station is actually filling the tanks with super and not just sticking bogo unleaded in and charging you super prices, i have it on good authority that it happens at at least 2 stations around my area.

[Fat Tony 0]

This is all providing that the petrol station is actually filling the tanks with super and not just sticking bogo unleaded in and charging you super prices' date=' i have it on good authority that it happens at at least 2 stations around my area.[/quote']

 

that would be hard to prove thou i dont doubt you

 

Why is everything to do with cars such a mine field :mad:

[dr_mat 0]

VRs and G60s both have knock sensors, so timing as decided at the factory should make best use of "good" fuel - i.e. RON 97+. The knock sensors are there to compensate for your use of nasty fuel, and will retard the ignition accordingly to keep the car right on the limit of optimimum performance for a given fuel. The MPG difference is less easy to prove, but the performance difference is easy to prove on a rolling road.

If petrol stations are ripping people off, trading standards would jump on them like a ton of bricks... If they knew ...

[kebabman 0]

If anyones interested, one of the bike mags this month (I think it's RiDE, but I can't remember for sure) did back to back dyno comparrisons between 95RON, Optimax and BP Ultimate. The bikes made about 3% extra power on the more expensive fuels, Optimax doing slightly better (half a percent) than Ultimate...but the fuels cost 7% more. So their conclusion was that it's down to you whether you think the small but real gain is worth the cost.

 

My VR has a sticker under the fuel flap (in german, so I'm presuming it's original?) that says Minimum 95RON recommended 97RON...

 

Personally I always use 97+RON fuel unless I know I'm going to use it all on a long boring motorway trip, but I'm not fussy which, been mainly the "new" Esso Supreme recetnly as it's the cheapest near me.

[K-rado 0]

All very interesting people. I think it is a case of read between the lines.

 

I am pretty sure on my experiment in terms of MPG, in fact my typical 40+mile journey on leaded would yield a max 30mpg and 33mpg on Super. The trip computer seems to confirm the 1mpg increase over standard unleaded.

 

I am pretty sure with my calculations of cost ie: 80p pre tank extra.

 

I am pretty sure on by assessment of performance. I have defiantly noticed greater pull and smother on the throttle but of course it would be interesting to prove this on the rolling road. However it is probably only 2-4bhp but would be pretty sure there is somewhere near 10lbs extra torque.

 

Big Question is "is it better for your engine"? Is it worth the 80p/tank extra?

 

I think for me is yes. I will reset when this tank evaporates and stick in 2 tanks of normal unleaded to be sure.....................

[potatonet 0]

when you get gas get the highest grade then have it tested for 20 dollars for grade level.

[Jim 2]

Performance wise, I had the difference shown to me just before christmas.

 

Was heading to a local pub restaurant place just outside of Warwick and it means a quick blast up the A46. I was in my Corrado and a mate in his Mini Cooper S - I know given weight and power differences my Corrado should easily keep up with the Cooper but for the first time in god knows how long i'd decided to stick some regular Texaco unleaded in.

 

The drop in power was mind blowing - we got onto the A46 and gunned it and it felt like I was driving into strong wind - the power was just really really lacking. And it wasn't something that I just realised after we got to the pub - I could immediately feel the difference. I kept up with the Cooper S but it felt like it was a real chore, something that it shouldn't have been.

 

Going back to 97RON the car feels so much more responsive and the power just feels more.. well.. available if that makes any sense?

[thorpey 0]

i have used bp and shell optimax i find the optimax is best for power and economy

[storm_warning 0]

The thing is, Optimax is just your standard fuel shipped in with the rest of the forecourts petrol and is pepped up when it's in the forcourts tanks. Whilst this isn't a problem itself, the octane rating will slip (if it was ever monitored) as it ages. Whilst the garage no doubt has a refill at least once a week, you really need to get that stuff in your tank shortly after they've put it in theirs and before you've got to the bottom of your tank, it will have degraded some anyway.

 

This is what I've heard, anyway, from a very convincing post on another forum.

[Guest]

didn't relise optimax was 95... Im using Esso super 97 at mo... keeps cost down and keeps the baby happy

[Roger Blassberg 0]

Does anyone have a reliable confirmation of the source of Sainsbury's super unleaded 97 RON ?

 

There's a great deal of discussion goes on about the relative merits of supermarket and branded fuels. I am fairly confident that Sainsbury, Tesco , Morrison and so on, do not each have a blending plant, so they are most likely buying it from the big boys. It leads me to believe that there is a lot of hype surrounding the marketing of the different brands. The British Standard for motor fuels is presumably being adhered to by all the fuel that is marketed, and I assume that that British Standard was developed in conjunction with the engine manufacturers. So, the question in my mind is, why not use supermarket fuel if the octane rating is appropriately high?

 

On the point about Optimax losing its additives over time, is there not then a case for having a sell-by date imposed, just like there is on other perishable goods?

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[dr_mat 0]

Nowhere in shell's marketing or documentation does it state an Octane rating for Optimax, other than "at least 95", so they are under no obligation to make sure it's any good!

 

The supermarkets often use the big suppliers (obviously they don't do their own refining/blending), but they also often use the "cheaper" supplier chains - and it's when they do this that you have to be worried about the state of your engine...