100 RON Fuel

[1000 PR]

I received 5 gallons of 100 ron petrol for Christmas from Sanata Shell. Did anyone else? Shall I use this straightaway or save it for track day use? My Rev 3 Turbo runs ok on ordinary 95 ron but is much quicker on Optimax. Turbo's are designed to run on 100 ron aren't they? Why is is that they have 100 ron in Japan and other countries but not in Britain?

[Lauren]

I think you had better use it as petrol normally has a shelf life.

JDM turbos are designed to run on 100RON yes, simply because its available in japland.

Years ago we used to have 5 star which was 100RON.

Optimax is 98.6 btw.

[1000 PR]

5-star was leaded of course and most british sportscars were designed to run on it. So why can you but 100 ron in Europe & Japan but not in Britain?

[Mikejc]

I'd suggest you run your car on Optimax all of the time. Using 95 RON will in the end damage your engine, specially when pushing it!

Mikejc

[spudgun]

I know this is a dear way round it , but couldn't you use optimax with an octane booster to reach those dizzy heights of 100. I know it wouldn't be cheap, but it would save waiting until next xmas for your next batch.

[Gefunk]

I would run on opti all the time if i had a tubby, 95 is just shockingly poor fuel, even on my vvti i run it on optimax, tried super and i just runs so bad. When money is flush i did run it optimax and octane booster then it really do fly.

Gav

[Chris \'aka rustboy\' Amm]

always run mine on ultimate which is 97ron as it's the best i can get round my way without going miles away

haven't got the guts to see what happens if i use 95 ron

[raptor95GTS]

always run mine on ultimate which is 97ron as it's the best i can get round my way without going miles away

haven't got the guts to see what happens if i use 95 ron

phut!

[BenF]

always run mine on ultimate which is 97ron as it's the best i can get round my way without going miles away

haven't got the guts to see what happens if i use 95 ron

phut!

LoL!

You can run a turbo on 95 RON, but you have to retard the timing massively to prevent detonation.

This has the knock on effect of making the car really sluggish in the morning when cold (really, realy reluctant to acccellerate, no power at all) and also reduces the total power the engine can produce.

IMO - Run SU or Optimax on a Turbo for safety's sake and adjust the timing to suit the boost levels you're running.

[1000 PR]

As my car runs ok on 95 ron and doesn't pink or anything, is it worth saving 6p per litre, so at say 5 miles per litre and 6000 miles per year, equivalent to 1200 litres per year, that's a cost saving of £72 per year, which is nice unless you need a new engine at the end of it! Maybe I'll stick to Optimax every other fill-up?!

[Hedgehog Dodger]

5-star was leaded of course and most british sportscars were designed to run on it. So why can you but 100 ron in Europe & Japan but not in Britain?

We dont have 100 RON anymore because of the Government and there emissions bo||ox. IIRC higher RON fuel can melt CATS on cars as they burn at much higher TEMPS, I might be wrong by I am sure I read that somewhere

[MR2Mania]

The tubby's engine is designed/tuned for 100RON, but it will run on lesser fuel, even 95RON - it'll just retard the timing. The older ECUs on Rev1/2s might not do it as well as a Rev3, but they'll do it. After all, that's what the knock sensor is there for.

If you want to get the full 100RON, why not get some 76 Racing fuel and mix it in with either Optimax or BP Ultimate? It's not cheap, and not something that you could do for an everyday car, but it can be done. Alternatively, get hold of some Toluene and mix this in with your normal road fuel.

Avoid octane boosters, because at best they'll raise the octane by a few DECIMAL POINTS, not solid RON points!

[Mikejc]

Optimax is really your best option buddy for the sake of your engine. That £70 saving is'nt gonna go all that far on the new rebuild you'll need

Mikejc

[MR2Mania]

Optimax is really your best option buddy for the sake of your engine. That £70 saving is'nt gonna go all that far on the new rebuild you'll need

Mikejc

One thing to note about all the latest Super Unleadeds. Regardless of what their RON rating is "supposed" to be, they do degrade over time and the RON rating falls dramatically. The worst culprit of this is apparently Optimax. So, even though it's supposed to be 98.6RON, I doubt it's always this when it gets to the pumps, and significantly less than this is stored for any length of time.

Professional racers found that Optimax which was stored for 2 weeks or more would significantly have dropped off in terms of RON rating!

So what should we learn from this? Well, if you don't use the car regularly enough to burn all the fuel in one week, then don't fill the tank up, just put in enough for you to use within 1-2weeks. Also, look for petrol stations with a high turnover of fuel - this way, you're ensuring that you get a recent batch of Optimax in your tank that will not be already degraded.

[LuizeGT]

running on normal unleaded damaged the engine?? ive been running on that since i had it in march as it misfires when i use super and the optimax is sooo expensive here!

it makes sence when you say "This has the knock on effect of making the car really sluggish in the morning when cold (really, realy reluctant to acccellerate, no power at all) and also reduces the total power the engine can produce" mine has that exact problem.


feel sorry for car now...think im going to go treat it to a slap up meal. (optimax) lol

[SFLee]

agree shell petrol is good
and bp 97 is ok
supermarket is bad

but I think USA is worest 91 to 93 most place

[MR2Mania]

but I think USA is worest 91 to 93 most place

This is another misconception. The Americans measure their octane in a different way. You may have noticed some petrol stations (mostly in Europe though) quote both a MON and a RON rating. So, looking at some petrol stations for Super Unleaded, we can see that 98RON fuel has a MON rating of 88. Now, the Americans use an "average" rating, taking the average of the MON and RON ratings. Therefore, 98RON is:

( 88 + 98 )/2 = 93

Therefore, when an American says they use "93 Octane" fuel, they are of course using equivalent fuel to 98RON.

[ryan_s3]

Where do you get that elf turbo max from??What octane is that?

[MR2Mania]

Where do you get that elf turbo max from??What octane is that?

The Elf and Shell race fuels seem to be a lot more difficult to get hold of my Joe Public that the 76 Racing range. Besides, all the big boys are using 76 lately.

See here:
http://www.76racing.co.uk

[ENSMR2]

The fuel over in america is poor quality though. When we were over there it was really hard to find a decent fuel. Most time the engine was acting pretty poorly making all sorts of noises. Then we filled up on shells new fuel over there. (kinda like optimax but called something different) and the engine became a different thing. That was on a big a55 dodge ram truck (pick up) which was very fast!

What a great ride. Luxury, power, sportiness. 100+ temps out side nice and cool inside (ac) bling wheels and a hand gun under the arm rest!