98/99 octane fuel?

[pigfight]

hi everyone,
im really tempted to try a higher octane fuel in my 96(n) 854r as ive only ever put standard unleaded in it.
do any of you use it in your t5s/t5rs/rs?
just wondering what the benefits are, is it worth it?
thanks,
david.

[p fandango]

i used to use BP ultimate when i was running very high boost levels, when i used 95ron the ECU's boost cut would kick-in but never did using Ultimate

[JUDGENINJA]

yep I run high octane fuel, if available. You really only notice the difference when using the car to the max.

Personally I ve not noticed a difference in fuel economy, cos my driving style changes from day to day...from grandad driver to boy racer

[walter leever]

I think when your car is chipped/flashed you should use 98(at least i do):banana:

[cameron]

Tesco 99 ron or Shell V power and there is a noticeable power increase and better mpg :D

[pigfight]

thanks for replying guys,
is there any benefits in reduction to component ware? or no difference at all? or does it cause more ware? (i was told that it makes the engine run hotter!! not sure if true though)
cheers.

[walter leever]

thanks for replying guys,
is there any benefits in reduction to component ware? or no difference at all? or does it cause more ware? (i was told that it makes the engine run hotter!! not sure if true though)
cheers.

Well when i put my foot down,the way it drinks fuel then it's impossible that it's getting hot:firedevil

[pigfight]

nice 1, cheers everyone, reckon i'll put some in this weekend.

[Tomcat]

You may have to wait for the car to get used to the new octane rating before you'll notice much of a difference, don't go expecting to put it in and see a change straight away, the ECU will adjust itself once it notices.

[t5 stealth]

i only use tesco 99 octane...
car goes much better on that than lesser grade.
car is more responsive & pulls better etc.

[AlanG]

Jury's out. Spent a sh*t load of cash fueling my old 360 2.0 with Optimax and found that it guzzled it with no improvement anywhere! To be neutral,I haven't tried with the T5 as I was well scunnered. Probably not the best judge at this time...........

[pigfight]

what about the mix ratio though?
ive got bout 5 gallon of regular unleaded left in mine, should i run it til its almost empty before putting higher octane in?
(never liked to run it to low, for the risk of feeding all the s**t from the bottom of the tank into the engine)
cheers,
david.

[Tomcat]

I usually run mine until the trip says there's about 40-50 miles left(that's just before the low fuel light comes on). If you want to fill the tank then yes I'd wait until it's nearly empty until you re fill with Optimax or similar. Just out of interest I used to find my car did about 2-3 mpg better on Optimax than on normal unleaded.

[AlanG]

Hey TC,do you think if I became a Super Moderator I would get more to my gallon??????:uglyhamme

[pigfight]

cheers again everyone,
gona thrash.... i mean, burn off some fuel, then fill up on the superstuff.

[Tomcat]

Hey TC,do you think if I became a Super Moderator I would get more to my gallon??????:uglyhamme

???? ER...What?.

[t5 pete]

OY im next in line for the mods job lol

[BruceT]

I found in my standard 855 T5 (96) that Tesco 99 Fuel maybe higher octaine rating but it returns poorer (In the most recent case, Bristol to Lake District) fully laden only made 27.8mpg. When at the lakes, I put BP Ultimate in (97 ron) and on A roads and giving it beens It increased to 28.3 within 50-60 miles of driving which is pretty good considering it had had done 280 miles to get there and id not reset the computer.

Over the two weeks I had Shell V Power and BP Ultimate and increased all the time even with sprited runs which was pleasing.

I cant say at the moment, but THINK BP may give better MPG then Shell V Power but Tesco 99 is crap for fuel consumption.

[t5 pete]

I use tesco and my fuel comsumption isnt brilliant ill give v-power ago and see what difference it makes

[AlanG]

???? ER...What?.

Ehhhhmmm,right I'm back. Phew,that was strange....

[Tomcat]

Ooookay then....:shifty:

[walter leever]

Ehhhhmmm,right I'm back. Phew,that was strange....

STAY OF THE BEER!!!!:dgrin:

[AlanG]

Used to be undecided but now I really don't have a clue.......

[V70Stu]

I agree, found that my MPG was much better with Standard SHELL unleaded rather than a SuperMarket superunleaded.

I have done a few tanks of VPower and now got the MPG up a little bit. Still not in 30's yet though :-(

[AlanG]

I agree, found that my MPG was much better with Standard SHELL unleaded rather than a SuperMarket superunleaded.

I have done a few tanks of VPower and now got the MPG up a little bit. Still not in 30's yet though :-(

What you drivin' bud?

[cameron]

If i fill the tank which is very expensive with V Power :( and leave it till empty light comes on my average is 29.4 mpg and thats after it being up at 41.3mpg with some very frustrating 60 - 65 mph motorway driving :B_thumb:

Over 300 miles to the tank as well and thats an Auto with a HLM 304 :D

[AlanG]

Can't argue with that matey!!

[cameron]

Yip not too shabby for a big estate car that outruns a Police diesel focus ;)

[AlanG]

How did you find that out?????

[AlanG]

Now you're worrying me.........

[cameron]

LOL sat at the lights on a dual carriageway with a young asian lad in his dads bmw 330D revving the balls of it, we both went on amber, and i left him sat with a sheeit load of smoke coming out his exhaust, looked down OOPS 90mph started to slow down and the next thing i knew the old bill were at the side of me with the lights going :(

Damn them blacked out windows, didnt see them behind me, it was dark, anywho, i shot off and he said he was doing 120mph to catch up :confused: just shows how slow they accelerate then eh :D

Give me a good ticking off and let off on my way, one very lucky boy :sorry:

[AlanG]

Very. I thought they castrated for 5mph over!!

[cameron]

To be fair the copper was very good with me, usually i get the proper jobsworths :(

This is what he said, an exact quote " i have a T5 V70 and i know they are quick but i didnt think they were that nippy "

Then he went on too say " the suspension isnt the best in these and they roll a lot but yours didnt "

Thats because its lowered , chipped and strut braced hofficer :D

He loved it and granted i was driving like a dick but i was very lucky not too be done for dangerous driving, on the other hand it took the bmw a long time too catch up :hilarious

[AlanG]

Respect:hail:

[cameron]

Indeed :D

[AlanG]

Of course it's accepted that you are a jammy b*****d???

[polredt5]

I had problems with my t5 after running it on V-Power,when i was working down in Fife.Car was running like a dream with plenty of ooomph,i had a long w-end home and had to fill up with normal unleaded for the 200 mile drive back to work.First time i went to overtake,as soon as it came on boost the car was holding back/stuttering.I thought it was just needing time to adjust to the lower ron,but this didnt happen even after 300 miles.Once back in Fife and a full tank of V-Power later the car was back to plenty of power and smooth acceleration!
Anyway me back on the Isle of Lewis and the cars being getting normal unleaded.This is where the story gets interesting(lol),the car would pull ok with half throttle then full,odd splutter.This got me thinking about the spark being blown out with the boost on full welly?After failing to get new spark plugs locally today,i had the plugs out to clean/regap and found they were all well over a mm. Once gapped to .7 and cleaned up,back in and test drive was a pleasure!Car is running like a dream,pulls well and no coughs or splutters to be heard. So the moral of the story is i thought i had a t5 that was yearning V-Power,in fact it was the gap was to big for normal unleaded to fire properly.Paul..

[AlanG]

Strange one bud. The way you describe is like the gap opened suddenly.......

[BigV]

I am using mainly Tesco 99 and Sainsburys super (99 i think?) these days...... I find it is slightly cheaper and more readily available than BP/Shell garages.

Not sure what difference if any it makes to the running of my car though, I'm only using it as I am running an MBC wound out quite a long way! Once I get the car chipped and remove the MBC I will probably go back to standard.

Most my driving is around town at the moment, and I am getting 21.5mpg average (850 T5 auto), which is a 3mpg improvement over the c70 t5....... but that wasn't running well at all by the time I sold it.

[j@mie]

I've run V-Power for donkeys years on all my cars. Previously it was called Optimax.

I had a FIAT Punto HGT... and it got a blasting.

TBH, the only time I noticed a difference was when I took it off V-Power when I was coming to selling it, and yes it was different... slower reaction on acceleration, and when rev'd it was crap.

In the V50 T5 I haven't really noticed it, I suppose when I take it off of it then I will.

One thing I've noticed that the T5 engine doesn't rev very high, in comparison to my HGT, must admit, sometimes the little Punto was good fun in that respect.

I'm getting closer to BSR PPC'ing the car, Stage 1... just under 260hp, and that would be interesting. Trouble is quite expensive. I wounder if it would return better fuel economy then present... 23-26mpg!!!!!!

[Big Pete]

In the back of my 850R manual it says you should run 98octain min, but any petrol car SHOULD perform better the higher the octain logically. Just you gain if you have a more performance orientated engine.

My 850R is re-mapped and when you put 95octain and reset the computer it says it can do 250miles on the tank and the engine doesn't run as well, as soon as I put 99 Shell V-power in it it says 365miles per tank!

[lance]

Ive found V power better all round on performance and economy for stock and modified on Turbo charged Volvos!
In my expierience it can take a tank or 2 for the ecu to adjust etc and for you to notice any difference. Expect better responce and slightly better economy, maybe 1-2 mpg more.

[markas]

Hi guys,

well i have a 850 n/a with 1/4 of millions miles which in the summer always ran on optimax. I did find that it gave me about an extra 2 to 4mph. Now that i live in the peak district with the ups and down i only run on the tesco 99ron and only get 15mph if i am lucky but about 31 or 32 on aq bru m back home to the west midlands.

Left weekend before the grand prix i ran on a full tank on v-power 100 ron with no problems and general fuel consumption at the 14 1/2 sprint still give me something in the 20 mpg+.

The higher would alow the engine not to labour so there not get so hot at the higher revs.

just as an intro i used to be in the VOC and won there best in class for 850's every year.

ta mark

[Jod T5]

The car should run better on higher octane, especially if tuned.....
I would expect to return improved fuel consumption on higher octane thus negating the reduced cost of lower octane...
I wont bore you with the technicalities but due to the abilities of the modern engine ECM, higher octane fuel continues to outperform lower octance on "performance" vehicles...

Jod

[Rhys]

Hmm, put £40 of Sainsbury's unleaded into my car which bumped it up to a good 3/4 full and after a bit of driving the gauge was showing 320 miles. Just done a return trip from to Birmingham from York (including traffic jam and big detour due to road closure + 50mph sections) and it read 120 miles when I landed back home. This was with the aircon on most of the way and cruise control set to about 70mph (ish)

I noticed Shell is selling normal unleaded at 99.9p as well so might stick some of theirs in for comparison unless I'm feeling queesy in which case it might be V power.

[Flatout Phil]

You may have to wait for the car to get used to the new octane rating before you'll notice much of a difference, don't go expecting to put it in and see a change straight away, the ECU will adjust itself once it notices.

Aside from the fact I have a Shell garage down the road and they invariably show up cheaper on petrolprices.com than any other local fueler, I have to say I do notice a difference in power with Shell V-Power on my T5 over ordinary Shell, or, I am ashamed to say, the odd tank of Sainsbury stuff. The R never runs on anything except V-Power - ever. A few pence investment to protect the motor seems cheap at the price. And yes, it takes a little while for the ECU to adjust to the fuel. The standard T5/R chip will tolerate lower octane fuel but will also reduce the power output. A chipped vehicle should be served up an appropriate beverage to maximise the remap - otherwise, what is the point? Assume other products may be OK but I tend to believe you get what you pay for with fuel and lubricants.
Of course, many cars of a lower performance variety will show no benefit whatsoever, whatever fuel is used, but remember, at the very least you should be expecting 100BHP per litre of engine on your T5 - and this was the expectation of a Rolls Royce Merlin on a much higher grade of fuel!