matth76 Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Out of curiosity SAFC99 what age/type of M3 was it that you raced? Was it an E46 (01 reg onwards)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deox Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Never use normal unleaded such as 95 ron. You will suffer pinking and potential detonation which can damage your engine permanently!! I have always used Tesco 99 ron fuel for years as our local was one of the first and it has always performed brilliantly with my cars. All fuel is shipped many miles across the world and have equal amounts of the same chemicals. The profit margin is just far far lower for Tesco hence it is much cheaper than big "brand" rivals like BP (very expensive and only 97 ron) and Shell but the product itself is near enough identical. You're just paying more for the same thing. Higher rated ron will result in more power but only depending on what your ecu is set up for. In the case of the 350 it is set up for 98. You will suffer power and performance loss if you put lower rated ron fuel in, and can be around 20+bhp loss if you put poor quality 95 ron in according to some rolling road tests. Turbo cars will get far better gains by putting higher rated ron fuel in. +1 I would just say that if you use 95 ron (especially on a uk car) you wont definitely suffer from pinking. Seems nissan list 95+ being ok. Its not poison for your engine. However, if you push the engine regularly getting it very hot, especially in an import that is mapped for higher rons, it would be a good idea to user a higher octane fuel. The 350s are not to my knowledge any more suceptable to pinking than other sports cars. Been driving a Imported Toyota Celica Gt4 St205 (selling it now if ur interested!! ) for the past 4 years and you know the difference. The imports are ecu mapped from 95-101 RON as japan 's fuel is 100 RON. The Uk variety are ok for 95-98 RON but put out 240BHP instead of the 255 stock import. Its a well known fact that many GT4 members have lost engines to detonation... essentially the engine when running very hot (which is typical of a car running 13+psi boost as standard) risks detonating the air fuel mixture on compression instead of when the spacrk is ingited. Obviously if the cycle of the piston is not in the correct position when the mix detonates then the piston is force back against the normal rotation and you hear 'pinking' as the piston fights momentum of the rest of the engine. This nirmally results in cracked piston heads, rings etc... The higher the RON value, the more stable the fuel. So a 100 RON fuel with a higher octane rating will be much less likely to detonate due to heat (or in some cases running lean) FYI Pinking sounds like a gnome stuck in ur engine with a little hammer trying to get out. Unleaded 95 Ron Super Unleaded 97 Ron BP 97 Ron V-Power 99 Ron Tescos 99 Ron My personal advice from experience? You can go the whole hog and add fuel additives to achieve 100 Ron... but to be honest you are best running your car on the minimum requirement unless you can tell the difference of using a higher octane fuel. 97 super unleaded is fine if the manufacturer has mapped the car to run on it. If you are concerned by the longevity of your engine then treat it to an oil change, let the oil warm up properly before running the engine hard, and cool down slowly by not redlining it to your front door then turning it off for the night. These things will add 1000's more miles to your engines life than any choice of fancy fuels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek_ZR Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I have tried Tesco 99 but now refuse to use Tesco fuel. Don't know if it's UK wide but their tactics on petrol pricing are often aimed at driving up the local price to the maximum level possible. You will NEVER see Tesco lead the way on price - profit maximisation is their aim. Buts its always cheaper than Shell! (And Shell has produced two "super" formulations that ruined engines) Not in my experience. Local Shell is currently 3ppl cheaper than local Tesco for NUL so probably 1ppl cheaper for their 99 octane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilsheepshagga_turbo Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 sorry just to correct deox optimax is now v-power m8y and its 99 ron sorry just had me worried i was only putting 98 in... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-Power tbh the difference between standard petrol and v power i think equates to about £4 per tank for me...so for the sake of 4 quid id rather use v power and maybe buy less chocolate bars a week to balance it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deox Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 thanks for the update lilsheep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon Chris Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Pah! No more v-power here in the toon, I`ve had to switch to inferior 97 ron esso I can feel the hp ebbing away.... noooooo....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_350z Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Sounds like a lot of conjecture to me with no consensus :-) Worry about something else, is what I say, like finding *any* petrol What's the latest scientific estimate - 41 yrs oil left at current consumption rates? Let's half that for good measure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunGodRA Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Sounds like a lot of conjecture to me with no consensus :-) Worry about something else, is what I say, like finding *any* petrol What's the latest scientific estimate - 41 yrs oil left at current consumption rates? Let's half that for good measure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAFC99 Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 The M3 was my mates E46 53 plate car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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