Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 08:51 am, by: Adam Holloway(Envme)
hello guys a mate of mine was telling me i should not run it all the time in my car only like 1 in every 3 full tanks as its not good for it,is this true or just bull
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 02:00 pm, by: Brian Timms(Turbo_brian)
The only reason not to run Shell 102 Ron V-power is because it's ethanol fuel, but I do believe Soarers (1JZ and Uzz's are fine with Ethanol).
I personally use Caltex 98 where I can, otherwise 98 Ron BP, but I tend to stay clear of anywhere else, I dont like the private companies, and I dont like Shell.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 06:42 pm, by: Brian Timms(Turbo_brian)
Ethanol is a sugar by-product, and is pretty much waste.
Ethanol also eats into some rubbers and seals, including the seals and rubber hoses used on some older and newer cars.
It's frowned upon because it DOES eat into fuel lines on lesser quality cars.
I, myself, had a CA powered 180sx that I used 102 Ron V-power in, and 3 weeks later I had fuel leaks in the pressure hose to the filter. After taking the line off to replace it, it was bubbling pretty hard, and cracked at the bubble.
Used V-power again thinking it must have been a co-incidence, and the fuel return line died, same thing, bubbling and cracking, the outer layer completely seperated from the inner shealth.
The Soarer is fine on it, but other 180sx's are also getting issues from it.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 07:33 pm, by: Haven Tams(Havo)
Ethanol is a cheaper fuel but actually doesn't burn as well so really your not getting the same mileage off an ethanol tank compared to a non ethanol based fuel it's a waste of time unless your a greenie, but in the end they dont know what damages it could have on your car in the long run. IMO stay away from ethanol fuels as much as possible.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 07:55 pm, by: Murray Lund(Murray)
Duy Le - you say Shell is crap - I've been using Shell PULP in it for 2 years - my car runs beautifully on it. Is there any objective evidence for this statement or is it just a subjective opinion? (I like getting my 4 cents off)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 07:57 pm, by: Jeff Bedsor(Jeff_bedsor)
Totally agree with the above statement, Ethanol has been around for the last 35 years in Nth QLD and has never really been accepted, there is a big push on to save the environment by using it. In my opinion the main reason is politics to appease the National party farmers and give them another market for sugar/grain byproducts. Ethanol actually costs a lot more to produce than petrol but is only viable ATM because of massive government subsidies. You can probably guess that I would never run it in my cars.
Brian Timms TryHard New South Wales TT Soarer Goodness.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 08:19 pm, by: Brian Timms(Turbo_brian)
In places like Brazil, cars have been running on 100% ethanol for many years, but obviously, with seriously modified fuel lines and injector filters.
Personal, I am avoiding it like the plague, BUT with the right hardware, it's fine to use.
And yes Neil, Ethanol is a by-product of a lot of vegies, but in Australia, the government is fighting to get it used with petroleum products because it's a massive disposal problem for the sugar farmers in Northern Qld.
I dislike Shell fuel after finally moving to BP Ultimate after being a Shell patriot for 15 years. Optimax had a shelf life of just over a week, after which my car would run very poorly until using up the remaining fuel and refreshing the tank. I haven't driven my Soarer since last September (2006) and it still has 1/4 tank of BP Ultimate in it. I took it for a drive on the weekend, and it performed flawlessly without any pinging or performance decrease. Just my experiences, but is was definitely repeatable, as I occasionally got shipped off for work for weeks on end, and the Shell fuel behaved the same every single time
Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 10:56 am, by: Braden Murdoch(Ribfeast)
I've always run the Shell Optimax/V-Power 98 octane in the 1JZ Cressy, hasn't given me any dramas so far. I avoid ethanol "enhanced" fuels like the plague, as although they are cheaper you get less kms per tank out of them. Ethanol has a lower energy content basically, and reduces knock by raising octane (harder to burn).
I guess if you tuned the car to use the higher octane you might see some benefits (if your fuel lines stand up to it).
Next time I go to WSID I'll give some of the Shell 100 a shot + some octane booster to see if it is as good as they say it is. Need to buy tyres and RSM first though ;)
It most definitely delivers far less knock that 98 ron fuel, however the fuel economy isn't as good due to ethanol having less energy in it and it needs less oxygen to burn than regular petrol. This means you need to inject a little more fuel to maintain 14:7 ratio, but at the same time you really need to put in heaps of timing, but the gains under cruise I don't believe are there, however at the top end, yes there is gains in power.
So in conclusion, expect to use more fuel cruising around, but gain top end power if you increase boost/timing to suit.
Daniel Clarke wrote on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 10:55 pm:
Shane told me his knock readin on his power fc was HIGHER with BP ultimate compared to 98 V power shell fuel!
Weird... I get far less knock these days with Ultimate. I guess fuel is different than WA (I assume you mean that Shane). Back when I used Optimax, I'd get near 60 on the FC knock meter. I get around 12-20 on Ultimate.
Brian Timms TryHard New South Wales TT Soarer Goodness.
Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 12:58 pm, by: Brian Timms(Turbo_brian)
different engines, ecu's, and tunes will result in different fuels deliverying different performance and power levels.
I used to run BP ultimate on my 180sx for 10 tanks, then Caltex for 10 tanks, and use the last 3 tanks to messure power differences and milage figures.
The 180sx would perform far better on the BP ultimate, get anything from 20 - 60kms more on a tank (only having a difference of 30 kms from city to highway driving).
The Soarer seems to perform better in Caltex 98 ron, gets the same 20 - 60kms/tank more on Caltex, but power seems the same, or very little difference.
I dont like Shell, but this is just my own personal thing, nothing against the fuel or the company, but I reserve using Shell petroleum products for lawn mowers and edge trimmers, not for my day to day car.