Tuesday, May 25, 2010 - 12:18 pm, by: Fran Valdivia(Silvasoarer)
Just did an extensive search looking for the benefits, and the drawbacks of running these fuels in the Celsior, and Soarers.
I understand that the sophisticated engine managements will adjust to take the fuel and create little or no problems in regards to reliability and performance.
I've been running only Shell Optimax for the past few years, ever since my first TT Soarer, then in the sister V8, and now in my 89 Celsior.
I have done the maths, and the 98RON fuel seems to give me the rewards of slightly better mileage than the lower octane fuels that Shell offers (96 or what ever).
But recently, I filled up with from empty, with Shell 91 fuel with ethanol, and not really sure about power loss, as the Celsior is a cumbersome vehicle to get off the mark quickly, but the overall mileage was on par with the Optimax, maybe 20/30 kms less. And the cost in filling it up from empty to the rim left me with an extra $25 in my pocket!!
I felt special!
I tried the 95RON, thinking that it would improve or be same return in mileage, but unfortunately it seems to return less kms.
I fill up 3 to 4 times a fortnight, and I tend to run the tank low before each fill up.
Now with all this, I have a couple of questions....
1) Why did the car run such good numbers with the ethanol blended 91RON fuel? Was it because of running the "better" for such a long time?
2) Why was the 95RON fuel no improvement, if any at all?
3) And does the ethanol blended fuels do damage to ANY seals in the engine, and on the injectors, or cause premature internal wear, and affect any rubber hosing it travels thru ie. fuel lines?
If any one can either put links up or steer me in the right direction, that would be of great assistance.
Its not solely about the money expense, although it does create an incentive when 4 tanks a fortnight would only mean that I pay for 3 and inadversely get the 4th for free on the cheapo fuel.
I was also weighing up running a tank of each alternatively, one fill with 98RON, next fill with ethanol 91RON.
I do drive the Celsior quite spiritedly at times, I love the V8 on song, but its is a big heavy lunk, and better mileage/value for money is what I'm hoping to achieve.
If I get there 5mins later and stop at the servo less, its not a bad trade off.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 - 06:58 pm, by: Matt Shields(Smokeyvip)
yeh i have come to a similar conclusion. i used to fill up on 98 only, but when you do 600km's of freeway driving a week, it starts to rack up. i don't drive hard, so why do i need performance fuel?
so i started using 91. i got the same economy and not a huge noticeable drop in power, if any.
i wouldnt worry too much about running a lower end RON. car was designed to run on a min of 91 RON, so it's not going to hurt it. i just run a tank of 98 once a month to 'clean' things out although even that is probably a crock.
i think ethanol largely got some bad press early, and it has stuck in the back of everyone's minds. keep researching though and let us know what you find.
the only thing you might want to think about is the cost to society of ethanol. basically made from food crops taken from 3rd world countries which could probably be better used feeding to the starving masses rather than saving us a few bucks a tank in our gas guzzling behemoths. depends what kinda person you are tho....
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 - 07:23 pm, by: David Vaughan(Davidv)
As I recall the manuals, The 1UZ and 2JZ cars are recommended to use 95+ but will operate on lower RON fuels without damage.
If you are driving long distances in a big-engined old car then it costs a lot of money. It may be cheaper to economise on the car fuel than to change cars in the short term.
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