BIG RON

[pompei]

Started filling up today and promptly stopped when I realised I was pumping Super Unleaded 97 RON at £1.30 a litre.

 

Anyhow, the car didn't seem to do anything different afterwards, despite my urging it to be faster and more responsive etc ...

 

Is 97 a con or do some engines benefit from that extra octane?

[RedSparrow]

I always figured it was such a tiny bit more that it wouldn't make any difference.

Certainly never noticed any difference between that and standard U/L.

[Cavcraft]

I thought this was a thread about a medallion-ed up racist football commentator then!

 

You have to run a couple (at least) full tanks of expensive fuel to see it make any difference, though some say they noticed an improvement with just half a tank of the dear stuff.

Once told from an extremely good source that it's not a good idea to put these high falutin fancy fuels in many older cars.

[Pete-M]

My Rovers like Big Ron's fuelstuff, but the V8 was originally meant to run on 100 RON fuel so that makes sense.

 

I do tend to run 'em on a mix of Big Ron and Little Ron.

 

[Station]

Can't say I've noticed any difference. Performance engines 'need' it, but can't see it mattering if you're doing normal driving. It's a bit of a complex issue, it goes right down to molecular levels. The higher the octane, the more flammable it is I think.

[Owain-328i]

Its mainly for performance engines, for example you can only run a BMW M3/M5 on 98 RON etc, its also good for turbo applications as it allows for the timing to be advanced further etc.

 

You wont notice the difference in SHITE!

 

When i was over in germany a few years ago they have 100 RON fuel available at the pumps, which is what the RAF put into Spitfires

[shite_meister]

Engines with a high compression ratio generally prefer the higher octane juice to avoid pinking, my M3 for example will run on normal unleaded but pinks quite a bit unless I give it some of the good stuff.

 

In Europe I belive they get a lower octane fuel than our 'normal' unleaded hence why normal unleaed is often called premium unleaded.

[ashmicro]

 

The late, great Joey Dunlop used to get aviation fuel for his bikes from a mate of my Dad's. IIRC it was rated at something like 130

[Jack_Harpers_Teeth]

 

"....enduring image..."

[Guest]

With regards to old stuff, you should really look at what petrol would have been put into them back in the day. Standard 95 RON is lower quality than old 4-Star (which was equivalent to something around 100), so anything that was designed for 4-Star should really be running on high-octane fuel of some description.

 

Oddly enough though, the Charmant's ancient 1960s-derived engine is really fussy about what fuel it receives - stick anything less than high-octane in and it'll idle badly and hesitate when you floor it. I'm pretty sure they were rated for 2-Star, so God knows what's happened there, suspect it was because when I had the carb set up, it had a load of V-Power or something in the tank.

 

The conclusion is that it depends what you're putting it in. The sort of thing it really shouldn't make a difference with are standard injection cars with ECUs that are set up to run on 95 RON, but you could always stick it in anyway just for a bit of luxury.

[Milford Cubicle]

This is why I like old diesel cars, you can feed them just about anything they can compress.

[dollywobbler]

Five star was 100 octane Hirst - my ol' P6 V8 was designed for that but it never seemed to quibble when I gave it a drink of 95RON. Which I did. All the time.

 

I only use super as a 'treat' for the 2CV occasionally - daft as it sounds.

[autofive]

Oddly enough though, the Charmant's ancient 1960s-derived engine is really fussy about what fuel it receives - stick anything less than high-octane in and it'll idle badly and hesitate when you floor it. .

this was the behaviour of 2.8 carb Granada when shell had the higher rated U/L same as normal U/L, so i filled it up, maybe the timing needed fiddling with, but i noticed no improvements in performance

 

in my mind theres only one Big Ron

 

 

"your in here for 30 years, you'll thank me for this"

[Richard]

I thought Five Star was 105 Octane.

[Lukas]

We have 91 (Normal), 95 (Super), 98 (Super +) and 100 (Super100)-petrol, so my Camry has a switch on the dashbord where you can switch the engine from 91 to 95 and back. Very cool, that! 91 and 95 are the same price nowadays, so there is no need for this switch anymore.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Funny this should come up today. I filled the Mini with V-Power on a whim, and for a couple of miles it felt more powerful. Then I either got used to it or the placebo effect wore off.

[Lukas]

 

On the left corner of the dash you can see it.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Reminds me of that Chrome/Ferrous (or whatever) switch cassette players used to have.

[Owain-328i]

91 Octane is the limp wristed stuff the yanks get, probably doesnt help the BHP figures those guys are getting out there

[whiskeyonesix]

We get 91 95 and 98octane over here. I only ever put 98 in the Volvo, though it runs happily on 91oct stuff - or so Volvo say... It's only a matter of fiddling about with the renix thing anyway...

[Owain-328i]

Over where? ive never seen 91 ron in the UK

[FredTransit]

Oddly enough though, the Charmant's ancient 1960s-derived engine is really fussy about what fuel it receives - stick anything less than high-octane in and it'll idle badly and hesitate when you floor it. .

this was the behaviour of 2.8 carb Granada when shell had the higher rated U/L same as normal U/L, so i filled it up, maybe the timing needed fiddling with, but i noticed no improvements in performance

 

in my mind theres only one Big Ron

 

 

"your in here for 30 years, you'll thank me for this"

I like his jumper....

[Gompo]

I've always used high octane stuff, either Tesco 99 or Optimax/V-Power. I imagine my current car would kick up a fuss if I used anything less and it's not recommended anyway. Roll on a shite second car, I suppose..

 

Does it make a difference on a normal car? Dont know, but I dont do many miles a year so an extra 5p a litre or whatever doesnt bother me.

[Volksy]

I've treated the Volvo to a couple of tanks of Ultimate, but given its a £80 fill already, it doesn't happen often, although it runs smoother and gives about 4 mpg more than on the cheapo stuff.

[Albert Ross]

Remember the Vauxhall trick of the "Octane plug" on the loom under the bonnet, and you could reverse it depending on what fuel you put in. Normally Yellow Beige or Black IIRC

[Pete-M]

W124 Mercs had those as well.

[Owain-328i]

Sounds a bit old hat (especially for a W124 Merc) modern ecu's in conjunction with a knock sensor will adjust the engines timing to run correctly on any grade of petrol

[Lukas]

I like the switch on my Camry, it´s completely illuminated in green!

[boobydoo]

Always put the higher octane stuff in mine...they do seem to run better...the Simca sometimes 'pinks' if I use normal unleaded.

 

There is a station selling 4* near me, but at £1.80 a litre it is a tad expensive just for pootling about!!

[Mr Lobster]

My Alfa seemed to like Shell Optimax (before they started calling it V Power). Needed a couple of tanks to go through before you could tell much difference though and even then it was only slight.