THOMO

To: Taylor, Ron (Bitumen)
Subject: Technical support


DEAR RON

BEFORE THE LAUNCH OF OPTIMAX, BP 97 RON WAS FAR THE BEST FUEL TO USE IN IMPORTED CARS AND PERFORMANCE CARS.SINCE THE LAUNCH OF OPTIMAX IVE USED IT ALL THE TIME. I WAS DELIGHTED TO HEAR ABOUT THE NEW LAUNCH OF BP ULTIMATE.TRIED IT AND I DID NOT MATCH UP TO OPTIMAX AT ALL. I WAS THEN TOLD THAT ULTIMATE IS 97 RON IS THAT TRUE? I DO KNOW THAT SHELL IS 98.6 .
MY QUESTION TO YOU IS. WHY SPEND ALL THAT TIME MARKETING A PRODUCT WHEN ON PAPER ITS NOT UP TO YOUR RIVALS SPECIFICATION.FOR EXAMPLE IF ULTIMATE WAS 99 RON ALL JAPANESE IMPORT DRIVERS WOULD USE IT BECAUSE THESE CARS ARE MAPPED FOR THE JAPANESE MARKET WHICH USE 100 RON.THIS HAS BEEN
A MAJOR TALKING POINT FOR A LOT OF CAR CLUBS AND INTERNET CAR CLUB FORUMS.WORST OF ALL MAJORITY OF PEOPLE BELEIVE THE OLD 97 WAS BETTER FOR PERFORMANCE.WHAT DO YOU THINK?

COULD YOU PLEASE PASS THIS TO HEAD OF MARKETING AS I CANNOT FIND AN EMAIL ADDRESS .

YOURS FAITHFULLY

MR D THOMPSON

Darren,

Thank you for your interest and comments on the BP Ultimate Unleaded grade within the UK.

To answer your questions,the research octane number for BP Ultimate Unleaded is indeed guaranteed minimum 97 for the United Kingdom market.
As the RON is only one of many components which make the properties of a gasoline, we have developed the product to benefit a wide range of vehicles.
Only a small population of the performance vehicles within the market can take advantage of the increased octane rating. BP Ultimate has many benefits, for example increased friction reduction, which will benefit all cars.

A significant amount of research, development and testing has gone into the BP Ultimate project. For more details, please visit the UK website at: https://www.bp.com/ultimate/uk/testing/testing_procedure.asp

We have tested many different model vehicles and on average found that new BP Ultimate Unleaded provides many benefits compared to regular unleaded and the old Super Unleaded products. It is both interesting and concerning that you have heard majority of people perceive that the old Super unleaded grade performs better than the new BP Ultimate.

BP Ultimate unleaded does have instantaneous benefits, but we do recommend continuous use, or at least 5 tankfuls to allow the properties of the fuel to take effect.

We have launched BP Ultimate in other markets and plan to continually be at the forefront of technology for fuels development. Continuous development of the products is underway for both short term and long term opportunities.

I take your comments and concerns on board and once again, thank you for your interest.

Regards,
Bradley Cameron
BP Global Product Strategy

THOMO

https://www.bp.com/ultimate/uk/testing/testing_procedure.asp

ULTIMATE WAS TESTED ON IMPREZA SEE ABOVE

DJB

Yes, had to laugh - shows still track footage of two Impreza WRX apparently in head to head acceleration test. The uninitiated might be impressed by how the blue car running on BP Ultimate seems to pull away. But hang on, these are both STi's which are set up to run on 97 RON or above - hardly surprising that the silver car running on the wrong fuel struggles to keep up.

D.

[Edited by DJB - 12/8/2003 10:37:06 PM]

ThrustSSC

Well I guess that answers whether this chap has a scientific or engineering background just nicely.

ROFL

THOMO

monstermunch

Still non the wiser this is my understanding.....

Optimax is still the best fuel for performance for both uk and Jap spec cars including ppp

BP ultimate is better than Super unleaded for performance

BP ultimate is cleaner than Optimax but still not up to Optimax standards when it comes to performance.

Am I right or wrong? or does nobody really know....


lol

MM

THOMO

after 2 tank fulls i know my car is quieter and smoother.before
that i mixed it with optimax the car did not like it at all.so like he stated you need to put in up to five tank fulls.
better performance im not shaw.since ive ran it for a week i have not had any hesitation which i must say i had quite often with optimax.

bring on 100 ron thats what i say. i dont know why they cant.

what would scooby do

BP Ultimate is w4nk - stick to Optimax, I won't even put ultimate in my saab never mind Scooby..

Peanuts

iTrader: (15)

Ultimate saw my car knocking like a b`stard, the knocklink was up and down like a hookers keks.

never, NEVER again.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

You lot are really going to be disapointed if and when you finally do get 100 ron petrol

cheeseboy

yes; you guys wont like it at all...

















- I know we don´t

Jza

Love the conclusive tests photos.... LOL.... bet Mike Wood would tell BP its Heat Soak if the silver car was PPP'd

What a waiste of time and hype.. its just green SUL!!!

Jza

AhFEK

iTrader: (1)

Author wrote: .... its just green SUL!!!

I remain in close contact with a fair few of the bp Supply and Logistics guys. Ultimate is just 97 RON SUL with a double dose of additive end of story. The rest is pure marketing blah blah blah. Given the choice of a hefty staff discount of 1p/lt off bp ulmate or 1 RON extra I go Optimax nearly all the time.

EvoRSX

I guess you lot haven't heard about the 'conclusive' testing that was done on Shell Optimax then have you.....

For starters, they have only ever tested it on a rolling road against standard 95RON unleaded and never tested it against SUL and never tested it in a back to back comparative on the road test.

Also, Shell Optimax LEGALLY only has to be 95 RON as it is manufactured against the std BS EN 228 and not against BS7800 for super unleaded. This is why the Optimax pumps all say unleaded and not super unleaded. You only have Shell's word that it meets the 98 RON in all conditions.

Have a look at http://www.shelloptimax.co.uk and have a look through the 'Ask the Expert' forum. You'll find some interesting info.

Andy

Abdabz

I found that with Optimax I get better performance - poo off a shovel infact vroom vroom.
With Ultimate I get better than 95 ron performance but not quite as fast a ride as with Optimax.
Difference to me though is how much smoother it runs on Ultimate compared to Optimax - can only be good for the engine...
Im happy to run mine on either / or - Depends what mood I'm in when I fill up on a Sunday night!!

scoobynutta555

Posted my rant up there

scoobynutta555

come on lads, give Shell something to think about on their ask experts thread on v-power

EvoRSX

Abdabz,
I use Optimax for it's cleaning properties for 1 tank in every 6 or so. Other than that I use BP Ultimate at the moment because I get the same performance but more mpg.

Andy

akshay67

RON Taylor?!

STIdreamer

Ron Taylor of "BP Bitumen" doubt he will have much info to hand on petrol? Ask him one on Polymer Modified Binders and you may get an answer.....but I wouldn't put that in me tank!

Iain Young

Well, I've usually use Optimax in my 02 Uk Sti, but decided to try ultimate for a few weeks. My impressions are...

Performance - no noticable difference to optimax
Cost - More expensive than optimax
Mpg - roughly about 50 miles less per tank than with optimax

I think I'm going back to Optimax from now on, and will only use ultimate in an emergency.

Misha

Guys, anyone knows where can we get 100RON gasoline? What country in Europe? May be Finland? Or just use the octane boosters to Optimax?

Danny B

Silverstone race circuit has 101 Ron fuel @ £1.60 per litre
I had a shock when I came to pay I can tell you.

nom

I've seen (and used) something called 100+ in Belgium (Brussels) before, but can't remember the type of station... and my directions would only be as good as 'the petrol station near to the place that does the really good chips'
One possibly interesting piece of info regarding all this fuel stuff: I fairly frequently drive (my MY00) in France & Belgium. The car runs a Link, so has a 'set' advance (to a point, anyway - it certainly offers a fairly reliable indicator of engine noise & reliable way of recording relative noise levels). I have risked using BP Ultimate yet, but in the UK normally run Optimax (98.6?). In Europe, I run Esso SUL (98). The difference is vast...
Giving some info regarding the engine & noise levels, a value of '75' could be considered light det on my car (scale of 0-255, a cruise will give a noise level of 1-5 for comparison). Optimax will typically produce a maximum consistent noise level of 45; the Esso - maybe 15. I reckon I could reliably put a couple of degrees of advance on if I were in Europe, buying the standard SUL. There is no way that Optimax is more resistent to det than the typical Euro SUL.
Conclusions from this I am unsure about: Probably one is that not too much emphasis can be put directly on the outdated RON measurement system, but more importantly, why the hell don't they just sell the standard European stuff in the UK? Any company that started selling the stuff over here would be onto a winner with 'performance cars', and quite possibly the more concientious (sp?!?) 'normal' drivers. But doubltless the cleaner burning fuel would be charged at a (even more) ridiculous tax rate, which is why [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

I agree with the majority of comments here Ultimate is smother than Optimax but Opimax is better for performance and Price.

Tony

THOMO

i seem to agree t5 .we all agree that they should stop the hype and give us 100 +

Chris L

Can't say I've noticed any major difference between Optimax and Ultimate in terms of performance. What I do know is that the car is smoother using Ultimate and I'm getting better mpg - somewhere between 20 and 40 miles per tank depending on driving conditions. I thought at first it was my imagination, but subsequent fill ups have shown the same thing. I'll use either Ultimate or Optimax. My local garage is BP, so Ultim,ate will probably remain the fuel of choice at the moment.

Chris

EvoRSX

Just to add another comment

Have you asked BP and Shell what the MON value of there respective petrols are?? MON is a much more realistic value than RON of whether your car will det or not.

Andy

Iain Young

That's wierd Chris. I definitely get far less miles to the tank (in similar driving conditions) when using Ultimate in my sti.

TelBoy

Iain, are you *sure* it's a 50 miles per tankful difference?

That's a hell of a lot, just for a different petrol...

[Edited by TelBoy - 12/10/2003 10:11:41 AM]