Inviroman

iTrader: (2)

Did anyone see this week's fifth gear report on high octane fuel?
Seems there was not much in it with golf GTI (new shape turbo) gaining only 5 bhp on shell v power.
And a not noticeable bhp loss on Asda fuel
Infesting ??

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

Never take much notice of these 5 minute additions to the programme.
The car was rigged to external fuel supplies to obviate any cross contamination of fuels, which is fair, however, was the ECU re-set after each test then allowed to re-learn under varying loads and speeds?
We all know that to take advantage of a particular fuel, a bespoke re-map should provide noticable benefits but this was not the point of the test which again, is fair enough.
5th Gear did a very similar test a few years back using, IIRC, 3 cars one of which was an Impreza.

JohnD

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

sod the BHP get a laptop and run some ****e(95) fuel thru a scoob and watch the knock increase, then do the same test with 99/V power etc, I can tell you for a fact there is less Det and thats important enough for me to pay a little extra for the 99/V power.

djwa

Yeah i watched that was quite interesting as it goes not many shell petrol stations im my area tho

^OPM^

when is fifth gear even on-aint seen it on telly for ages now?

MattyB1983

iTrader: (51)

It's on the discovery channel.

F1 CJE UK

iTrader: (8)

It's a much better show but I agree it not a perfect test.

Just never use BP!

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

there have been four episodes in the latest series of fifth gear

SRSport

Much better than what?

every1sgottablue1

No Tesco 99???

Dan-

Çant believe they didn't test tesco 99! In my area it's cheating than texaco 95

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

I've used T99 since it came out, don't bother with Shell Optimax as it's so expensive.

Evo Mag did a fuel test years ago with the main finding being that having fresh fuel in your tank made a bigger difference than the octane rating ie use a busy petrol station rather than a small one that may have old fuel ...

TX.

IggyRB320

iTrader: (9)

In the test, didn't they say V-Power was was 98ron as well...?

jazzyjembreaze

iTrader: (11)

As stig pointed out / it isn't about the BHP
So who cares

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

I think the test was aimed at showing people that the xtra RON had little effect on horsepower as claimed by manufacturers. Thats all.

Liking the Fifth Gear more than Top Gear as far as car shows go.

classicgc8

iTrader: (4)

surely once the ecu is reset the ignition advance multiplier will be back to default and the higher octane fuel wont show much benefit on the rollers straight away.

toneh

iTrader: (1)

That's so correct mate , depending how far you're pushing your map / car ,it's really a must have regardless of power
I think if most folk saw the difference they would be shocked At the effect it has

Tony

a5h

iTrader: (3)

Funnily that's what I thought when I saw it. "just use Asda" you must be having a laugh.... I will pay my extra couple of p per litre.

pslewis

That's right .... it's about the Torque and the quality of the driver.

You can up the BHP to all you like, if a 20 something kiddie is behind the wheel you have lost any possible advantage.

LeeP

iTrader: (7)

It's not about the power - it's about being safe.

If I know I can run more timing / slightly more boost for sustained periods resulting in no det (from octane) then perfect. Likewise, if I know my car is mapped for V-Power 97 and I stick some octane boost in (to 100 octane) I know 100% that the car isn't going to det as easy.

In my Mini I have a second ignition table when running meth as the octane count is so much higher I can push much more timing. The resultant of this is more power. It's not the fuel that gives the power, it's how the ECU reacts to it

legb4rsk

I think lot of it is to do with the power of advertising by the big oil companies.
The other day I was behind a women putting super unleaded in her Nissan Micra.

Whether she didn't care ,\i don't know,but with the price of fuel you would think most people would put in the cheapest they could get away with.

legacy_gtb

iTrader: (3)

If its a standard uk car it will be mapped for 95ron with safety margins, therefore sticking vpower in isnt going to give any more power!

If however its had a remap for 99 (or has a jdm map for jdm fuel) it will have more power, but give it a spanking on a hot day with 95 in it, you'll potentially get alot of det and the loads in the piston/bearings/rods/crank go through the roof and things break!

It seems standard ecu's which react quickly and optimise themselves to the fuel thats there arent as clever and common place as they should be! And theres no excuses for it, saab had theyre APC system which did exactly that since the mid 80's.

siannie

I was similarly disappointed that Tesco 99 wasn't included, having an import.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

They were testing claimed power improvements by the fuel maufacturers , not on wether your car engine will like it or not. Its to prove to the people like stated above in "normal" cars that putting SUL in , isnt going to turn your Nissan Micra into a Skyline ! I know before i had my scoob i put SUL in my 1.4 Focus a few times and convinced myself it was quicker (probably more to do with weight saved by emptying my pockes off cash)

F1 CJE UK

iTrader: (8)

Much better than when it was on channel 5 , no more stupid "win a 2nd hand car for the cost of £1" and a stupidly easy question.

shawn r

iTrader: (3)

was surprised they never used momentum, is plato still sponsored by them in the btcc?