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The Myth Surrounding High Octane Petrol!

Spunky Munky
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pixel8r Mentor

pixel8r

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Posted (edited)

So considering that my nicely tuned RB25NEO will ping on anything less than 98 octane, which one do you think I should use?

Seriously though, I'll bet the second two cars in that video aren't actually supposed to run less than 96 octane fuel (manufacturer specs) so the findings weren't surprising there either.

Skylines are designed to run over 100RON fuel (available in japan)...so running 91 octane fuel (regular unleaded) in your skyline is not a very good idea in my opinion. The extra few $$ not only gives you more power and better economy (not necessarily the case with cars not intended for premium fuel), its also very cheap insurance for your engine :P

As for the difference between optimax and ultimate, I'd say that varies between cars and even if the cars are the same model and everything. :)

For what its worth I use BP ultimate...but the main thing is that you choose one and stick with it because you'll only get the best from it if you continue to use the same fuel and not mix it with others.

Edited by pixel8r
jake33 Experienced

jake33

Posted
Posted
So considering that my nicely tuned RB25NEO will ping on anything less than 98 octane, which one do you think I should use?

Seriously though, I'll bet the second two cars in that video aren't actually supposed to run less than 96 octane fuel (manufacturer specs) so the findings weren't surprising there either.

Skylines are designed to run over 100RON fuel (available in japan)...so running 91 octane fuel (regular unleaded) in your skyline is not a very good idea in my opinion. The extra few $$ not only gives you more power and better economy (not necessarily the case with cars not intended for premium fuel), its also very cheap insurance for your engine :wave:

snap! couldn't agree more

these topics have been done to death too :worship:

pixel8r Mentor

pixel8r

Posted
Posted
I remember someone saying that Japan's RON rating system is different to Australia's. Their 100ron is equivalent to our 98ron. Can someone confirm?

I always thought that japan's fuel was more like 106RON. All the same, I think america's fuel uses a different RON rating - not sure about japan though.

I just know the higher the octane rating the better. They run great on 98RON and 100RON here in australia so not much to worry about. :)

Just thought I'd also mention - the reason for the low difference in the cars in the video is that those cars were all built for export markets - in this case, the UK. This means that the cars are designed to run on the fuels that are available in that country, and tuned for the same.

The difference with skylines etc is that they were not intended for any market outside of japan and so they are only designed for japanese premium fuel. A skyline would've seen even more difference between the fuels than the 3 cars in the video...

As a side note, I believe the UK did actually import skylines at one stage, but i'm not sure if these were modified in any way to suit UK emissions laws etc.

toffy Veteran

toffy

Posted
Posted

lmao call a current affair :P .... seriusly, there are soooo many variables to consider it is impossible to run a test like that. oh and its not just RON that makes fuel better it oxygen content etc.. i use ethanol based (e10 i think , 98ron with a high oxygen content) in my 33 because its my daily and i cbf getting it tuned (the higher oxy content leans the fuel mixture out a little, even though the ecu would offset this somehow ).

Kinks Grand Master

Kinks

Posted
Posted
I remember someone saying that Japan's RON rating system is different to Australia's. Their 100ron is equivalent to our 98ron. Can someone confirm?

rubbish. my car (stock) pings on 98 RON, on 100 RON it is beautiful. jap fuel is definitely 100 RON or better.

some_cs_student Veteran

some_cs_student

Posted
Posted

Well if Wikipedia is right, which is not all the time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

Japan and Aus are probably using the same ratings for Fuel, Japan just gets better fuel :)

pixel8r Mentor

pixel8r

Posted
Posted

So the "myth" (as this thread suggests) is not a myth after all.

Keep using 98 octane or higher fuels people. :)

Dont use 91 octane regular unleaded just because some guy in the uk with a renault clio said it makes no difference.

The manufacturer recommends 98-100RON (or higher, whatever they have in japan) so go with that.

Nothing new here...move along.

NISZILA Grand Master

NISZILA

Posted
Posted

I agree to stick with the 98 RON. The reason why we here in Australia can get away with 98 instead of 100 RON, is due to our altitude. Pretty much all of Aus is pretty close to sea level cause its such a flat country. Japan is generally a lot higher. At higher altitudes, you need a slightly higher RON (ie 100 RON) to make up for the thinner air and therefore less oxygen content. I wouldn't go less than 98 as lower may ping in Australia, but I reckon in the high mountains in Japan, 98 would still ping.

sleek3 Proficient

sleek3

Posted
Posted (edited)
I always thought that japan's fuel was more like 106RON. All the same, I think america's fuel uses a different RON rating - not sure about japan though.

I just know the higher the octane rating the better. They run great on 98RON and 100RON here in australia so not much to worry about. :(

Just thought I'd also mention - the reason for the low difference in the cars in the video is that those cars were all built for export markets - in this case, the UK. This means that the cars are designed to run on the fuels that are available in that country, and tuned for the same.

The difference with skylines etc is that they were not intended for any market outside of japan and so they are only designed for japanese premium fuel. A skyline would've seen even more difference between the fuels than the 3 cars in the video...

As a side note, I believe the UK did actually import skylines at one stage, but i'm not sure if these were modified in any way to suit UK emissions laws etc.

where do you get 100ron fuel from?????? and i use shell V power 98ron since there is a shell near my place.

Edited by slverbullet
pixel8r Mentor

pixel8r

Posted
Posted
where do you get 100ron fuel from?????? and i use shell V power 98ron since there is a shell near my place.

shell vpower racing (previously called optimax extreme or something). It contains 5% ethanol as far as I know.

not to be confused with the normal shell vpower which is 98RON and contains no ethanol.

r32line Mentor

r32line

Posted
Posted
What a joke. To say regular unleaded at ~91 Octane is equivalent to 98 Octane fuel is that full of it it's not even funny. BP ultimate for me thanks!

Cheers,

That clip was from Fifth Gear in the UK, where regular is 95RON.... In Australia regular petrol is an even lower 91RON, so the difference between Regular (91) and High Octane (98) would be more pronounced in Australia. But also, as mentioned in this thread most skylines would ping terribly on 91 let alone 95...

Spunky Munky Grand Master

Spunky Munky

Posted
  • Author
Posted

On a practical sense fellas... I can actually feel the difference - I personally like Shell's V-Power... runs heaps better as opposed to something like 91 Octane petrol... so I guess it's worth the extra buck.

Here's what the Pom's think of Shell's so-called "super fuel" V-Power...

http://www.japmobiles.com/news/news_detail.asp?id=245

HackerX Community Regular

HackerX

Posted
Posted

91RON and 98RON, with the timing set to handle the 91RON? Of course you're not going to get that much effect (though there will be some, 98 still burns better, the timing just isn't set up to take advantage of it).

But with 98RON you can put more timing in (either manually, more commonly automatically by the ECU these days) and get a whole lot more economy/power out of it. The opposite being the reason why 91RON pings, because the timing is too far advanced and is causing preignition.

I see 95RON becoming a thing of the past here in australia, with a lot of euro/jap cars coming over requiring 98RON.

adam-__- Grand Master

adam-__-

Posted
Posted
I see 95RON becoming a thing of the past here in australia, with a lot of euro/jap cars coming over requiring 98RON.

Most Euro and Jap cars are built for 98RON fuel or more, but most owners don't realise this and still fill up with 91RON. I guess if they don't thrash the car everywhere then it should be alright for now.

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