nom

I don't think toluene should leave deposits - everything 'in it' is combustable, rather than something that changes the combustion that is already there like an 'enhancer' (if you get my drift?)

dingy

Theory and facts are sometimes different.

Only going from testing it.

nom

Totally agree with that one but it seems more likely that the deposits would come from somewhere else! Unless the toluene had something else in it as well

WREXY

I have written this a few times before and I'll write it again.

Optimax came to Greece in a different name. They call it V power. People here were saying it is 95 RON fuel with enhancements. It was a little cheaper than super plus just like in the UK and the advertisements were the same too, such as that familiar fish and Ferrari. I used to argue with them that it was 98 RON cos the price diff and the advertisements were the same as the UK. I rang Shell myself and to my surprise they too said that it was 95 RON enhanced fuel and that it was better than super plus.

Now one month ago a new V power was introduced here, by the name of V power racing 99+ fuel. This fuel is almost double the price of Super Unleaded and is rated at 99.4 RON. The advertisement for this fuel shows a golden horse running in golden water with the sound of the Ferrari F1 engine revving in the background. So now we have V power 95 and V power racing 99+

Would it be possible that you guys have our first V power (Optimax) and perhaps you will soon be getting Optimax racing 99+?

Judging by what I'm reading here you probably have the plain Optimax. I could be wrong, but that's what happened here.

Cheers,

Wrexy.

Pete Croney

Blimey Wrexy twice the price!!! We pay around 79p a litre for Optimax and 88p for 97RON. Not sure I could go to £100 a tank/35p a mile

Dingy did you see sooty deposits? High doses of Toluene will serious slow the combustion and would leave coking deposits. A balanced dosing would leave none. Manganese enhancers will leave orange dust over everything, including the lambda sensor, turbo blades and any cats. You can even see it up the tail pipes of cars used on track.

Gez

At the moment im using Optimax and approx 300ml of Nf with every tank. Car is runing ok. Its a bit rough for a bout 1/2 hour and also hesitates abit. Im wondering if its the amount of octane boost that im using. Or maybe its the it the combination of Optimax and Nf. After reading the whole thread im tempted to try Esso SUL + NF as i have only been using Optimax since the car came from Japan. How much NF should i use with every tankful of SUL inorder to bring it up to approx 100RON. And out of interest, is too much NF octane boost bad for the car? Will performance change in any way???

Regards

Gez

CraigH

I'd say 300ml is way too much for road use.

Mine was mapped on 100ml doses.

Is there any reason you're putting so much in?

A bottle for trackdays is fine, but not general running around.

Gez

No real reason im using 300ml/tank. Just want to make sure that the threat of det is minimised.
Generally speaking, would it be ok to try a few tankfulls of Esso SUL after using Optimax since i bought the car, brearing in mind the car was run on 100RON when it was back in Japan.

WREXY

Pete,

That's why I was thinking that you may have the plain Optimax in the UK, cos our plain Optimax is slightly cheaper than SUL, just like Optimax is cheaper than SUL in the UK. It's the new 99.4 RON that is almost twice the price.

Prices here are per litre

NUL 44 pence
SUL 52 pence
Optimax 47 pence
Optimax racing 70 pence

OK, our racing fuel is still cheaper than the plain Optimax is in the UK, however when you compare our other fuel prices, the racing fuel is very expensive for the Greeks. Maybe I exagerated about the price of the racing being double, however it is a big jump from SUL. Remember that the average wage here is 5000 GBP per annum.

The point I'm trying to make is that if your Optimax is cheaper than your SUL and our plain Optimax is cheaper than SUL, then maybe you have the plain Optimax. If you had the racing Optimax, the price, (if you go by Greece), should have been quite a bit more expensive than SUL. This is speculation only.

Cheers,

Wrexy.



[Edited by WREXY - 7/23/2002 12:30:01 PM]

BoxerFlat4

Gez -

I used to run Optimax + NF, and wasn't happy with the results. Gone back to BP SUL + NF, car seems happier, and I'm getter better MPG as well.

Shouldn't do your car any harm to switch over, although an ECU reset might be a good idea. I always do one when I switch over fuel types.



Paul Houbart
Gecko Motorsport
www.TheGecko.biz

Gez

Another thing i forgot to mention, while running Optimax + NF i have been averaging about 12mpg! Total and utterly c**p. Ok i do a bit of in town driving but dont tend to let the turbo cut in. The car is a totally standard STI 6 V-LTD. Wouuld this be anything to do with the Optimax and NF????/

nom

I manage about 22mpg town driving (same town ), so unless your a complete nutter & not averaging 4mph like the rest of us , it doesn't look quite right...

I'd stop using Optimax & booster. Optimax already has some booster-type things in it & there may well be some interesting reactions going on in your engine

dingy

Gez, you are using to much nf for a start, its just a waste of money.

As for the fuel econmeny - does the right foot control that ?

Charlie H

Looks like it's Esso SUL + booster for the next fill then and see what that's like.

Gez

Honestly guys, i wanted to see how economical the car was, so i filled it up and used it to go to work for a week. The full tank was gone after approx 150miles. I did not boot it (turbo did not push more than 0.2bar) on the way to work which is a 20mile round trip. The majority of the trip is carried out on dual carriage way at 50mph and to finish it off with a bit of traffic. After a week i calculated theeconomy to be 12mpg bearing in mind the Sti 6 Type R V-ltd has a 50ltr tank.
I think i will try SUL the next time and maybe with a little less NF.

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

I am confused.
I run Optimax and Millers in a 94WRX to aim to get that 100RON.

Am I and others wasting our money.
The big question is, which others have mentioned ... Is optimax truely 98 ron or 95 ron with a booster? Once we know this our choice of fuel and booster will become a bit easier.

Sorry if it has already been mentioned but does anyone know the true answer to this?

Thanks
Steve

Gez

Steve i have to say that you are asking the $1million question. There was a thread a while ago regarding Optimax. There were mixed reviews, others saying that it was 98.6 ron others saying its modified 95 ron. Go to this link:
http://www2.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=uk-en&FC1=&FC2=&FC4=&FC5=&FC3=/uk-en/html/iwgen/yourcarormotorbike/Optimax/questions_answered_0312_0921.html
Sorry about the length! Even shell says that it is over 98 RON. Can they be telling porkies! What they dont say though is if its modified 95ron! From reading various threads it has made me question whether Shells statement of 98+Ron is really true?

Regards

Gez

nom

Shell do say it's enhanced 95RON. Maybe not in their marketing, but they do on their documentation.
I'd believe the documents over made-up poo any day.

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

Thanks for the info.
I have just e-mailed Shell asking them THE QUESTION.
Lets see what they say. Probably vague corporate PR bull****, but you never know!

Lets see
Cheers
Steve

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

Just seen your post nom.
So therefore,..

We are better off putting 97RON SUL in and topping up with octane booster.

Is NF better than Millers?
As I use Millers at the moment.

Cheers
Steve

dingy

Millers will not take Optimax to 100 RON btw.

Gez

Will NF take ESSO or BP SUL to 100RON??? If so, how can we be sure? Has anyone tested a sample to verify this. Its all well and good for companies to claim that by using their product the RON rating will increase by x amount of ron. Dingy, how do you know that Millers cant take Optimax to 100RON, what has NF got that Millers hasn't?? And for that, how is it that it can raise SUL RON and not Optimax?????
This really confuses me. If it is true that Certain brands cannot raise RON to values they say they can then they should not be trading or at least specify what petrol to use.

Gez

I just received an email from Geoff West who works at NF in Australia. He quoted that they also have something similar to Optimax from Shell also rated above 98RON. He has found that this fuel is very unsatble so doesnt use it even if he mixes it with NF. Instead he uses either 95 or 96Ron with 2ml of NF per litre of fuel. The fuel was then tested with the 95ron fuel raised to 99ROn and 96Ron to just over 100Ron.
Now this is coming straight from the manufacturers.
It is evident that Optimax is not stable so i myself will be using ESSO or BP SUL.

BoxerFlat4

Gez -

I'd have to state this confirms my findings - adding NF to Optimax didn't seem to improve things at all, and the mixture seemed to go "off" after a day or two. Switching back to 97 SUL + NF, and the car felt much happier. Optimax is cheaper than SUL, but I'm getting better MPG out of SUL which cancels that benefit out.

Like many things in life, it isn't black and white when it comes to fuel/boosters. I'm of the school of opinion that if your happy with what your using, then stick with it, despite what others may say. For me, that means SUL + NF.

Paul Houbart
Gecko Motorsport
www.TheGecko.biz

[Edited by BoxerFlat4 - 7/24/2002 10:59:26 AM]

Gez

I now also agree with Boxerflat4, the car feels very nice when first filled with Optimax and only after acouple of days it feels rough again!! Will be trying SUL! Which brand is better Esso or BP??????

[Edited by Gez - 7/24/2002 11:05:19 AM]

BoxerFlat4

Gez -

I use BP, but only because there's one around the corner from where I live. I would imagine most of the big sellers should be fine to try - I would suggest an ECU reset if your changinf fuels, just so you give the ECU a chance to "re-learn" the boost levels.

Steer clear of supermarket fuel, though - they're crap.

Gez

How do you carry out the ECU reset without diconnecting the battery??
PS: having an STI 6, i thought the ECU reset itself after half an hour of driving!

[Edited by Gez - 7/24/2002 11:14:10 AM]

nom

Just going to scoot to different SULs quickly - they should all be the same (should ) but one - the TotalFinaElf SUL - is meant to have a higher calorific value that the others. Which could be interesting to try. Does anyone have one of these guys stations near them?

Gez

Heres something interesting, just been notified by an EVO owner that a new BP opened up near me in North London a few days ago and the SUL pump has a 98RON certificate on it! Is it a mistake or could it be?

nom

Well, here's hoping...
Whereabouts? North London is quite big
It's seriously easy to tell the difference between 97 & 98 RON from my experience. Not like the 'not sure' difference between 97 & Optiwhoknows.