Safe for Higher Octane ??

[UR2SLOW1]

So I love my 135i with the Dinan tune but I'm wondering if Legit Octane boosters or Race Gase (104 octane) is safe for the motor and plugs? I know another member had some fouled plug issues and he was told it was caused by octane booster. Anyone have any thoughts ??

[larryn]

"Octane booster" 10oz plastic jugs and addinga few gallons of race fuel are two very different things. The little 10oz jugs are known to foul plugs. The race gas is being run by a lot of N54 people at e90post with no ill effect that I've ever read.

[EspressoBoy]

I actually found that Sunoco 94 was not as good as Shell V Power 91. Each company uses slightly different mix, so you might find some works better than others. I would like to try 104 octane just to see though.

EspressoBoy

[audi2bmw1]

ya dont you guys remember when Sunoco got into a lot of trouble for saying that there gas was the best and it had all this great stuff in it....http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/...11/story4.html
read this link funny stuff.....wonder if shell v-power is the same?

[EspressoBoy]

I just know that after trying Shell, the car was more perky and I have been using it ever since. I might try Sunoco and a few others, but it would be nice if some more ppl would chime in, and share any difference.

Does anyone have any simple tests to try? Then in our spare time we can all post with our results. I know it would be very hard as everyone drives differently, but still, be nice to see if a lot of ppl tried it and posted.

EspressoBoy

PS
Thanks for the post of the article. I actually find 94 Sunco was worse, not even the same!

[JohnL135I]

Any unleaded race gas is great for the car. Any Octane booster with MMT is BAD, very BAD. It will foul your plugs and possibly leave deposits in the motor.

[EspressoBoy]

Originally Posted by JohnL135I

Any unleaded race gas is great for the car. Any Octane booster with MMT is BAD, very BAD. It will foul your plugs and possibly leave deposits in the motor.

Yup I remember this one!!!!

foul plugs...bad
hi-octane....good

napster...bad

Had to post that...I know it's silly...

EspressoBoy

[N54tt]

i've used nothing but sunoco in my car and never had a problem.. i wish there was a place around me that sold sunoco race gas because i'd live on it!!!!

[JohnnyTT]

Originally Posted by EspressoBoy

I just know that after trying Shell, the car was more perky and I have been using it ever since. I might try Sunoco and a few others, but it would be nice if some more ppl would chime in, and share any difference.

Does anyone have any simple tests to try? Then in our spare time we can all post with our results. I know it would be very hard as everyone drives differently, but still, be nice to see if a lot of ppl tried it and posted.

EspressoBoy

PS
Thanks for the post of the article. I actually find 94 Sunco was worse, not even the same!

I have only been putting Sunoco in my car. It's right near me, and it's all US oil.

But in response to what you're saying, I'm going to stop by shell tonight and fill up on it. Let's see what happens!!

[Johnnyr135]

DO NOT PUT IN ANY OCTANE BOOST, I went through a 4 month nightmare with DINAN. Not there fault because I put int octane boost and it fouled out the plugs. The spart plugs in the 1 are a colder plug and with the extra fuel that the DINAN tune uses the colder plugs cannot burn off the octane boost. I did not believe them and I tried it again and before the gas tank was empty I needed new plugs again

[BOSCH 135i]

Only run fuel at the octane level it is tuned for. running 104 will only benifit you if the car is tuned for it. octane additives are not recomeneded aside from lightening your wallet. You might as well puchase one of those vortex spinny things.....
Typically you will see decreased fuel milage as the car is unable to properly burn off the mixture in the cylinder, even under open loop mode. Also recogize that certain fuel sellers add different levels of Ethenol. the higher the level, the higher the oxygen content the o2 sensor see's which creates a circular issue in the ECM which adds more fuel to combat the higher oxygen levels and so on and so forth..... Most PCMs these days are now just starting to adapt to this phenomenom.
my 07 supercharged SS cobalt does not benifit in any way from using 94 octane fuel over 91 beacuse it is tuned for 91. i acutally get poorer milage per tank

please ignore my out of date knowledge if everyone knows this... as I used to be an NGK rep.. and sometimes dig out old data from the noggin...

[cam2801]

Originally Posted by EspressoBoy

I actually found that Sunoco 94 was not as good as Shell V Power 91. Each company uses slightly different mix, so you might find some works better than others. I would like to try 104 octane just to see though.

EspressoBoy

Just goes to show how different fuel is around the world. You mention V Power at 91 RON in our neck of the woods Shell sells 4 unleaded fuels

Unleaded @ 91 RON
Premium @ 95 RON
V Power @ 98 RON
E10 a 10% ethanol blend @ 94 RON

[moff]

Originally Posted by cam2801

Just goes to show how different fuel is around the world. You mention V Power at 91 RON in our neck of the woods Shell sells 4 unleaded fuels

Unleaded @ 91 RON
Premium @ 95 RON
V Power @ 98 RON
E10 a 10% ethanol blend @ 94 RON

... and in the UK it's:

Unleaded @ 95 RON
V Power @ 99 RON

We also have one company that offers 100 RON, but there is not really any point going beyond 98 RON as the stock ECU is only programmed for either 95 or 98 RON.

I think the differences in country could be due to the different ways that RON is measured.

[cam2801]

Originally Posted by moff

... and in the UK it's:

Unleaded @ 95 RON
V Power @ 99 RON

We also have one company that offers 100 RON, but there is not really any point going beyond 98 RON as the stock ECU is only programmed for either 95 or 98 RON.

I think the differences in country could be due to the different ways that RON is measured.

RON is just one of a few standard measures of octane. In Europe and here in Oz it is what is commonly used as the octane measure. In US and Canada they tend to use the average of RON and MON (yet another way of measuring octane) as the common octane measure.

We used to have 100 RON but it was pulled from the retail market as it was too niche.

[cam2801]

Oh forgot to mention that I used to use the 100 RON fuel on the odd occasion on our 130i Five Door. No problems but no noticeable gain over the 98 which did make a difference over the 95

[EspressoBoy]

Johnnyr, ah yes... as per my silly post...
foul plugs...bad
napster...bad

Dinan...goood!!!!!

How is your car running these days? So you do have Dinan now right? Just curious, what would you rate each mod you have? Do you get a lot of stuff going into your catch can? I know this is not the thread for that, maybe PM me then?

As far as Shell V Power 91 Octane / 99 RON (is it the same as 91 Octane??)

JohnnyTT, let me know what you think? I actually found Sunoco not as good, but to be fair. Next empty tank, I will try it 1 more time. Maybe stagger it? I guess the only way to "test" the power is to do some 0-100 km and also measure how many km's I get per tank. But if I did that on the same tank of gas, I am sure I would get less km's. I would also have to find a safe place to do the 0-100 offroad. Hmmm too much work and the snow is around the corner, but it still would be interesting to see. If Shell is better, I wonder if they will pay me for the indorcment? (kidding)

EspressoBoy

Yup the GOLDEN RULE IS THIS!!!!

NEVER DO ANYTHING TO YOUR CAR BEFORE YOU SEARCH 1ADDICTS.COM FOR THE ANSWER. And if the search brings back comments from ppl who obviously are just as lost... don't do it. Better to be safe than sorry.

In the land of the blind the "1-eye-man" rules!!!! LOL too funny make a great nick!!! Hay maybe I will use that next time! 1-eye-man, too funny! I will rent it at 10 cents per post, if anyone is interested, all funds paid to my off-shore-account, "000001" Cayman Islands, bank is called 1AC (1addicts.com) I have the first account... hmmm time for more espresso...

EspressoBoy

[cam2801]

EspressoBoy - yep. 91 Octane the US equals the 98/99 RON fuel sold in Europe and much of the rest of the world. You would would think we would use a common measure for Octane but we don't.

[Tom K.]

Actually, with the U.S. pump octane being an average of MON and RON, adding 5 yields a closer approximation of RON. So the Euro 98 RON is about 93 U.S. (R+M)/2.

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

Tom

[cam2801]

Originally Posted by Tom K.

Actually, with the U.S. pump octane being an average of MON and RON, adding 5 yields a closer approximation of RON. So the Euro 98 RON is about 93 U.S. (R+M)/2.

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

Tom

I stand corrected

Note to self: check wikipedia BEFORE typing

[EspressoBoy]

Originally Posted by cam2801

I stand corrected

Note to self: check wikipedia BEFORE typing

LOL you are starting to sound like some of my posts...

I usually do a url to wikipedia or other sites, just to prove my point. Sometimes I am wrong and find out when I go to hyperlink it.

To think not too long ago the TV didn't even have a remote, hmmm I actually had to get up to turn the channel. Too bad they don't have a TV remote you could vote on eh? LOL Now you have to work on that whacky humour...

EspressoBoy

[crzy4135i]

Originally Posted by cam2801

Oh forgot to mention that I used to use the 100 RON fuel on the odd occasion on our 130i Five Door. No problems but no noticeable gain over the 98 which did make a difference over the 95

That's what I would expect to see. The engine computer software would adapt to take advantage of slightly better gas but I doubt it has enough flexibility programmed in to take advantage of a full tank of race gas. I only run 93 octane Shell gas (US octane rating).

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by cam2801

I stand corrected

Note to self: check wikipedia BEFORE typing

No problem. What's a few octane points among friends? And you are certainly right about the confusion that has always resulted from differing octane measures.

It's sort of like U.S. horsepower ratings prior to 1972. We used "Gross HP" which ignored losses due to accessories such as generator, A/C, power brakes & steering, etc., and was about 25~35% higher than the "Net HP" that is currently used here - but the Germans used DIN HP which was only about 5% different from US "Net", IIRC. And then there were the old "Brake HP" ratings as in the Citroen Deux Cheveux, which had more than 2 HP - but not much!

Tom K.