Petrol For a Tuned Ls1 motor?

[ssxtrm]

Whats the best fuel i can be using for my tuned LS1???

Mobil Synergy 8000
BP Ultimate 98 RON
Shell V-Power Racing


Try My POLL (http://snappoll.com/poll/187856.php)

[BLACKWAGON]

Been told BP ultimate by a heap of mechanics, but I wouldnt have a clue, I use ultimate anyway.

[Oztrack Tuning]

A leaked test result a couple of years ago indicated

Ethanol Fuels were good.

Then
1. Vortex 98
2. Mobil
3. BP

then last was
4. Shell Optimimax.

I tend to use mostly Caltex Vortex 98 and Mobil. But would use BP without a concern and would avoid Shell V-power until i try it out with the laptop monitoring knock retard carefully.

I might try V-Power racing in coming months to see if it might be better than the 98 fuels. If it does work 2 octane numbers better then that would be a good thing.


As a Tuner i can emphasize that 98 is worth using. There is a significant difference in the ideal tune for a car that runs 95 than 98. To tune a car to run safely on 91 is so extreme that you may as well get another car with another engine. Never use 91 in your LS1s - it shows frequent pinging even in stock tuned cars.

[BLACKWAGON]

A guy from bp servo told me that shell optimax eats away at the top edges of ur pistons so never use it?
A mechanic from bp servo told me that mobil 98 is the best.
Mechanics from mercedes told friend to run her v8 merc on shell optimax bcs its best.
No wonder we get confused.

During my cam install the guys asked me why I wasnt running 98, I was, just filled up at bp pretty new servo that I always use, aparently it was looking like 95.....maybe a bad batch?

[ls1350]

Synergy 8000

I found the best, it is supplied by mobil at Melbourne to all Mobil and Quix stores around the country.

I've used Vortex and Ultimate and they are good but being a Holden man
Mobil has put us over the line 1st more than then the others.

But Im one eyed

[macca33]

I'm using BP98 currently, but I was of the belief that (in Vic at least) the BP98 and Mobil Synergy 8000 were the same brew. Can anyone clarify this?

As for the BP98, it works well for me and the last time I used Mobil 8000 it too worked well. Shell V-Power - never tried it.

Cheers,

Macca

[VZGEN4]

I'll probably get flamed for this but the fuels we buy here in victoria are essentially made in the same refineries which are Mobil and Shell.

I have worked at the Shell refinery in Geelong and have seen various trucks including BP and Caltex trucks come in to fill up.

I also have a mate that worked at the yarraville transfer station and he said that the base fuel is all the same but they just added different detergents to the branded fuels. :teach:


A bit of useless information for you!

[ls1350]

Mobil Synergy 8000 is only made by mobil no one else an is only made in melbourne.

can not speack for the rest but if they are all the same that each company would make thier own 98 and mite share the making of the lower grades

But would not touch shell with a pike pole because of the problems I had when I used optimax twice.

Synergy 8000 is 98+

[bungrs]

I use United Boost 98. It is a 10% ethnol blend. Have used it for over 18 months and am nothing but happy with it. Use it in both cars we have (both LS1's)

[Boom]

I always try to use 98. Preferably Caltex. Have used Mobil from time to time. Where I live up until recently, 98 wasnt available locally so used 95. As far as Optimax goes, I have heard from numerous sources to avoid it. This was from bike mechanics. Harley guys made a point of saying optimax was a big no. Mate with a BMW was also told same thing.

So on the basis of that I have not used it and wont be in the foreseeable future.

[Bomi]

I'll probably get flamed for this but the fuels we buy here in victoria are essentially made in the same refineries which are Mobil and Shell.

I have worked at the Shell refinery in Geelong and have seen various trucks including BP and Caltex trucks come in to fill up.

I also have a mate that worked at the yarraville transfer station and he said that the base fuel is all the same but they just added different detergents to the branded fuels. :teach:


A bit of useless information for you!

No flaming here mate.

Its true, I have a mate who drives trucks and he has seen the same thing.

I use V POWER and ATM I think its really good, good fuel econ and power.


Troy :)

[birdman]

We have extensively dynod many superbikes on the 4 main brands. Optimax is a troublesome fuel. Most bike riders now that if you dont ride for a while and try and start your bike you will definately have trouble starting it. The fuel goes off in a very short period of time. My blown GT never ran well on it it pinged its guts out. I generally use Mobile 8000, but more recently the BP Ultimate. You will pay a bit more for BP but out tuning has shown consistantly the best results on it. My VE feels a lot stronger on ultimate.

[clubbie]

My car was tuned for 98. It had a fresh tank of BP98 at the time. In SA V-Power pinged in my car. Mobil has pinged once (assume bad batch - not from my local servo) and BP I have never had a problem with even when buying the stuff in the country.

BTW we don't get Caltex 98 in SA so can not comment.

Have used SAFF 98 (ethanol mix) and no pinging but consumption was worse to by about 25+ km's each tank. Although this is more than offset by the fact it is usually 5-8c/l cheaper than BP98.

Clubbie

[RedVYIISS]

I've used Shell, BP and Mobil. The only bad batch of fuel I've ever had was from Shell.

[myss427]

I have tried them all, and the only one that I don't have to retard my timing on my big block torana is the VMax Racing. I can't tell any difference in my Monaro with all the other fuels.

[Alister]

Been using Boost 98 for a few tanks and I think it's pretty good for the price. Economy is slighly worse but that's expected when you use ethanol fuels.

I normally use for Shell V Power 98RON. No complaints :) (tuned for 95RON MAF edit)
Didn't have any complaints with it when it was Optimax either.

All premium fuels "go off" a lot quicker than normal ULP. It's best not to leave it sitting in the tank for a few weeks at a time.

[SS Enforcer]

This subject gets done quite a bit but here is my take on it. I drive Petrol Tankers in Sydney so I know a bit about what it is and where it comes from.

The ULP fuels get shared amongst ALL the big 4 and a lot of the no name joints use the big 4 fuel as well. Mobil doesn't have a terminal anymore in Sydney as Botany is now closed and the Silverwater terminal gets it's fuel from Shell and caltex. The 95 ron fuels are ALL shared amongst themselves and only the additives are changed whilst the trucks are being loaded.

The 98 fuels are supposed to be brand specific but this wasn't allways the case. For a while there Mobil and BP shared the 98 out of Botany . As the terminal is now closed I am not sure how BP get their 98 as they don't have ANY storage in Sydney for it. It could just all be trucked in from Brisbane but I am not sure. The other BP fuels in Sydney are supplied by Shell, Mobil is Caltex and Shell fuel, Woolworths is Caltex and Shell fuel, United is Caltex and shell Fuel. Shell, Mobil and BP also pull fuel out of Vopac at Pt Botany which is tankered in from overseas .

I have used the V-power racing and I can tell the difference after a cpl of tanks but I use more so I stick to Vortex 98. Caltex uses Lubrizole in it's performance fuels to clean up the motor and I am led to believe that it is a very good product.

I believe the problem with Optimax or V-Power is the additive can seperate the bike guys have had serious problems with fuel systems as a result of this.

As for the best Fuel .... It could just depend on a particular batch, about 4 years ago I know there was batch of optimax that was 102 ron !!!

I think the best Fuel comes from any of busy big 4 sites, that way the fuel is turned over quickly and there is less chance of picking up the dregs from the bottom of the storage tank .

cheers


Been using Boost 98 for a few tanks and I think it's pretty good for the price. Economy is slighly worse but that's expected when you use ethanol fuels.

I normally use for Shell V Power 98RON. No complaints :) (tuned for 95RON MAF edit)
Didn't have any complaints with it when it was Optimax either.

All premium fuels "go off" a lot quicker than normal ULP. It's best not to leave it sitting in the tank for a few weeks at a time.

I am not sure about the ethanol fuels atm as they seem to attract a lot of water, I have seen and spoken to testers and they say there is allways water in 'suspension' in the tanks. They won't use it in their cars. They also say the ethanol fuel is great for cleaning out the old tanks, piplines and pumps.

cheers

[macca33]

There isn't a 'THANKS' button in this section, but thanks indeed for the info mate...:thumbsup:

Cheers,

Macca

[Mega76]

Yeah cheers for the info. I use Shell Vpower racing (100 octane) all the time. If they run out then I take punt on the other 3(Mobil, Caltex, BP). Never Optimax.

[exploder]

I use Vortex 98 because my wife gives me dockets..... :hide:

[LTH-00L]

Look, all the high ocatane fuels would be quite similar....

Try them all and use the one which gives you the best economy!

I also stick to Vortex 98 for this reason.. Why didn't you include it in your poll?

[swingtan]

Hi People.

As I have a fleet card, I only use Shell fuel, so while I can't compare different brands, I can can talk about the long term usage of a single brand. I've used Shell fuels exclusively in 2 cars since early 2001 ( VX SS ) through to now ( VZ SS ). During that time I noted every fuel purchase documenting fuel type, fill amount, price and odometer reading. Some may think I'm a tad ROTS "Retentive Of The Sphincter" but it's all written on the docket and I just enter it into a spreadsheet. Here's some points about Shell fuel.


On std. ULP ( 95 ) the VX would regularly ping and carry on. It was crap and I wouldn't want to use it in anything more performance orientated than a lawn mower.
Optimax ( V-Power ) was a marked improvement. It never pinged and ran much better. For this reason alone I had the fleet card altered to allow "premium fuel" to be purchased.
In my experience ( on the VX ) Optimax made no difference to either the power output or the fuel economy or the car in general, but there were exceptions.
The longer term records showed that the "quality" of the fuel may have changed with world events. For example, when there were "issues" in the Gulf, not only did the price of petrol rise, but the average fuel economy of my car dropped. If it wasn't for things like this, I think using Optimax may have seen better economy.
The "price per KM" average got no better with Optimax, in fact it got worse. However, as the car ran smother and didn't ping, I was happy to use it ( and the fact that I'm on a fixed fuel cost )
In the VZ I've only used V-Power or V-Power racing.
I ran V-Power for the first 6 months, then started using Racing after that. Mainly because that's about when it became available in my area.
Indications are that there is some improvement in economy running Racing over straight V-Power.
Indications are that there is a definite power increase when running Racing over straight V-Power ( tested via the "seat-of-the-pants-o-meter" )
The change in the cars behaviour, took a few tanks to show it's self. Maybe up to 4 or 5 full tanks of racing.
Looking at the price per KM figures indicates that running Racing is no more expensive than running straight V-Power once the engine has recognised the better fuel.


If anyone really cares I'll post the graphs.

Simon.

[SS Enforcer]

Look, all the high ocatane fuels would be quite similar....

Try them all and use the one which gives you the best economy!

I also stick to Vortex 98 for this reason.. Why didn't you include it in your poll?

Seems strange he left out the best fuel the other v-power racing would be my 2nd pick

cheers

[crtx]

i wouldn't dare put shell in again! shit econmy made my car ping.

Mobile is good but it burns too quick and is more expensive.

BP Ultimate spot on :) my tuner tells me to use was using it before burns good, good power and is priced reasonable.

[SS Enforcer]

Hi People.

Indications are that there is a definite power increase when running Racing over straight V-Power ( tested via the "seat-of-the-pants-o-meter" )
The change in the cars behaviour, took a few tanks to show it's self. Maybe up to 4 or 5 full tanks of racing.
Looking at the price per KM figures indicates that running Racing is no more expensive than running straight V-Power once the engine has recognised the better fuel.
Simon.

WoW good post Simon I think we have the same seat of the pants meter because mine said the same as yours. But I noticed mine after 2 tanks. Mine used more fuel but thats probably due to my research methods. :driving:

Thanks for the info. BTW Std ULP is 91 ron

cheers

[swingtan]

Ahh, yes, good point. I was reading the sticker on the pump last night ( the one that's still trying to explain the name changes for Shell fuels ) and it started with 95, so i did to......

The performance gain may have come in earlier, but I really noticed it at the 4 to 5 tank mark. I may have had a bit of gunk in there that the ethanol was taking out in the first couple of tanks as well. For those thinking of trying V-Power Racing, it may be worth you mixing a splash of metho in a couple of tanks of your current fuel to clear out any water in the petrol tank. The metho will mix with the water and help clear it out of the system. If you do have a bit of water in there and go straight to Racing, the ethanol in the fuel will do the same thing, basically mixing water with your expensive fuel......

[saaz]

I have just used Caltex fuels over the last year in a WL 5.7. I also keep records of lt/100km and cost/100km to keep track for lease purposes (mainly so I do enough distance).

95 RON does not seem to really make much difference, may be smoother but as I know it is in there not a real test. Economy is at best a touch less than 91 RON. Even E10 runs ok and close to normal 91. I have not tried 98 as the WL is supposedly tuned for max power and maybe economy on 95. No pinging on 91 even with full throttle use. So I suspect the fly by wire tuning is on the conservative side, or else is more sophisticated than previous versions. Car only has 40,000kms on it.

Lt/100km is 11.4 for last FBT year, over 25,0001 distance (ain't tax subsidies great!)

[gasguz]

Yeah cheers for the info. I use Shell Vpower racing (100 octane) all the time. If they run out then I take punt on the other 3(Mobil, Caltex, BP). Never Optimax.

Vpower racing is still an Optimax fuel, it just has 100 compared to 98 ron for the Vpower (the old optimax) They only changed the names from Optimax & Optimax+ to Vpower & Vpower racing

Also to ls1350 V8 Supercars have (supposedly) been using Optimax for years, not a mobil fuel, I know they are using it again this year (just called vpower racing 100 ron)

I use Vpower (the old optimax) in both my R8 & SS with no problems

cheers

[RedVYIISS]

When comparing your fuels you should also look at what City you're in. Most have 2 refineries and nearly all the fuel for that City comes out of one or the other refinery, though I believe there's more 'shipping around' of 98 RON fuels.

[SS Enforcer]

Vpower racing is still an Optimax fuel, it just has 100 compared to 98 ron for the Vpower (the old optimax) They only changed the names from Optimax & Optimax+ to Vpower & Vpower racing

Also to ls1350 V8 Supercars have (supposedly) been using Optimax for years, not a mobil fuel, I know they are using it again this year (just called vpower racing 100 ron)

I use Vpower (the old optimax) in both my R8 & SS with no problems

cheers

The v-power racing is actually v-power with 5% ethanol added to get the ron up to 100.

cheers


SNIP

I have not tried 98 as the WL is supposedly tuned for max power and maybe economy on 95. No pinging on 91 even with full throttle use. So I suspect the fly by wire tuning is on the conservative side, or else is more sophisticated than previous versions. Car only has 40,000kms on it.



If your car has a std pcm tune it will run better and harder on 98 ron fuel. The LS1 has a upper timing table that will take advantage of the better fuel. They run 2 timing tables, so if you give it the good stuff it will adjust itself automatically to the new fuel.

cheers

There probably isn't much difference between the Big 4 fuels for cars sometimes a servo may have some water in their holding tanks or it's even possible for product to be mixed and not up to spec, this however is very rare.

cheers

[ls1seduction]

id say go the bp ultimate bud......

[TAKEITEZ]

Some may think I'm a tad ROTS "Retentive Of The Sphincter" but it's all written on the docket and I just enter it into a spreadsheet.

mate i do exactly the same thing!!!
i have documentation for the fuel used on my old datto 1200 over 12 months...
my old VS ute over about 7 months...
and have just started logging all the VY's usage and stuff...

i calculate out fuel consump, L/100 and $/100...


usually switch between bp ultimate and vortex 98 depending on what is easiest to get at the time or how desperate i am for fuel...

i have no idea's on whats better or worse as tassie had bp98 months and months before anybody else...
but using 91, then 95, then 98 in the little datto 1200 allowed me to advance the base timing an extra 4 degree's, and i didn't have to drop it in summer on the 98... it also returned on 98 economy figures so much better that even with the cost of the fuel being so much higher over 95 and 91 it was still cheaper in the $/100kms...

so yeah...
your not crazy anyway. i would be willing to bet there are a few more people out there who do this kind of logging with their cars.

[Alister]

I am not sure about the ethanol fuels atm as they seem to attract a lot of water, I have seen and spoken to testers and they say there is allways water in 'suspension' in the tanks. They won't use it in their cars. They also say the ethanol fuel is great for cleaning out the old tanks, piplines and pumps.


Ethanol fuels are very sensitive to water (absolutely kills the RON rating as it bonds with the water). I'm not sure if there's any truth in what you say about there being water in suspension in the tanks. At Coles Express, V Power Racing 100RON is tested for water daily and it always seems to be negative. Special paste which changes colour if there is water on the tanks is put on the dipstick and dipped in the tank (which goes right to the bottom). So if there's water in there, the paste will definatly pick it up.

Swingtan: Unless your car is tuned for 100RON, i'm surprised you saw an improvement in economy when using V Power Racing over V Power. Typically, using E5 fuels results in a 1.5% decrease in fuel economy. Of course it varies from car to car. I'm surprised your VX SS was pinging on Shell 95, was it tuned for 95 or 91RON? Used Shell 95 in my VX Calais LS1 (PT maf edit for 95RON) for over 6 months and never experienced any pinging.

Gasguz: You're wrong champ. V Power/Racing is not just a name change of Optimax/Extreme. The V Powers contain FMT (friction modification technology) and the additives have been changed.

[v-comp]

I just drove to Sydney (from Brisbane), for a five day trip.
WK Stato', mafless, OTR, 3:73's and all the extra weight of two females luggage:p .
On V-power------
Averaged 10.1 ltrs/100 for the whole trip.:thumbsup:

[gasguz]

The v-power racing is actually v-power with 5% ethanol added to get the ron up to 100.

cheers


Yeah Optimax with 5% ethanol, just now called Vpower racing with some new additives

Vpower is Optimax with a new name & some FMT thrown in.

Allister - more or less the same with a couple of new features, check the Shell website out or google it, the info is there, the additives may have changed but the base is still Optimax just with a twist

New Shell V-Power is a high density, high performance 98 octane fuel, developed by the same scientists who develop Ferrari’s racing fuels.

New Shell V-Power with Friction Modification Technology (FMT) is designed to give you better responsiveness and improved performance in comparison with Shell Optimax, the fuel that it replaces.



Shell V-Power Racing leaves Shell Optimax Extreme behind. Formulated with 5% ethanol, it’s Australia’s only super-premium 100 octane fuel available at the pump.

Shell V-Power Racing is designed to deliver a higher level of engine responsiveness, sharper acceleration and enhanced power in many modern and high performance vehicles.

Ethanol is a renewable non-fossil fuel produced in Australia. When used in fuel it's a cleaner burning, renewable component that helps to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, through the formulation with ethanol, New Shell V-Power Racing has a substantially lower sulphur and benzene content than the maximum levels set under the Federal Government's fuel quality standards. Ethanol is a cleaner burning, renewable fuel component that helps to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions.

I did use the extreme when it came out but could not justify the extra 7 cents a litre over the 98ron fuel, my cars did not get that much of a fuel consumption increase. I have only ever used Shell as the main source of fuel over the years, but if I had no other choice & I was going to run out I suppose it would not matter who I used as long as it was a premium fuel.



Cheers

[jasper361]

I have found BP ultimate to be the most consistant fuel, I too have had problems with pinging when I used V-power and also found no gains in using V-power 100.

[SS Enforcer]

Ethanol fuels are very sensitive to water (absolutely kills the RON rating as it bonds with the water). I'm not sure if there's any truth in what you say about there being water in suspension in the tanks. At Coles Express, V Power Racing 100RON is tested for water daily and it always seems to be negative. Special paste which changes colour if there is water on the tanks is put on the dipstick and dipped in the tank (which goes right to the bottom). So if there's water in there, the paste will definatly pick it up.



Tested daily ..... sorry mate but I seriously doubt it, if you call checking the tank dip yes, the paste stays on the stick as I see it everyday. I dip approximately 15-20 tanks daily. The big oilers do periodic checks and yes they are more sensitive about the ethanol fuels for good reason. Like I said in my post the guys that do the tank maintenence and site setups won't use it. I have seen a site shut for over 3 weeks due to this problem .

All tanks have some water in the bottom I have seen lots of white paste on dipsticks. When there is a considerable amount they drop a spear in it and pump some out to clear it.

Some good info at this link regarding ethanol fuels.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:6-oJuRXumscJ:www.defence.gov.au/im/policy/technical/ethanal_blended_unleaded_petrol/ethanol.pdf+checking+water+content+in+petrol&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8


cheers


I have found BP ultimate to be the most consistant fuel, I too have had problems with pinging when I used V-power and also found no gains in using V-power 100.


The v-power racing usually takes a few tanks before you will notice any improvement. My car has slightly different engine note when using it.
Maybe the ls1's ike the higher octane fuels.

cheers

[bermudablue]

I reckon as long as its 98ron you should have no problem.

[Jphdg]

Every car seems to be different, even stock. Some more sensitive to fuel quality than others. Luck of the draw in many cases.

I had no trouble with Optimax when it first came out and used it in a tuned and cammed VS V8. One thing I did notice is that the exhaust colour was different. The inside of the tail pipe seemed more sooty than on BP. Other than that it seemed ok so often alternated between Shell, Caltex and BP without a further thought.

In my clubby though a different story. I always had trouble with Shell fuel under hard throttle. I bought it with edit and bolt ons.
It was then tuned on BP Ultimate 98 when I did the cam and still experienced problems with Shell, so after that avoided it if I could.

Pinging is the main reason I avoid Shell. If I 'had' to use it, I can drive without problems as long as I do not do a WOT. I also notice slightly heavier sooting in the pipes like my V8 VS. So regarding claims of it being more cleaner, I am not so sure about that.

BP Ultimate, Caltex 98 or Mobil Synergy 98, always performs very well. Never in my driving history have I ever had a problem with these fuels and they also do not soot up my exhaust.

Usually I stick with BP as a huge new BP just got built around the corner from me and is often on route to where I am going. :yahoo:

[Rad Kane]

Mobil Synergy 8000 has been highly recommended from a number of sources.

Unfortunately cannot get discount with 'shop-a-dockets'

[NefariousLS1]

Mine runs comfortable on 95(stock) at the moment but im debating on the 98everyday advantages compared to 95 after a mafless tune i normaly run only caltex or bp as i found mobil made my vs ping and shell is too inconcistent for my liking
just my 2cents :)

[SS Enforcer]

Mine runs comfortable on 95(stock) at the moment but im debating on the 98everyday advantages compared to 95 after a mafless tune i normaly run only caltex or bp as i found mobil made my vs ping and shell is too inconcistent for my liking
just my 2cents :)


All the 95 ron fuels get shared around it's the same fuel just different additives at the loading point. In Sydney the Mobil 95 is actually Caltex or Shell fuel and Bp use the Shell 95 ron fuel as well. Your car will run better on 98, stock your pcm will run more timing in it if you just use 98 ron fuel.

Cheapest performance upgrade you can make to your car .... :yahoo:

[FatBoy]

I used to run Synergy 8000 with my race engine (Mazda 13B) as that's what my engine builder / tuner recommended at the time it was built.

Thesedays for my VZ SS i run Caltex Vortex 98. I found the car "felt" better than when i used Shell fuels (could have been my imagination though) - and my local garage 300m and two streets away is a Caltex...

The car made 211rwkw for a totally stock auto VZ SS - considerably more than i expected. I often wonder if it would have made the same power on a different fuel...

[swingtan]

Swingtan: Unless your car is tuned for 100RON, i'm surprised you saw an improvement in economy when using V Power Racing over V Power. Typically, using E5 fuels results in a 1.5% decrease in fuel economy. Of course it varies from car to car. I'm surprised your VX SS was pinging on Shell 95, was it tuned for 95 or 91RON? Used Shell 95 in my VX Calais LS1 (PT maf edit for 95RON) for over 6 months and never experienced any pinging.



Hi Alister,

I have no tune in the car, just the 4:1's and full DiFillipo 2.5" twin. As I said, I can't give real power figures bit I certainly noticed something different when I started using 100RON fuel. The car sounds different and feels much more lively. I'd be tempted to say I was just hoping it was ruining better, but I'm pretty careful about that. I'm getting between 14.5 to 16.5 L/100KM depending on the week. I don't drive very far and have road works for half the trip. I have to do an oil change and then may go back to the strip to see if there has been an improvement. Last time I did a 13.85 @ 105 so the car is certainly performing well for a stocker.

[Alister]

Yeah, I used V Power Racing over a few tanks awhile back and could have sworn my car felt like it was going harder when giving it the boot but its probably just me :)
Experienced the same thing since i've been using Boost 98 over a few tanks. Booted it out of United onto the main road late at night and it felt great.
I don't mind these ethanol fuels.
Cheers swing.

[VE Turbo]

Ethanol fuel no matter if it's E10 or to a lesser extent E5 is rubbish.
It's faster burning, therefore less economy.
It actually eats through the wireing in your fuel pump.
I tried it once. Only got 40k's out of 10 bucks worth.
There was a well documented case on A Current Affair about it.
In Nth Qld, where E10 has been around for a couple of years, a bloke was running his Commodore on it. The fuel pump failed, the wires had dissolved.
Car was under warrenty, so got Holden to fit a new one.
Six months later, same problem. The man accused Holden of not replacing the original one. This time the pump got sent to a lab in Melb for a look.
The cause was found to be the ethanol.
God knows what it has done to the rest of the fuel system.
For two years now I have used normal 95ron petrol, getting great economy.
Only last night I put 10 bucks worth of E10 95 into my very empty tank because that was the only type of fuel this servo had, E10 92, E10 95 and E10 98.
It made the exhaust stink and it fair dinkum :-) only lasted 40ks.
I couldn't believe it.
My car is a V6 VT with a 2.5 cat back with straight through pipe, no up and over the diff.
The idle was rougher and the engine was not smooth.
Today, i have filled the tank with the normal 95 to try and flush this crap and thin out whats left of it.
I will never touch this rubbish ever again.

[ls1manta]

Opposite to VE Turbos post, ive been using E10 in my daily for numerous years now and have never had a drama. Its a VT V6 dual fuel manual with pacemakers and a 2.5inch cat back.

I continuously used it for nearly a year and a half because i had problems with the gas and found it great. Great economy around town and on long trips, definatley felt quicker, better idle.

I haven't had any problems with the fuel pump and i've inspected the fuel lines for corrosion and found none.

These days it mostly runs on gas but i still use the E10, aswell once every few months i run a bit of Vortex for the hell of it.

In my GSXR bike i used to run optimax and found it to go off way to quick so i switched to Vortex... problem solved :)

[swingtan]

VE Turbo, have you actually read any of the preceding posts? Your comments don't seem to ring true, but that may be just because I'm not reading it right....


A fast burning fuel = less economy: A fast burning fuel will give more power as long as the burn is controlled. If you get more power from the same amount of fuel, then economy must get better. Unless of course you drive harder to enjoy the extra power.
Ethanol eats through the wiring: This is interesting, as if it eats through the wires, it must then pass the dissolved metal through the rest of the fuel system and the motor. Ethanol fuel used to be a problem in earlier motors that weren't designed for them, but Holden have permitted the use of Ethanol mixed fuels for some time now. They wouldn't have done this if it dissolved wires and if it did it's an issue with GMH, not the fuel. I didn't even think that the fuel came in contact with the wiring of the pump under normal circumstances.
Only getting 40KM from $10 of fuel: As has been stated in this thread, you need to run a couple of full tanks through the car to get the best result. there as 2 main reasons for this...


Your tank probably has an amount of water in it, as nearly all do. This can get there from contaminated fuel as well as condensation. Normally this water will just sit at the bottom of the tank and non ethanol fuel will sit on top of it. However any ethanol in the fuel will mix with the water and reduce the RON level of the fuel. It will make the the car run rough and give bad fuel economy. The less fuel vs water, the worse the effect, so only put in $10 worth of ethanol based fuel and I'd expect the results you saw.
You car runs a "learning" computer. It remembers what fuel you've been using and how you've been driving. It then tries to match the engine management to those factors. It needs time to learn any new fuel you have put in the car, sticking in $10 of fuel will make no difference to to the computer.

Quoting ACA in support of your view is probably not a good thing


So while the results you actually experienced disappointed you, they are pretty much what would be expected given how you used the fuel. You probably don't want to try it again, but if you do, I'd at least try to clean the tank out first by adding a couple of hundred mL of metho to a full tank of non ethanol fuel first. Then run at least 2 tanks of ethanol mix before recording the results. There may be no difference, but it certainly shows you gave the fuel a fair go before writing it off.

[macca33]

Swingtan, I'm not too certain that Holden actually 'approve' Ethanol willingly, but may have done so, firstly, to appear to environmentally conscious and secondly, to not lose any sales from people who prefer to put blended fuel into their cars.

Dunno, just a theory.

I don't trust these blended fuels, as I still reckon that insufficient research has been conducted and presented in our country, with regards to our vehicles.

Cheers,

Macca

[swingtan]

I understand that macca, I have a sticker on the car approving Ethanol blends so I know if there are any "issues" then Holden has no come back. I think that the 100 RON fuel works great though.

[Alister]

I understand that macca, I have a sticker on the car approving Ethanol blends so I know if there are any "issues" then Holden has no come back. I think that the 100 RON fuel works great though.

Shell also add an anti-corrosion additive to the V Power Racing so I think its definatly safe. That and it only has 5% ethanol. I don't think there's much truth in Ethanol fuels eating up wiring etc etc. 10% is not enough to do any damage.

[hogs]

G'Day,

My car is tuned to run 98.
I have been using United 98 Boost for close to 18 months, and have not had any issues.
Perhaps the economy is not as good as Ultimate which I had been using previously, following a Pinging experience with Opticrap, but at usually 10c PL cheaper I can live with that.

My question is if you were to bump the Ethanol level up to say 20% would there be an additional RON increase of approx 3pts?
Secondly, what sort of concerns would folk have in relation to water, fuel lines, etc with such a rise.
And finally, it has been suggested that the E blended fuels will tend to lean out your AFR's.
Mine at present vary from 12.2 at low load to 11.5 at WOT. Any reason for concern?

Cheers,

Hogs,:wave:

[El Narros]

I pulled into a shell today, went to the red pump and double checked to see if it was the 98. it was actually the v-power racing. never used it before and at $1.50 i only put in 30ltrs.
What I have noticed is the exhaust note is a lot deeper and angrier at WOT, at one stage even i thought "fark" thats loud. I have a sureflow 3.5" on my car.

[Alister]

I pulled into a shell today, went to the red pump and double checked to see if it was the 98. it was actually the v-power racing. never used it before and at $1.50 i only put in 30ltrs.
What I have noticed is the exhaust note is a lot deeper and angrier at WOT, at one stage even i thought "fark" thats loud. I have a sureflow 3.5" on my car.

Yeah, that's the 100RON V Power Racing. Bit of a rip now since Shell switched it to variable pricing instead of set interval (17c/L). I didn't think much of it when I gave it a try in my PT tuned VX Calais.