Any Benefit from V-Power / BP Ultimate?

[James_N]

Hi

Is there any benefit in putting V-Power or BP Ultimate in my westie?

when i had my CTR, some people swore by V-Power, but i never noticed a difference.

Just wondering if it would make a difference on something more "focused"?

I have a 1.8 Zetec westie on Jenvey throttle bodies

Cheers

James

[Blatman]

No benefit unless you're car has a knock sensor (it probably won't) or unless it has been mapped specifically to benefit from the fuel used.

There's lots on this in the archives...

[James_N]

Thank You

[peter pan]

In a recent update article EVo magazine rated Tesco 99 as the better than V-Power and its between 6 and 10p a litre less than V-Power.

[gee_fin]

Differences between BP ultimate and VP109 on a turbo car for us was 25% more torque with the VP and 10% more power!

Shell seems to be preferred by a lot of the turbo people for pump fuel while most N/A guys seem to be fine on the Tesco99. I believe there are different types of Tesco99 though, the pump stuff, and then the MSA sold stuff - same in name, not the same in performance!

[Blatman]

In cars that have a knock sensor one assumes?

To gain a horsepower increase from using high octane petrol, you MUST HAVE one of two things.

1. A knock sensor, or

2. A remap.

Without one of those two things, using high octane fuel may actually rob you of a horse or two as it has a lower calorific value than normall unleaded, IE, it has less energy to give up.

There is a "hidden benefit" of high octane fuel when used in a car mapped for ordinary fuel, or a car without a knock sensor, and that is it may help prevent pinking/detonation when used on a track day, but that is the ONLY benefit.

And of course, japanese motorcycle engines have been using 95RON unleaded since the 80's. They're just fine with it so there is absolutely no engineering or mechanical imperative to use higher octane fuel.

[V 8]

............& the vibration from the "knocking" can snap your engine mounts

Did you get home alright m8ey

[Blatman]

Yeah, got home fine thanks mate. Two luggage straps and a windsor knot and it was good to go. New mounts already on order...

[gee_fin]

(V 8 @ Aug. 06 2007,13:36)

QUOTE

Damn right a remap, the maps needed to be entirely different.

[Buzz Billsberry]

Can I use VP or Ultimate in my Tom Tom? As I've just updated the map  

Buzz

[FW500]

Using a higher octane than your map has been setup for will give you a cleaner burn so there is some advantage.

[Kevin Wood]

Someone was saying that Tesco 99 has a large percentage of bio-ethanol to keep the octane up. However, this reduces the calorific value so whilst it may be high octane and nicely resistant to knock, it will give you less power

If you're after the benefits of high octane fuel, as Blatman said, you have firstly to have a car that's highly strung enough to benefit from high octane fuel (turbo, high compression, etc.) and secondly either have an engine that corrects using a knock sensor or you map for the fuel in question (assuming its' quality is consistant!).

A modern NA 16 valve engine will produce its' best power at a low ignition advance where knock isn't likely anyway so there's no advantage to being able to turn up the advance. An older 8 valve engine may benefit more because it needs the extra advance that high octane fuel allows you to run.

In short, if it's a standard 1.8 zetec in your car, I'd say it won't make a lot of odds, but there's no harm in trying.

Kevin