Optimax
- Thread starter Rodney Naghar
- Start date
Robbiemeister
Member
With regard to keeping the internals of the engine clean:
When I was a lad, " rebuilding" my Austin 7 engine we didn' t have Optimax so I used a wire brush instead.
It used about a pint of oil a day until it got " dirty" again.
Ahhh! those were the days
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When I was a lad, " rebuilding" my Austin 7 engine we didn' t have Optimax so I used a wire brush instead.
It used about a pint of oil a day until it got " dirty" again.
Ahhh! those were the days
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]
Guest
New member
I used to own a nissan 200sx (1999-V) and decided to run it on Optimax to see what difference there was, after filling up didnt notice any difference at all and thought what a rip off it had been. However after using a tank full (about 2 weeks driving) i changed back to 95 RON and there was a BIG difference! must have taken a while for the ECU to adjust, but surfice to say I never went back to 95!
I have used Optimax from day one. Last week I filled up at Texaco (Super Unleaded). Then, when that ran out yeserday I put Optimax in again and I instantly noticed that the engine was smoother when accelerating hard. The car also seems more eager to be thrashed! Obviously, I oblige...
I knew a guy who worked for Esso UK and he told me (aaaargh, its the headless corpse banging on the roof of the car scenario...) that you ought to see the tankers queing at Fawley to fill up - Esso, Shell, Tesco, Sainsburys et al. No difference.
There is no opportunity to put in additives at the point of sale as far as I am aware so what is going on?
If you go to Heathrow to the oil farm all the major suppliers fill up the holding tanks and the airlines draw out the fuel, pay their supplier and off they go. They may pay Esso for their aviation fuel but the bulk tank was filled by all of the suppliers.
Could it be that we are being a little anal here? Who knows.....
There is no opportunity to put in additives at the point of sale as far as I am aware so what is going on?
If you go to Heathrow to the oil farm all the major suppliers fill up the holding tanks and the airlines draw out the fuel, pay their supplier and off they go. They may pay Esso for their aviation fuel but the bulk tank was filled by all of the suppliers.
Could it be that we are being a little anal here? Who knows.....
Guest
New member
Hi Tim,
Is it my imagination or is Euro 98 octane better than Optimax ? PR51BOX went like the clappers after I ran it on fumes and filled up with 63 litres of liquid semtex as soon as I hit Calais. I would elaborate however I would be moderated by someone who has undoubtedly broken the speed limit themselves. See the unfolding soap-opera on the other channel !
cheers
Brian
Is it my imagination or is Euro 98 octane better than Optimax ? PR51BOX went like the clappers after I ran it on fumes and filled up with 63 litres of liquid semtex as soon as I hit Calais. I would elaborate however I would be moderated by someone who has undoubtedly broken the speed limit themselves. See the unfolding soap-opera on the other channel !
cheers
Brian
Brian!
You left Le Mans a bit quick!!!
I have found no difference with any fuel brand.
Temperature however..... now there is an interesting topic. Don' t go to the extremes of a drag-racer (a racer of drag cars - not Lily Savage) I once knew who put frozen peas under the bonnet of his ' 55 Chevy to a) help the weight distribution and b) get the air a little denser to get more in when it expanded.
Another tip for you anoraks.... don' t use deisel or parafin to check out the difference in all your theories.....
You left Le Mans a bit quick!!!
I have found no difference with any fuel brand.
Temperature however..... now there is an interesting topic. Don' t go to the extremes of a drag-racer (a racer of drag cars - not Lily Savage) I once knew who put frozen peas under the bonnet of his ' 55 Chevy to a) help the weight distribution and b) get the air a little denser to get more in when it expanded.
Another tip for you anoraks.... don' t use deisel or parafin to check out the difference in all your theories.....
Elliot Davies
New member
Brian, I also filled the 964 up with this and found it to run better than our optimax.
Dont know if i can wait till the 2004 LM though for a refill
You fool that was V (viagra), 100 (in a pack) and Oktan is the guy who sells them.[&:]
And who says you' ve got a little behind?[]
Ah, that' s better, back to the serious stuff.
And who says you' ve got a little behind?[
]Ah, that' s better, back to the serious stuff.
There certainly is a difference between UK and continental fuels as after effective dropping of four star leaded as a generally available supply and the introduction of LRP the base for which is normal unleaded the octane level of super unleaded was dropped in UK by one point. Thus with the exception of Optimax we are one point below Europe at 97 not 98 - which Opimax redresses. The effect is of course seen by those of us with hc competition engines like the 906 running at 10.4:1 and so we choose to run on normal unleaded plus for example Castrol Valve Master Plus which gives us an assured 98+ whether we can get Optimax or not. Strictly speaking if our engines are of recent re-build we are on hard valve seats etc so Valve Master would be sufficient as we only need the octane boost. And other octane boosters are available for higher levels if desired but for road going really 10.4 is high enough. For you modern chaps with ECU' s which detect knocking by sensors in the engine the advantage is seen as less retardation of the spark when you floor the throttle - higher octane therefore knock onset is ' deferred' and you do not suffer from your ECU reigning you in.... This why there is no point in the earlier road cars putting in Super if the factory says they do not need it - they do not have knock sensors and should be set up per the book!
Eoin Sloan
Eoin Sloan
Guest
New member
I caught some car advert yesterday on the radio that suggested an owner called out the AA because he had a warning light come on which turned out to be the low fuel light, the claim was that the car could do 900 miles on a single tank of fuel and because of that the owner didn' t realise you had to put petrol in it!
Maybe Elliot can wait until Le Mans 2004 after all or was it not a Porsche advert you think?
Maybe Elliot can wait until Le Mans 2004 after all or was it not a Porsche advert you think?
richardheeley
New member
Independent tests by car magazines have proved that your valves stay cleaner with Optimax, so, in my opinion, it's worth the extra just for that.
thboxster
New member
Unwittingly, 2 years ago I found I had done a test of a similar kind. Not as technical and slightly less scientific but then again I don't care tuppence about the actual power inrease/losss.
I had used regular 95 for six months and the car was averaging something or other, I think it might have been 30.7 but can't remember. Then there was a Shell Optimax promotion, where you collected cards to try and win a supercar. I switched to Optimax in the vain hope of winning but it was not to be. Anyway after six months of that I happened to notice that my average mpg had gone up by 2 or 3.
Did some calculations based on average cost of fuel and the number of miles I travelled per year and over the course of the year it came out that Optimax was $4.00 more expensive. (I know, I can't be bothered to set it to UK).
So, the cost was negligable, but the MPG was better, therefore, used Optimax ever since.
I said it was slightly less scientific[]
I had used regular 95 for six months and the car was averaging something or other, I think it might have been 30.7 but can't remember. Then there was a Shell Optimax promotion, where you collected cards to try and win a supercar. I switched to Optimax in the vain hope of winning but it was not to be. Anyway after six months of that I happened to notice that my average mpg had gone up by 2 or 3.
Did some calculations based on average cost of fuel and the number of miles I travelled per year and over the course of the year it came out that Optimax was $4.00 more expensive. (I know, I can't be bothered to set it to UK).
So, the cost was negligable, but the MPG was better, therefore, used Optimax ever since.
I said it was slightly less scientific[
]
JCB..
Non-member
MPG is increased in the Boxster by a couple or so miles. Performance isn't noticeably increased.
As my signature advertises we also have a Nightrun SmartArse. This has a 74BHP 3 cylinder turbocharged Brabus engine in it. With Optimax in it there is a considerable increase in performance and it's a lot of fun at those traffic light drags.
JCB..
As my signature advertises we also have a Nightrun SmartArse. This has a 74BHP 3 cylinder turbocharged Brabus engine in it. With Optimax in it there is a considerable increase in performance and it's a lot of fun at those traffic light drags.
JCB..
Some years ago, I attended a track day at Snetterton and , whilst taking in the sight of all the exotic machinery on site, heard a lot of the pilots yabbering about "Optimax" and wondering where the local stockist was.Thought they were talking about some special go-faster additive but was told it was a high octane fuel available mostly in the London area.Rang Shell and was told that they guaranteed at least 98RON but, depending on the refinery cracking result, often more.
Stuck a tankful in my BBR modified 205GTI and noticed the diff instantly.
Not a noticeable change in my pride and joy but, since it has a shedload of urge anyway, I would not be able to tell.
JohnC
993turboX50
Stuck a tankful in my BBR modified 205GTI and noticed the diff instantly.
Not a noticeable change in my pride and joy but, since it has a shedload of urge anyway, I would not be able to tell.
JohnC
993turboX50
There was an in depth article on different fuel types and their affect on BHP and Torque for several cars in last months EVO magazine...basically says that Optimax is great as it does clean the engine and it does produce more power than 95 RON, BP was also very good but usually more expensive....also very good was Tesco's 99RON - good power increase and the cheapest of the lot....but they would still use Optimax every third fill up or so for the cleaning effect.
However, different cars, different effect, and this can be very significant.
However, different cars, different effect, and this can be very significant.
I use BP's Ultimate almost exclusively. I am sure the car performs better both in terms of acceleration and MPG. I also think it sounds better: It seems to have a deeper note to the exhaust - I have no idea whether this would be expected, or if I just lost the reference for 95 RON.
Andrew
Andrew
Sorry to be a killjoy but I have found no difference between Tesco 95 or 97 and Optimax, other than the bill at the end of the transaction. I still put in the odd tank of Shells finest for its cleaning properties, but I have to pay an extra 10 to 13p a litre for the privilege over Tesco 95. I'd probably be better off buying an addative cleaner, which would do the same job for less cost.
KP
KP
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