BP Ultimate 102

Author
Discussion

iaint

10,040 posts

237 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
vesuvius996 said:
On the way to Brands from Central London, I think?


Surely that can't be the thinking! How many people would drive through central London to Brands? A tiny proportion of the target audience I'd think.

IMHO they'd be better off targetting their service stations near the tracks.

james

1,362 posts

283 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
I think you're all missing the point. This isn't aimed at road users (although I'm sure some people will put it in their tank for the bragging power). It also isn't aimed at F1 teams. It's primarily for grassroots motorsports.

Every race series I have run in has mandated that you must run your car on pump fuel available from a petrol station. Octane boosters etc. haven't been allowed. Therefore, by offering this new fuel on the forecourt, they're opening up the use of high octane fuel to the club racer.

There is 0 benefit of just chucking 102 octane fuel in your road car, unless you also tune it to make use of the properties of the fuel. But then you would have to use it all the time. There isn't much point in sticking it in your road car when you do a trackday either, as you likewise won't get any benefit from just sticking high octane fuel in your tank without also tuning the engine to make use of it.

If you run a race car, you will set the engine up to run on this fuel, and that will give you the benefit. When you're racing, paying a bit more for fuel isn't generally a huge issue. If you're in a sprint series, you'll only use a few litres anyway, so if you're spending £25 on race car feul of £50, it isn't a huge amount of your budget. Ok, in an endurance series it's going to be more. When I ran the Ultima, I would get through 100 litres of fuel between qualifying and the race, but then you're still only looking at an extra £150 over the weekend.

James

vesuvius996

35,829 posts

270 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
Great points well made.

But PLEASE can we have a V Power equivalent.


Change the record did someone say?

>> Edited by vesuvius996 on Monday 24th April 12:17

Peter Ward

2,097 posts

255 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
Gazboy said:
£2.42 per litre? They can right off. £145 to fill up my tank- no chance.

I preferred the original announcement where it said it was 2.42p/litre

rascasse

22 posts

223 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
Gazboy said:
£2.42 per litre? They can right off. £145 to fill up my tank- no chance.


If i had a tank i wouldn't fuel it with 102 either. I think they are all diesel powered anyway.

tortoise

72 posts

241 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
As James said this is not a fuel for road cars and will give precisely nil benefit for cars with standard ECU's. Those with "intelligent" ECU's which can advance or retard ignition depending on fuel quality might get some small benefit but not enough to justify the expense. The real benefit will come from re-mapping the engine for the higher octane fuel and ultimately from rebuilding the engine with higher compression ratios (or higher boost levels in a forced induction car). Given that many racers are resricted in terms of what modifications they can make to engines this probably opens up an alternative tuning opportunity which many will find attractive.

LuS1fer

41,086 posts

244 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
That's nearly as much as beer.

Viper

10,005 posts

272 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
doesnt sound to bad for 102
one of our club guys paid nearly £3.50 per litre last year for a drum of 105 race fuel, it worked out like £50 per Jerry can ! Hate to think how much was in the drum..

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
hmmm 'race fuel' in the paddock at silverstone is 1.99 /l ?

with such limited demand i'd be intrigued to know how long it stays that octane festering in the tank.

egbert

449 posts

220 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
Excellent news but the fact is it's not going to work at that price-chances are it will be so little used that by the time you fill up with it you'd be better off with a fresher load from tesco 99.

Make it nearer the £1 per litre mark and I'll fill up with it every time.

venom500

2,984 posts

282 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
Just come back from N.Zealand where it is already available from a few service stations and I made NO improvement on 1/4 mile times (Raced with the tank filled up that morning ) but the engine did feel smoother,better pick up,and the exhaust popped/banged a little more on overun than usual and economy improved a fraction. I`ll be sticking to Optimax...my 1p worth.

timmy30

9,325 posts

226 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
venom500 said:
Just come back from N.Zealand where it is already available from a few service stations and I made NO improvement on 1/4 mile times (Raced with the tank filled up that morning ) but the engine did feel smoother,better pick up,and the exhaust popped/banged a little more on overun than usual and economy improved a fraction. I`ll be sticking to Optimax...my 1p worth.


I don't think it's the same fuel, this stuff is only available in the UK at present.

On the 'going off' front the fuel has been designed not to go off, i.e. the when formulated the chemists will have been aware that it is far more likely to be stored for longer than usual pump fuel.

I'm not a chemist mind you, so to go into technical detail I'd check on the website.

>> Edited by timmy30 on Monday 24th April 16:40

>> Edited by timmy30 on Monday 24th April 17:19

spuckle

7 posts

224 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
I doubt they'll get many sales - who's gonna remap their car to run on fuel available at only 6 petrol stations in the country?!

timmy30

9,325 posts

226 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
spuckle said:
I doubt they'll get many sales - who's gonna remap their car to run on fuel available at only 6 petrol stations in the country?!


track drivers who want to run their cars F1 spec fuel on race days?

Btw the idea is to roll out across the country, if, there is sufficient interest.

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

254 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
£2.42 a litre...?

This is going to add a new dimension to srebbe64's anguish the next time he puts it in his diesel....

Somebody give him the Samaritans number.....

off_again

12,252 posts

233 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
Gazboy said:
£2.42 per litre? They can right off. £145 to fill up my tank- no chance.


60 Litre tank - is that all..... try 75 litre... ....

Thats nearly £180 a tank full... !!!! Maybe the future is closer than we think!

andy.shent

73 posts

226 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
Did'nt the old five star petrol have an octane rating of 105? If i can remember rightly the old 5 star petrol was only a few pennies more than the 4 star and 3 star!!!!

Stu_00

1,529 posts

218 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
Maybe we should all start driving old F1 cars around ! Then could make real use for it

royston thomas

2 posts

249 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
Anyone remember 5 star petrol? Sounds like reinvention of the wheel. Mustangs and Spits run on 101 or therabouts!

TUS 373

4,442 posts

280 months

Monday 24th April 2006
quotequote all
lazyitus said:


None up North.


No, we Northerners are so sensible that we would never pay that for "designer" petrol!!!!!!!