ARAL Adenau 102

[ukkid35]

Is there anywhere else you can get 102 between Adenau and London?

My car has unpleasant pinking issues that have already destroyed the headgaskets twice.

I know I need to fix the underlying problem, but meanwhile is there anywhere other than Adenau that I can get high octane fuel from a pump?

I am not interested in doubling the cost by adding octane boosters.

I'm assuming my best bet in the UK is Tesco 99? Or are there any other roadside retail options?

[ukkid35]

E-bmw said:

Pardon me for stating what for me is the obvious.

So you are going to drive a car across Europe with an issue that will cost a fortune to sort out & ruin your trip if/when it comes to fruition?

Get it sorted before you go, it will potentially cost you MUCH less!

The car does four or five trips to the Zolder/Spa/Ring each year and has done for the last five years. The pinking can be almost completely stopped by adjusting my driving, it will also be remapped again in order to try to reduce it further.

I will not stop driving the car until it is completely banished, all it takes a bad batch of fuel, or heavy traffic and heatsoak for it to come back instantly.

Hence my original question, because I can't easily provoke pinking at all after filling up with 102.

[ukkid35]

chrisr29 said:

How do you cope with it on track if you have to baby it along on the roads ffs. Only place I've ever seen 102 is at the ring.

Must be cheaper to just get it fixed properly. What is it anyway?

Pinking only occurs 1800-2200 at sudden throttle openings. Not an issue on track.

Like I said, I do want to fix it, but in five years of ownership I've had limited success.

[ukkid35]

Hugo a Gogo said:

map for Aral stations, check the 'ultimate' box for stations selling that in DE and Benelux
http://www.aral.de/de/retail/online-services/tanks...

have you tried V Power Racing 100?

same thing for this map
http://www.shell.de/geschaefts-und-privatkunden/sh...

Many thanks, that looks promising.

Not tried V Power Racing, only the standard UK V Power, which does not help so much.

[ukkid35]

Adenauer said:

Paul, I take it you are on about the 928? Seeing as loads of people have asked and you're not telling them.

As Hugo says, any decent Aral petrol station will have Ultimate, that is their high Octane fuel.

No, the 928 has knock sensors and does a very good job at looking after itself.

It's the AJP8 in the Cerb that is intent on self destruction.

Here's the deformed head gasket



And here's the damage to the head where the gases have slipped past the fire ring



It didn't help that I continued lapping even though by the end of DN12 it was losing 2L coolant per lap (over 16 miles not dumped at one point on the track!)

https://vimeo.com/141834253

[ukkid35]

R8Steve said:

I used to use this when fuel quality was an issue.

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/fuel-addi...

I did say I didn't want to bother with Octane Boosters because of their cost, but that only seems to raise the cost of fuel by about 25%, so thank you for that link.

[ukkid35]

chrisr29 said:

Think I'd be sticking that on a rolling road and seeing what the timing and fueling are doing in the offending rev range. It's ether going lean or the timing's screwed up.

Can you bin whatever ecu they use and put a better one in?

It's unlikely to be anything to do with the ancient MBE ECU, more likely I have issues with blow by and crankcase ventilation. My theory is that because the cylinder that has suffered HGF is the one right next to the breather connection, and there since is no PCV valve on an AJP8, this causes pinking if you open the throttle suddenly at low revs.

But I know absolutely nothing about engines, so for me to second guess TVR's engineers and the lack of PCV valve is probably very unwise.

[ukkid35]

Digga said:

AJP V8's are pretty robust. I'd guess the issue might not even be that difficult to bottom and that TVR Powers in Coventry will certainly be capable of solving it.

Thanks, but if Dom diagnoses excessive blow by due to corroded liners (the engine was badly neglected by the PO with coolant left in the cylinders) then the solution will be a full rebuild costing £5k minimum, which unfortunately is not an option for me.