Local Leaded Petrol

[wedget]

Hello Chaps, I have just found out there is a petrol station local to me that sells Real Full Fat Leaded fuel 101 ron, It is quite expensive at nearly a pound a litre but am i going to get any real benifits over optimax with castrol lubricant, My car runs perfectly well on LRP, 95ron Unleaded with no pinking but when i use optimax it is much much quicker, Therfore i asume that going to Full Fat will have the same effect. Alternatavly would using Optimax with an octane booster be any cheaper or better, Any Ideas before i go after work and fill up.

[tallbloke]

You'd prolly only notice the benefit if you tweaked the ignition advance to take advantage of the extra octane. Ornery cooking unleaded with an octane booster/valve lube such as Millers VSP would give much the same effect for less moolah. Cheaper than Optimax too.

[wedget]

I have noticed that millers and the like are around £10 a go is this really likely to be cheaper than £1.00 a liter for Full Fat, I think my timing may be set up for leaded as it definately appreciates the extra octane of optimax, I dont know the maths involved in working out the difference between Optimax with Additve or Full fat at Nearly A pound a liter. Any one know how to work out the maths on this

[tallbloke]

wedget said:

I have noticed that millers and the like are around £10 a go is this really likely to be cheaper than £1.00 a liter for Full Fat, I think my timing may be set up for leaded as it definately appreciates the extra octane of optimax, I dont know the maths involved in working out the difference between Optimax with Additve or Full fat at Nearly A pound a liter. Any one know how to work out the maths on this

If you buy direct from Millers ont'internet it's £3.45 for 250ml or buy ten with a 10% discount. Each 250ml bottle treats 40 litres (1 wedge tankful near enough)
www.millersoils.net/purchase.cgi?page=pur_classicFRAME.html&cart_id=2994057_29439

So: 40 litres 4* at £1/litre = £40
or: 40 litres U/L at £.80/litre + £3.45 = £35.45
or: 40 litres Optimax at £.85/litre + £3.45 = £37.85

So it's 1 pint with the change if you cruise on Optimax or 2 if you use cooking u/l.

[wedget]

thank you very much for that, i went for a good drive yesterday and did not notice much of a difference on full fat, I think i will stick to optimax with a pint as Full Fat was 1.11 a liter, Thanks Tall Bloke

[tallbloke]

You're welcome. The RV8 SD1 engine has hardened valve seats as standard so was always capable of running u/l. According to the bible, the ignition timing needed retarding slightly to compensate for the loss of higher octane fuel on the forecourt. If you have pinking problems on 95ron ornery cooking u/l, you can either boost the octane (optimax or additive) or try retarding the ignition slightly.

[wedget]

I was now thinking of running ordinary unleaded with an octane booster as this may be cheaper than Optimax with lube, and more available

[tallbloke]

Well Millers VSP is both an octane booster and valve 'lubricant' and a ten pack would easily fit in the wedge boot and give you 1600 miles worth of additive. The cost of 95ron ornery u/l plus a dose of Millers VSP is around the same as Optimax, but it means you don't have to hunt for your fuel.

My RV8 engine is fairly low spec at 9.35:1 compression rather than the standard TiV 9.75:1 and it runs ordinary unleaded fine without the need for additives. I think the bible says that the later Ford V6 engines are ok on u/l without additives but you need to check this out carefully with someone who knows about Ford head casting numbers.

>> Edited by tallbloke on Wednesday 28th July 11:39

[wedget]

Yes i have done alot or reserch into this and apparently my engine should be ok, But no one can say for definate. so i dont want to run the risk of melted heads until i can afford to either be without my car or afford to replace heads if it goes wrong. It is a shame i cant get a definative answer on this though it costs alot to muck around with additives

[tallbloke]

Your heads won't melt, nothing catastrophic will happen if you try unleaded for a while. You would want to check to see if the valves start to recess into the seats though. If the engine pinked badly you would hole a piston, but you'd know something was amiss immediately so that won't happen. It certainly won't harm your engine to try a couple of tankfuls of u/l to see how it goes. If you do notice the engine pinking, just back off the ignition advance by a degree or so.

[grahamw48]

Can I run **** LRP (from Tesco) in my early 280,
without additives ? I never use unleaded.

[tallbloke]

grahamw48 said:

Can I run **** LRP (from Tesco) in my early 280, without additives ? I never use unleaded.

Opinions about LRP vary. I don't rate the stuff myself. I guess it's whatever your vehicle runs happily on. My Moto Guzzi bike is definitely happier on u/l plus Millers VSP than on LRP. Try it out and see.

[grahamw48]

Cheers.

She seems to run fine on the stuff so far.
I'll give the alternatives a try.
Right now it's purely hypothetical, as the bugger refuses to start !

[tallbloke]

grahamw48 said:

Cheers. She seems to run fine on the stuff so far. I'll give the alternatives a try. Right now it's purely hypothetical, as the bugger refuses to start !

Pull a sparker out and have a look at it. LRP seems to leave more deposits than other fuel if it's not getting up to full temperature.