Higher octane fuel on S1

[Sune]

Will an Elise S1 K-series engine benefit from increasing the octane level of the fuel from 95 to 99 (Shell V-Power)? As far as I can see the K-series engine does not have a knock sensor which speaks against it I suppose. The 99 octane fuel is of course even more expensive than regular.

[subaqua]

Yep... the major difference between using normal unleaded and super, will be how much lighter your wallet will be at the end of the week.

[TIPPER]

LOL at subaqua!
As you say there's no knock sensor so no point other than perhaps any benefit from the supposed better detergents.

[jondude]

Agree with above - although I do find the 'super' fuels give quite a few more mpg, which effectively wipes out the price hike.....and does make you feel there may be something to claims of a cleaner, more free running engine.

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

Been trying an experiment in my 111R, few tanks of V-Power in it, see what MPG I get, consistently comes back at around 32.8MPG, normal Shell unleaded comes back at pretty much bang on 33.0MPG all the time.

[MilnerR]

Probably no point, I've run my S2 on a few tanks of 99RON and didn't see or feel any difference at all. My scooby gets run on 99RON all the time. Any less and it pinks like hell and loses performance. The S2 is happy with 95, as is my wallet.

[cej]

Without a programmable engine management system and some tuning there's no point and no gain.

[Mr_C]

A friend of mine works at a place that tests oils and fuels. They have 5 ford fiesta's, all exactly the same, and they all do exactly the same mileage and routes etc together. They did a fuel test and found that on the car that had been run on optimax (now V power), there was absolutely no carbon deposits or anything, you could hardly tell it had been run, whereas the others were all coked up.

I tend to mix V power and normal Shell.

[retrorider]

wouldn't be MIRA by any chance.they do similar tests running cars non stop round the track for 24 hour runs only stopping for fuel and drivers.all the high octane fuels come out very well due to the extra refining processes.

[fergus]

retrorider said:

wouldn't be MIRA by any chance.they do similar tests running cars non stop round the track for 24 hour runs only stopping for fuel and drivers.all the high octane fuels come out very well due to the extra refining processes.

more to do with additional additives, rather than at the refining stage.

[retrorider]

Unlike ordinary petrol, the lack of impurities means it’s crystal clear, or “water white”, in appearance. This purity will leave you with a cleaner engine and help lower exhaust emissions, and will also make your car more responsive and give you more power.

[Risotto]

I'm fairly sure the manual for my S2 specifically said there was nothing to be gained from using anything higher than 95.

[tlracing]

Risotto said:

I'm fairly sure the manual for my S2 specifically said there was nothing to be gained from using anything higher than 95.

S1 manual certainly says that.

[TVaRt]

However if like many people you are running an induction kit , enlarged throttle and exhaust then a little more octane cannot be a bad thing to make up for the lack in increase of fuel input?!

[Strangely Brown]

tlracing said:

Risotto said:

I'm fairly sure the manual for my S2 specifically said there was nothing to be gained from using anything higher than 95.

S1 manual certainly says that.

What about a Super140? Is it just an ignition remap or was the fuelling changed too?