Having to run a car on 97/8 ron?

[doodles19]

Right, so the new auto shows up soon, and I've been told by the dealer I should run it solely on Premium high ron fuels, i.e V-Power and BP Ultimate etc... I was going to do this anyway, but it got me wondering, do you actually HAVE to run some cars on higher ron fuel due to the way some engines are mapped?

There seems to be a lot of speculation over wether you HAVE to run particular cars on high ron fuels, or wether a tank now and then will do, or just run it on 95 all the time. Im thoroughly confused over the matter!

[AlexKing]

Some cars do need the pricier stuff, but they're pretty few and far between. What is it you've got?

[MondeoMan1981]

Pinking, flat spots etc all can be caused by using lower ron fuel where higher is needed.

Not just fancy Jap stuff needs it - even the relatively normal Ignis Sport 1.5 needs 97> fuel.

Tesco 99 can help keep costs down.

Someone somewhere must sell some sort of octane booster product too that can work out cheaper adding to 95 than buying the likes of V Power etc.

[doodles19]

It's a Twingo 133.

I've not had chance to actually do some digging on the subject myself, hence the thread.

[rottie102]

doodles19 said:

Im thoroughly confused over the matter!

What's confusing about it??
Just read the manual and do what it says. If it says it's fine on 95 there is no point in putting anything better. If it says 98 or higher then it will run on 95 but the performance will be limited.

[EvoBarry]

Mine says it should have 98RON fuel but it will run on 95 if neccesary, although you can feel the power drop off, especially at the top end. The ignition *should* adjust to avoid pinking etc.

[deveng]

My A3 says it should be run on 98+ Ron but will be fine, for limited periods, on 95 Ron, at the expense of less power. The main difference I notice is significantly worse fuel consumption on the lower RON fuel.

[doodles19]

rottie102 said:

What's confusing about it??
Just read the manual and do what it says. If it says it's fine on 95 there is no point in putting anything better. If it says 98 or higher then it will run on 95 but the performance will be limited.

Not got my hands on the manual yet, suppose I should have just waited till then, just wanted to see wether there are actually some engines that have to run solely on higher ron fuels to run properly, or wether it was just salesman bullst.

I've seen so many threads flying about saying "I ran X car on high ron fuels and found no differences", was nice to get some clarification over the matter.

[Caulkhead]

EvoBarry said:

Mine says it should have 98RON fuel but it will run on 95 if neccesary, although you can feel the power drop off, especially at the top end. The ignition *should* adjust to avoid pinking etc.

Same with my 6 MPS - will run on 95 but you can feel the reduction in response and I get 2-3mpg less on 95 than V-Power/Tesco99.

Having said that, I can't see why a 1.6 NA four banger in a relatively modest state of tune should need or indeed benefit from 98RON. The UK Renault site makes no mention of it needed super, it just states unleaded. Are you sure your dealer isn't confusing it with the Megane 250 wotsit?

[Defcon5]

Caulkhead said:

Having said that, I can't see why a 1.6 NA four banger in a relatively modest state of tune should need or indeed benefit from 98RON.

Mine does, and thats 10 years old.

[Caulkhead]

Defcon5 said:

Caulkhead said:

Having said that, I can't see why a 1.6 NA four banger in a relatively modest state of tune should need or indeed benefit from 98RON.

Mine does, and thats 10 years old.

Well I had an Accord Type-R in 1999 which required it, but that was with 8500rpm and VTEC (Yo!) whizzy bits. Not sure a 133bhp 1.6 will benefit and indeed the Renault forum boys seem to agree with me:

http://www.twingo133.net/cars-and-motorsport/types...

[doodles19]

Caulkhead said:

Well I had an Accord Type-R in 1999 which required it, but that was with 8500rpm and VTEC (Yo!) whizzy bits. Not sure a 133bhp 1.6 will benefit and indeed the Renault forum boys seem to agree with me:

http://www.twingo133.net/cars-and-motorsport/types...

Saying that, the Twingo isn't miles off vtec with the 7k red-line, higher lift cams than the 1.6's standard guise and vvt.

[rhinochopig]

Super can be a pain in the arse to track down these days.

[paulmoonraker]

rhinochopig said:

Super can be a pain in the arse to track down these days.

What? You mean 97+ ron? Its everywhere!

[Defcon5]

Caulkhead said:

indeed the Renault forum boys seem to agree with me:

http://www.twingo133.net/cars-and-motorsport/types...

Your link goes to a post which is a cut and past from 'petrolprices.com', and is followed by a number of posts by Twingo owners all saying they use Super unleaded.

Renault havent specified 98ron in the manual for nothing - of course it will run on 95, but at reduced performance, it may turn it into a Twingo 129 or something

[Caulkhead]

doodles19 said:

Caulkhead said:

Well I had an Accord Type-R in 1999 which required it, but that was with 8500rpm and VTEC (Yo!) whizzy bits. Not sure a 133bhp 1.6 will benefit and indeed the Renault forum boys seem to agree with me:

http://www.twingo133.net/cars-and-motorsport/types...

Saying that, the Twingo isn't miles off vtec with the 7k red-line, higher lift cams than the 1.6's standard guise and vvt.

Indeed, but that was a decade ago. These days the 82bhp per litre the Twingo puts out is pretty mainstream. By all means put the better stuff in you want, but I doubt you'll feel much difference.

[Dangerous Dan]

I remember an old run-a-bout I had a while back. Nissan Micra K10 model (H reg).

There was a sticker on the inside of the fuel filler flap that read "97 RON fuel". To be honest, I only really ever used it on Tesco stuff, but the engine did seem to ping less on the 97 stuff than 95 RON.

Didn't notice anything by way of performance (LOL!) or economy increase or decrease.

[Caulkhead]

Defcon5 said:

Caulkhead said:

indeed the Renault forum boys seem to agree with me:

http://www.twingo133.net/cars-and-motorsport/types...

Your link goes to a post which is a cut and past from 'petrolprices.com', and is followed by a number of posts by Twingo owners all saying they use Super unleaded.

Renault havent specified 98ron in the manual for nothing - of course it will run on 95, but at reduced performance, it may turn it into a Twingo 129 or something

The point of my quote was this post:

"Interesting that several of you use "Super" in your Twingos - which equates to 98 Octane/RON.

When I bought my Twingo I asked the dealer about this, specifically because I ran my previous car on "Super". He advised against it as the Renault recommendation for the Twingo RS is 95-97 Octane, and Super is outside that range (OK, only slightly, but still outside)"

We have yet to establish what the manual recommends as the OP hasn't got a manual yet.

[paulmoonraker]

Any significant gain will require the engine to have an ECU and appropriate insrumentation (knock sensor) so it can detect and advance timing etc.

The guy that mapped my STi says that running 95ron can damage my engine.

-P

[MrGman]

My Clio 172 states 98ron is recommended but 95ron can be used, I always use 97>
I've used 95ron on occasions and it does feel a little less urgent but the main thing i notice is the drop in mpg.