Type of petrol to use?

[neggs]

Hi Everyone,

Only had my 111s a few days (love it, love it, love it!!) and have a quick question on petrol. The sales guy said its best to use unleaded super but ive struggled to find anywhere that sells it locally (I live in Bradford, West Yorkshire).

So...

Is it generally a problem to use standard unleaded?
Whats the main benfits of super unleaded?
Where can you buy super unleaded from! :-)

Cheers.

[Mr_C]

use normal unleaded. there's no advantage to using super in a K series they don't have a knock sensor to advance the timing. Unless of course it's been set up to only run on super (i.e. the timing advanced), although i doubt it on a standard car.

[seetim]

Hi, and welcome

Along similar lines, when I bought mine - 111S, I was told that Shell Optimax was the only thing that would do.

For a long while I bought just that - though the extended drive to find the right station was a bonus.

Anyway, more recent info (here) seemed to come to the opinion that it wasn't necessary. Have moved over to normal unleaded and no difference noted. Well at least to me.

For most of the time, you probably won't notice the difference - either in terms of performance or economy.

HTH Andrew.

[neggs]

Thanks for the replies. I stick with normal unleaded then. Its cheaper anyway!

:-)

[DSS123]

Neggs,

I sometimes treat mine to a tank of the good stuff as it does contain detergents that clean the injectors etc etc.

Probably just bollox but makes me feel like I'm doing my bit!

Like others have said - no performance benefit so normal unleaded is fine.

Duncs

[apprentice]

Be intrigued to learn whether that incorrect advice was actually coming from Lotus dealers/specialists?

[telecat]

Friend of mine had a 1.8 Focus that began to "Pink" under load. I advised him to use Optimax for a week. It worked so well he used it every fourth tankfull.

[TheLemming]

At the end of the day despite the Elise's exotic looks and origin in the factory of a specialist low-volume sportscar company, the engine is extremely prosaic.

The Mk1 runs on a 1.8 litre rover K series, same as the MGF, same as endless rover hatches and saloons. It's set up for normal 95ron fuel and there is no real benefit from using a higher octane petrol.

There may be benefits in the detergents etc in certain brands of fuel but that's another matter entirely.

[S Works]

apprentice said:

Be intrigued to learn whether that incorrect advice was actually coming from Lotus dealers/specialists?

Indeed.

As above, regular 95 RON and the occasional Optimax for placebo

[mr-lovebucket]

I'm guessing that "BP Ultimate 102" (ultra high octane unleaded fuel), at £2.42 a litre, ain't really worth the money then!?

Check this out if you haven't already seen it -www.carkeys.co.uk/news/2006/april/

It's only on sale at a handful of petrol stations in the UK, one of which is close to me, so I couldn't resist a quick look the other day. The pump was padlocked, so you have to ask especially for the "special stuff". At £80 a tank with no benefit to the engine or any performance gain, I wasn't particularly tempted!

Incidentally, I have a 111S, and my owner's manual clearly states there is no benefit of using anything other than standard unleaded, so there's a relief!