Forget Optimax

Try BP's Ultimate.

I stuck some in my car tonight and noticed an instant difference. Bearing in mind I still had a couple of gallons of normal unleaded in the tank, it was like putting rocket fuel in.

Tried Optimax before, never seemed to make much difference, but I have to say I really did notice a difference with Ultimate. I haven't heard any advertising about it, so is a higher octane or what? The bloke at the garage was to say the least a bit vague.

The only complaint is it's 10p dearer than normal unleaded, but this I can live with if it's going to give these results.

Anyone else tried it and had the same?

Dave

Reply to
Funkyman
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I've tried BP Greener unleaded (can't get ultimate) and Shell Optimax. I haven't noticed any difference with either of them. My normal petrol is BP cleaner unleaded. The first fill up I had was supermarket petrol, on the second fill up I used the BP stuff and have never used supermarket petrol since. When switching from supermarket to BP, it was like a different car. It felt quicker and the engine even made a slightly different noise when labouring. It may have been a coincidence, I'm not sure, but since then I have heard that branded petrol was better anyway so I've never considered changing.

Reply to
Peter

It's all 'branded' petrol anyway. You don't really think that Asda, Tesco etc have their own refineries? I can't say I've ever noticed any differences between different brands of fuel in over forty years of motoring.

Terry D.

Reply to
Terry D

Is your Sei or Cinq still making strange noises?

Reply to
Doki

My understanding is that the additives are different. I wouldn't expect Shell to run optimax around in different tankers, it's going to be normal Shell 95RON with some octane boosters, detergents etc. added.

Reply to
Doki

Both BP Ultimate and Shell Optimax are high octane (super unleaded). Good for cars that rely on knock sensors, such as petrol turbos, but also for other performance cars. I have tried Optimax on my Saab LPT and it feels better and smoother. Shell claims that Optimax has cleaning components, this has to be taken on trust as it is difficult to observe any immediate effect. On the other hand, poor quality petrol (if available?) can damage the engine. Prices for Shell Optimax vary enormously.

Reply to
Johannes H Andersen

I've tried both Optimax and BP Ultimate in both my cars. For example, if I put normal 95RON unleaded in the Mundaneo, I can get from Marlow to Rossendale, about 202 miles at 90mph cruise and the tank registers still 1/4 full. With BP Ultimate, same journey, similar conditions, there's 1/2 a tank left. On the Saab 900 T16, the knock sensor backs the boost off when it starts to knock. It holds boost at a higher level and for longer with OPtimax or Ultimate. I don't use anything else anymore. Some Saabists hate Optimax though..

Mike

Reply to
Mike P in Brazil

I run an old Rover V-8 that was designed for 4 Star, and which pinks on Premium unleaded. Either Optimax or Ultimate - or the old BP Super stops the pinking. Can't say I can tell any difference in performance between the high octane ones, though.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

I usually always look for a Jet garage as for some reason my car runs better. It's ok on Esso, ok on Shell, but I can notice the difference when using Jet. Strange, but true, but now I will go out of my way for BP Ultimate.

Dave

Reply to
Funkyman

Well now I have new found zest in my Omega 2.5, I will start to log the economy difference once I have stopped playing with the umph.

Dave

Reply to
Funkyman

The tankers are often subdivided into compartments or sub-tanks if you like.

A BP one I saw had at least 4 seperate subtanks for each fuel type, in various capacities. U/L, , Super U/L LRP, Diesel etc.

Typically around 10,000l to 15,000l. Each has its own outlet.

Reply to
Rick Marks

Hmmm. Interesting.

So if they're carrying four different kinds of fuel, how do they go on with displaying the right Hazchem sign ?

Reply to
Neil Barker

I know all about compartmented tankers. For several years I worked in the Product Service department for ICI Petrol. I once spent all night supervising changing the petrol at a service station in the back of beyond because the petrol was too dense and causing problems for motorists. We emptied the storage tank through the pump, which took about 6 hours as it had to be reset after every 20 gallons. The garage tank was then refilled with 'good' fuel from another compartment of the tanker. During part of the time, the tanker driver borrowed my vehicle and retired to the local pub! At least at dawn, the garage owners wife treated us to a full cooked breakfast. Unfortunately, visibility had by then dropped to about 10 metres due to dense fog, but that's another story.

Additives for fuels include isopropanol to reduce the effects of water in the storage tanks and anti-icing agents for diesel fuel in winter. Octane rating is raised by increasing the proportion of aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene etc) and historically (thank God) by adding tetra ethyl lead.

I still don't believe that there is any noticeable difference between brands of petrol. As I stated previously, I haven't experienced any in over forty years of motoring, with both petrol and diesel vehicles. I'm sure it's all psychological.

Terry D.

Reply to
Terry D

Is there a difference for the hazchem sign between U/L, Super U/L & LRP?

Reply to
Duncan Wood

The Hazchem sign is an indication of the type of hazard and means of dealing with spillage or fire. The four figure number below indicates the substance. Regardless of the few per cent of additives, the precautions for petroleum spirit spillage and/or fire would remain the same.

Terry D.

Reply to
Terry D

If you do the sums (and, sadly, I have - using a spreadsheet) it's marginal from a cost point of view if the Super UL fuels (basic 97 RON or even Ultimate/Optimax) are worth it. For my car anyway, at today's prices.

I get about 26 mpg for 95 UL and 28 mpg for Optimax (in a V6 Galaxy). The cheapest pence per mile comes from buying supermarket fuel with any discounts they may be offering. The premium for Optimax varies - it's between 5p and 6p/litre around me in East Anglia . I've not tried Ultimate yet. I certainly wouldn't pay 10p/litre more.

Performance is a different matter altogether - I can feel a difference but it isn't important to me.

BTW, the car owners manual recommends Super UL but any UL is OK. YMMV (literally)

Reply to
Rick Marks

I've heard of people getting toluene and adding it to fuel to get high octane fuel for high compression motors or turbos with loads of boost. I presume the tax man wouldn't like it, but is it otherwise a sane thing to do?

Reply to
Doki

Toluene is flammable & toxic by inhalation, ingestion or by absorption through skin, but with care, is safe to handle You're right about the taxman, but if toluene can be obtained cheaper than petrol, it does work. About 5% would be required for a 1 octane increase.

In 2000, several petrol satations in Sydney, Australia were prosecuted for diluting petrol with toluene bases paint stripper, up to 57%. This led to pans to impose taxes on any sovents which could be added to petrol. 57% would presumably convert unleaded petrol into over 100 octane!

Terry D.

Reply to
Terry D

[...]

There is also the simple question of finding Optimax tanks as well as the price differences. I've come across an Optimax in Reading that was cheaper than an standard unleaded in Denham! Hence the choice between them is also a matter of convenience.

Reply to
Johannes H Andersen

Well, here's the official word from BP. Bit long mind you! :-

We found through extensive research that a sizeable proportion of the market in our UK-wide sample were very interested in a fuel that would deliver more performance AND less pollution; this is exactly what we are offering with our new advanced fuels.

The RON (Research Octane Number) for BP Ultimate Unleaded is guaranteed 97. For Performance vehicles it is also helpful to know the MON (Motor Octane Number). This is where the Antiknock quality is tested at full throttle and High engine speed, and part throttle and low&high engine speeds. The MON for Ultimate Unleaded is guaranteed 86, however is typically higher and up to

87.4. Which I believe is equivalent to Optimax!

BP have not sold Super Unleaded, but our Superplus grade was also 97 RON. I can reassure you that BP Ultimate is a new technology, produced through a very intensive development programme that took at least 18 months; whereas Superplus was developed just for high performance vehices, Ultimate Unleaded is for ALL vehicles.

Superplus will remain in the network for a while but will progressively be removed as BP Ultimate becomes increasingly available.

Increased octane rating does benefit some vehicles and overall BP Ultimate gives significant benefits relative to unleaded 95. There are other important features of the BP Ultimate formulation that benefit all vehicles, such as its exceptional cleaning performance - twice the cleaning power of normal fuels; deposits are dissolved by the additives and are burned in the engine. Also BP Ultimate burns more efficiently and cleans your engine as you drive to deliver sharper acceleration and improved responsiveness while producing less harmful emissions.

We have tested BP Ultimate and Optimax back to back in a range of performance cars, and saw very similar results for Optimax and BP Ultimate. However, BP Ultimate has been developed to give benefits in ALL cars, as opposed to just performance cars, where the outstanding cleaning performance and friction reduction properties of BP Ultimate are particularly important.

A few figures that you may find interesting regarding BP Ultimate Unleaded compared to standard unleaded:

Average Up to More Performance More power 3.7%

7.1% Sharper Acceleration 3.0% 5.2% Improved Fuel Consumption 3.4% 5.8%

Less Pollution Lower Hydrocarbons 5.6% - Lower Carbon Monoxide 14.5% - Lower Nitrogen Oxides 5.3% - Lower Carbon Dioxide 2.2% - Lower Noise 18.6%

52.0%

Cleaner Engine BP Ultimate Unleaded prevents 97% of (intake valve) deposits forming BP Ultimate Unleaded removes 75% of (intake valve) deposits

We believe that there will be no detrimental effect on you engine only benefits. May I thank you for your interest in BP.

Kind Regards

Customer Care

Reply to
Alison Hannah

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