"Bio fuels" in 8th gen VR4

[JRVR4]

I dont know bout you guys in the rest of Aus, but in SA there are biofuel stations popping up everywhere. Fuel with shit like ethanol and sugar cane and god know what else in it. Some of them even claim to have an octane rating of 98. So my question is, is this alright for our cars? Does anyone know much about these fuels/affects on cars? Generally they are a few cents a litre cheaper (including the 98) so if its an option i might begin to use it...although i'm to shifty right now and sticking to my mobil and BP lol.

 

[Taraska]

I have been told not to put that crap in VR4s at all. I wish there was a cheaper way to run this car but i dont think there is one.

I dont know bout you guys in the rest of Aus, but in SA there are biofuel stations popping up everywhere. Fuel with shit like ethanol and sugar cane and god know what else in it. Some of them even claim to have an octane rating of 98. So my question is, is this alright for our cars? Does anyone know much about these fuels/affects on cars? Generally they are a few cents a litre cheaper (including the 98) so if its an option i might begin to use it...although i'm to shifty right now and sticking to my mobil and BP lol.

 

[Hotwire]

Short answer - if its got ethanol at all, NO

Ipresume your referring to SAFF fuels (in the hills etc) and I would only use BP ultimate, Shell V-Power or Mobile Synergy 8000 (all 98's)

click here for discussion of ethanol

 

[JRVR4]

ahhh and thats what i needed to find when i searched it...cheers lee.

 

[Guest]

Short answer - if its got ethanol at all, NO

Ipresume your referring to SAFF fuels (in the hills etc) and I would only use BP ultimate, Shell V-Power or Mobile Synergy 8000 (all 98's)

click here for discussion of ethanol

well... if you're using shell v-power you're using a fuel with ethanol in it.

 

[naughtika]

Bill.. maybe what you meant is the Shell V-Power Racing.. which is 100 RON with 10-15% ethanol..

 

[Guest]

unless im mistaken which is quite possible i was told that the v-power/optimax had 5% ethanol in it and the v-power racing has a greater amount to get it to 100RON but like i said i could be wrong.

Bill.. maybe what you meant is the Shell V-Power Racing.. which is 100 RON with 10-15% ethanol..

 

[Hotwire]

From the Shell Website: here

Shell V-Power Racing is a new super-high octane fuel with a minimum octane rating of 100, the highest currently available at any Australian service station. Shell V-Power Racing is formulated with 5% ethanol.

and about Shell V-Power here - No ethanol

 

[frozen]

From the Shell Website: here



and about Shell V-Power here - No ethanol

I was just about to post that regular v power has no ethanol and racing doesnt have 10-15% christian, its 5% which is why i was tempted to try it out... as afaik 5% is ok, but mmm i dont know still

 

[naughtika]

even with 5% you'll end up needing to replace your fuel filter since it'll clog up with crap from your tank..

ethanol will clean the sh!t out of your tank since it's alcohol..

 

[qball]

i put in the v power racing 100 octane stuff and the car hated it even worse fuel economy and juddered abit

 

[jungle]

As i've posted elsewhere on this forum, there is nothing wrong with Vpower Shell. I've used it in my Legnum and Skyline with no ill effects, in fact the Skyline gets another 30-40km from a tank with it. The Legnum around another 40km

It won't eat your rubbers and other mis-information like that.
Don't put it in your car and expect instant extra horsepower. Your car will need to be tuned to take advantage of the extra octane, mostly late in the rev band.

 

[frozen]

simon are you referring to v-power racing or regular v-power? (racing is obviously the 100 octane 5% ethanol blend, regular v-power being the pulp 98..)

 

[jungle]

simon are you referring to v-power racing or regular v-power? (racing is obviously the 100 octane 5% ethanol blend, regular v-power being the pulp 98..)

Hi Josh,,
referring to V power racing. Vpower racing is the old Optimax with 5%, although many say its a new blend, i can't see SHELL going to the extra effort producing a new one, when they already have 98 blend they can add 5% to

My skyline does run better on it, so does the Leggy, although the leggy is only noticeable up top, it seems to run out of puff a bit later than when using Ultimate.

The skyline has a tuned ROM and it's leaner everywhere and has more ignition which takes advantage of the extra octane.

 

[Hotwire]

^ I can't comment on the shell specifically, but knowing someone who works with fuel pumps and servo's EVERY DAY, he has said that the ethanol in the "cheaper" fuels (~10%) is more than enough to destroy existing rubber hoses and fittings, and he is constantly replacing them. Also, (again not sure about V-Power Racing) the ethanol fuel is mixed ONLY by sloshing around in the tanker.. they fill the tanker 90% with fuel at the depot, drive to the Ethanol outlet, top up the tanker with the remaining 10% and the only mixing is as the truck drives to the servo.

This is from a good mate of mine who works IN the industry, not just internet hear-say.

 

[Dr_Josh001]

As i've posted elsewhere on this forum, there is nothing wrong with Vpower Shell. I've used it in my Legnum and Skyline with no ill effects, in fact the Skyline gets another 30-40km from a tank with it. The Legnum around another 40km

It won't eat your rubbers and other mis-information like that.
Don't put it in your car and expect instant extra horsepower. Your car will need to be tuned to take advantage of the extra octane, mostly late in the rev band.

I have been warned about the 95 oct stuff with ethanol in it from independant fuel suppliers (which I was running before I was told it would kill my engine). In your opinion or knowledge Simon is this fuel still ok?

My interp of Oct rating was the retardation factor to withstand heat before detonation, as well as heat produced by the ignition of the fuel itself is less with the higher oct rating. What I don't understand is why would 95 oct with ethanol be any worse than normal fuel at 95 oct? If they are given the same numbers shouldn't their combustion behaviour be the same?

 

[Kristian]

Just to make it absolutely clear - DO NOT USE ANY FUEL WITH ETHANOL.

A layman's way of explaining it - all fuel drops octane rating the older it gets, so first tip is always use a busy servo.

Second, Ethanol drops octane far more quickly than normal fuel, so ethanol blends, so your 95 octane ethanol blend could be 89 octane by the time it reaches your tank.

I'm actually opposed to it on environmental and equity grounds too - for every crop we grow for ethanol, some poor bastard in a third world country goes without food. Again, I'm condensing the argument a bit, but have a think about it and you'll understand how things work.

 

[jungle]

I have been warned about the 95 oct stuff with ethanol in it from independant fuel suppliers (which I was running before I was told it would kill my engine). In your opinion or knowledge Simon is this fuel still ok?

My interp of Oct rating was the retardation factor to withstand heat before detonation, as well as heat produced by the ignition of the fuel itself is less with the higher oct rating. What I don't understand is why would 95 oct with ethanol be any worse than normal fuel at 95 oct? If they are given the same numbers shouldn't their combustion behaviour be the same?

I understand Josh that in Darwin that real 98 might be hard to source? If that's the case and I'm guessing here, then the 95 will probably have 10% added to get 98? I have no experience with that fuel- i don't use it.

I occasionally use the Vpower racing, the majority of the time i use BP Ultimate. Why, because there aren't any Shell out here "in the country"! If i lived closer to the city i'd probably use Vpower racing and have the car tuned to suit.

I've used the 10% stuff in my 323 but it runs better on 91. Never had any problems with the hoses on that car.

Again, this site is very young, the pro's and cons have been discussed many times regarding ethanol and it's potential to destroy hoses and other parts of your fuel system on many other websites- the short of it, none of the thousands of Skylines/Silvia owners on SAU or nissnasilvia have reported any problems with Vpower shell.

So people can continue to reprint "don't use ethanol of any sort it kills your hoses and engine" but in the end it comes down to choice.

If that still doesn't convince you, then please tell me why a petrol company would knowingly produce a product that would eat away and destroy the rubber components in a fuel system??

 

[VR-04-TT]

I've used ethanol blends in so many cars it's not funny and never had a problem with any of them. One of them was even a 1980's Mazda 121. I used them to run my DOHC 24v 6G72 TR Magna as well and it never had an issue.

 

[Dr_Josh001]

I understand Josh that in Darwin that real 98 might be hard to source? If that's the case and I'm guessing here, then the 95 will probably have 10% added to get 98? I have no experience with that fuel- i don't use it.

I occasionally use the Vpower racing, the majority of the time i use BP Ultimate. Why, because there aren't any Shell out here "in the country"! If i lived closer to the city i'd probably use Vpower racing and have the car tuned to suit.

I've used the 10% stuff in my 323 but it runs better on 91. Never had any problems with the hoses on that car.

Again, this site is very young, the pro's and cons have been discussed many times regarding ethanol and it's potential to destroy hoses and other parts of your fuel system on many other websites- the short of it, none of the thousands of Skylines/Silvia owners on SAU or nissnasilvia have reported any problems with Vpower shell.

So people can continue to reprint "don't use ethanol of any sort it kills your hoses and engine" but in the end it comes down to choice.

If that still doesn't convince you, then please tell me why a petrol company would knowingly produce a product that would eat away and destroy the rubber components in a fuel system??

Ta Simon; I value your experienced input to this. Yes 98 is extremely hard to come by and there are only 2 servos in Darwin I know of that have 98, both are 30kms from here and the price... try $1.75 a litre!!

It doesn't make sense to me either that a fuel would be made to eat hoses and rubbers. To be quite frank I have seen no difference in fuel eco between the 95 ethanol stuff from IFS and normal 95 from shell. I thought at one stage I could hear pinging during auto gear changes but I think that was just the BOV because I still hear it with the normal 95 fuel.