BP Ultimate fuel
Discussion
What do you all think? Not all BP stations have it, usually only the larger stores have it. Well must be in my head but it does seem to make the car have a bit more pep. Its a 98 Octane bit higher than the regular 96. Was reading somewhere that Gull provides the cleanest fuel followed by BP and Mobil being the most crappy, Shell somewhere in between??
In my experience it makes bugger-all difference. My car runs exactly the same on both fuels and always has, even before the Link ECU was fitted a number of years ago. I know of other TVR owners running on 96 without any signs of a problem. Normally if you get a bit of pinking you just need to back the ignition off a tiny amount and it's not a problem. At worst you'd be losing a couple of horsepower.
Of course with turbo charged cars pinking or pre-detonation can have disastrous consequences as the effects tend to be exasperated, so you have to be more careful. In the same respect a couple of octane more means you can run more boost which means more gee-gees which we all like to see!
Have you ever tried running your Esprit on normal 96? Heard of any other owners doing so?
>> Edited by jamieheasman on Monday 5th April 22:27
Of course with turbo charged cars pinking or pre-detonation can have disastrous consequences as the effects tend to be exasperated, so you have to be more careful. In the same respect a couple of octane more means you can run more boost which means more gee-gees which we all like to see!
Have you ever tried running your Esprit on normal 96? Heard of any other owners doing so?
>> Edited by jamieheasman on Monday 5th April 22:27
I was using Mobils ultra hi for a while which claimed to by 97.5 RON minimum, but it still felt a bit lacking and rough. I switched to Ultimate and the car seems to run a bit smoother and is more responsive. This seems strange to me as I used to full up often in the UK with standard 96RON and never really had any problems.
jamieheasman said:
Have you ever tried running your Esprit on normal 96? Heard of any other owners doing so?
Yeah before I switched to the 98 I was running 96. I spoke to my Lotus mechanic before I made the change and he said my car has been tuned to take it and would run on aviation fuel as well if I wanted to. The car seems to run smoother, I am pleased with it. But every car is different mine being a carbed turbo seems to love it.
Worthwhile trying the Gull fuel as well.... I've found that Gull 97 seems to be the best of the lot of them..... even the Gull 91 seems to be about as good as everyone else's '96. I think that all NZ 91/96 fuels come from the same source, and is utter rubbish.... the 98 is just 96 with octane booster added en masse I believe.
The gull stuff is imported separately from a different supplier/refinery and is generally regarded (in classic car circles at least) as the petrolium of choice....... When the TR is back on the road I'll be running a mix of Gull97 and Avgas.... only the best will do for my baby.... especially with the wedge that I'm going to be soon throwing at my...... wedge
The gull stuff is imported separately from a different supplier/refinery and is generally regarded (in classic car circles at least) as the petrolium of choice....... When the TR is back on the road I'll be running a mix of Gull97 and Avgas.... only the best will do for my baby.... especially with the wedge that I'm going to be soon throwing at my...... wedge
I dont think its available in the south island. Its definately not here. Ive heard people complaining about not being able to get it in christchurch as well
South islanders get stiffed as usual
Cant even get gull here. When challenge first came out it was best, then they got taken over by clatex or whoever it was now theyre the same as everyone else
South islanders get stiffed as usual
Cant even get gull here. When challenge first came out it was best, then they got taken over by clatex or whoever it was now theyre the same as everyone else
100% Correct Paul.... It's only Auckland that has it I think.... IMHO, 98 isn't THAT much better than 96.... I can still get the wagon to pink under load on it... the best is Gull 97 (what they sell instead of 96)..... that stuff is a cut above everything else and most of the NI has it.... although still none in the SI I'm afraid 
dejoux said:
Im guessing George is meaning Gull is only in Ackland
With 98 Available in a few places its possible to drive the length of the north island only filling up on 98 apparently.
Gull is found in Masterton, Napier, Wanganui, Rotorua just to name a few. Just do a search in the on-line yellow pages.
Also yes I agree you could run your car on 98 around the north island so long as you maped out the stations to work out fuel consumption between the longer stretches, and carry a spare 10L supply with you. >> Edited by kylie on Sunday 27th June 21:39
kylie said:
Well Richard is from the Wellington region who used it as decribed above and I make claim to a fill-up at a Taupo BP. So its wider spread than you think, not just Auckland.
Aah ok... I was only aware that Auckland had it, I've not been to welly for ages and I've never seen it anywhere else around the Nth Island, and I've been omst other places.... I guess it's only at a select few places..... I guess if I needed it I'd be on the look out for more..... 91 does nicely in the wagon.
So what choice of fuels do you have at the pumps in NZ these days?
When I left in 1995 I think there was 4 star leaded. 91 unleaded, diesel and Avgas if you went to your local friendly airstrip.
From reading this thread it now seems you have 91 or 96 unleaded. 98 unleaded in some places up north and obviously diesel.
I heard you now cannot buy Avgas from a local airstrip?
Is this correct and how much is a litre of all the above these days?
cheers
Whitey
When I left in 1995 I think there was 4 star leaded. 91 unleaded, diesel and Avgas if you went to your local friendly airstrip.
From reading this thread it now seems you have 91 or 96 unleaded. 98 unleaded in some places up north and obviously diesel.
I heard you now cannot buy Avgas from a local airstrip?
Is this correct and how much is a litre of all the above these days?
cheers
Whitey
91 Unleaded has always stayed the same
Leaded petrol was replaced by 96 Unleaded in the mid-late 90s
Diesel and LPG have stayed the same
98 Unleaded has been introduced in the last couple of years but as explained in this thread its not yet widespread
Avgas is still around at something approaching $2 a litre but you need a racing licence or a plane or a friendly service station owner
to get it
I cant even remember the exact price of petrol these days, I just fill it up either way. As far as I can remember 91 is in the low $1.20s and 96 is about 5-6 cents dearer and I think similar again for 98. Dear by NZ standards but still about a third of what your paying
Leaded petrol was replaced by 96 Unleaded in the mid-late 90s
Diesel and LPG have stayed the same
98 Unleaded has been introduced in the last couple of years but as explained in this thread its not yet widespread
Avgas is still around at something approaching $2 a litre but you need a racing licence or a plane or a friendly service station owner
to get it I cant even remember the exact price of petrol these days, I just fill it up either way. As far as I can remember 91 is in the low $1.20s and 96 is about 5-6 cents dearer and I think similar again for 98. Dear by NZ standards but still about a third of what your paying
yeap what dejoux said..... It's illegal to run avgas here on the road..... if you're pulled over and are found to be running avgas (not that it's the sorta thing regularly checke,d but if your car reeks of the stuff then it's not unknown for them to commandeer a fuel sample) then you can get done BIG time..... I think it's mainly because Avgas isn't taxed for road use so if you use it you're not lining the government coffers... they don't like that very much :P
To revive an old topic, there's DEFINITE benefit of using 98 over 96.
The Elise was running on 96 but would pink uder load... now running on 98 she doesn't pink and has a noticeable bit more response/grunt and revs out slightly freer. Lotus recommend that 95RON is optimum and there's no point in going higher... given that rumours abound that in NZ "96" is actually about 93-94 RON and "98" is more like a true 96+ RON..... certainly seems to hold true with what my lil' Lotus agrees with.
The Elise was running on 96 but would pink uder load... now running on 98 she doesn't pink and has a noticeable bit more response/grunt and revs out slightly freer. Lotus recommend that 95RON is optimum and there's no point in going higher... given that rumours abound that in NZ "96" is actually about 93-94 RON and "98" is more like a true 96+ RON..... certainly seems to hold true with what my lil' Lotus agrees with.
Then there is also the RON vs MON story . . .
My second GT-Four wouldn't stay on it's top map using 96. BP Ultimate or Mobile 8000 fixed that. At a guess I'd say there was a 10-15bhp difference in the mid-range and 20~25 bhp difference at the top. The error codes from the engine computer indicated that this was a distinctly separate map.
The current STi seems to cope with 96 but generally has a diet of 98.
A little run on some left-over imported 102 Super Green was quite exciting for a while although it had a rather strange smell ???
My Westfield has only ever run on 98 . . . just me being paranoid
My second GT-Four wouldn't stay on it's top map using 96. BP Ultimate or Mobile 8000 fixed that. At a guess I'd say there was a 10-15bhp difference in the mid-range and 20~25 bhp difference at the top. The error codes from the engine computer indicated that this was a distinctly separate map.
The current STi seems to cope with 96 but generally has a diet of 98.
A little run on some left-over imported 102 Super Green was quite exciting for a while although it had a rather strange smell ???
My Westfield has only ever run on 98 . . . just me being paranoid
Esprit said:
To revive an old topic, there's DEFINITE benefit of using 98 over 96.
The Elise was running on 96 but would pink uder load... now running on 98 she doesn't pink and has a noticeable bit more response/grunt and revs out slightly freer. Lotus recommend that 95RON is optimum and there's no point in going higher... given that rumours abound that in NZ "96" is actually about 93-94 RON and "98" is more like a true 96+ RON..... certainly seems to hold true with what my lil' Lotus agrees with.
Nice finding!!! so its not just me on silly details.
Totally true for mine as well. Been running BP 96 on the last two fill-ups due to a BP 98 station not being handy to home. It sometimes has a 3K stumble now. Car is tuned too btw with new plugs. Will be going back to 98. Gassing Station | New Zealand | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff