Shell V-Power in the Mk1. Any point?
Discussion
my understanding is that the early ecu's can't advance timing to make the most from V-Power so there would be no power gains as such, what would be of benefit is the detergants in VP cleaning your engine internals, if there is a build up of crap around your cylinder head, that could be sapping several HP, so a few tanks of the good stuff is not a bad idea and in many ways a cheap 'mod'
Have you done the 14 degrees ignition advance mod yet?
Greg
Have you done the 14 degrees ignition advance mod yet?
Greg
As above, the only benefit is cleaning things up a bit. The timing on a MK1 is manually set using the Cam Angle Sensor. There is no Knock sensor until the MK2 I believe.
But if your always going to use the high octaine stuff could you advance the ignition timing further than the 14 you can advance to on 95 ron?
(As standard the cars come out of the factory set to 10 so advancing to 14 is a free gain)
But if your always going to use the high octaine stuff could you advance the ignition timing further than the 14 you can advance to on 95 ron?
(As standard the cars come out of the factory set to 10 so advancing to 14 is a free gain)Edited by Munter on Tuesday 11th December 11:30
Greg_D said:
my understanding is that the early ecu's can't advance timing to make the most from V-Power so there would be no power gains as such, what would be of benefit is the detergants in VP cleaning your engine internals, if there is a build up of crap around your cylinder head, that could be sapping several HP, so a few tanks of the good stuff is not a bad idea and in many ways a cheap 'mod'
Have you done the 14 degrees ignition advance mod yet?
Greg
Yeah, Jimparts did the 14 degree timing mod for me - felt the gains with that, a lot more kick from 3000rpm. I get travel expenses through work, so I reckon might keep her clean.Have you done the 14 degrees ignition advance mod yet?
Greg
Is there anything else cheapish I can do to squeeze a bit more speed out? K&N and Pipercross induction kits are about £70.
To be honest there isn't a lot you can do to them to make them faster without spending decent money.
Changing the airbox/filter tends to rob power (though it's worth doing anyway as it sounds much better so feels faster).
Changing the full exhaust system from manifold to rear box will gain less than 10hp and cost plenty.
You can change the cams (expensive) but then you need to increase the rev limit to make the most of it which means aftermarket ecu (expensive) and many who have tried don't like the way the car drives afterwards.
Realistically advancing the timing is about all you can do.
This is why FI is so popular with MX-5s.
Using V-power doesn't give any advantage at all on any na MX-5 other than a bit of additional engine cleaning though most standard 95RON have detergent additives too - they just don't advertise the fact. The knock sensor on Mk2.5 is not used to advance timing, only to retard if there is a problem so the same applies.
Changing the airbox/filter tends to rob power (though it's worth doing anyway as it sounds much better so feels faster).
Changing the full exhaust system from manifold to rear box will gain less than 10hp and cost plenty.
You can change the cams (expensive) but then you need to increase the rev limit to make the most of it which means aftermarket ecu (expensive) and many who have tried don't like the way the car drives afterwards.
Realistically advancing the timing is about all you can do.
This is why FI is so popular with MX-5s.
Using V-power doesn't give any advantage at all on any na MX-5 other than a bit of additional engine cleaning though most standard 95RON have detergent additives too - they just don't advertise the fact. The knock sensor on Mk2.5 is not used to advance timing, only to retard if there is a problem so the same applies.
iamlofi said:
Ok . . . Is there any point in sticking Vpower in a MK2 uk spec?
Some people argue that they can feel a difference and others that they get a bit more mileage but there is no technical reason why this would be. On a similar note, people who fit an induction kit feel as if the car is faster though dyno tests show it actually loses power.The MX-5 ecu does not advance timing to take advantage of higher octane fuel so there is no reason why any super unleaded would be any different to a standard 95RON unleaded.
The only difference you'll get in a Mk1/2/2.5 MX5 is from the fact that higher octane fuels are oxygenated (Tesco 99RON for example, achieves the higher octane with the introduction of an amount of ethanol which has oxygen as part of it's make up). At these levels though it will be insignificant and I'd guess the placebo effect will be much greater. The engine control unit does not have the functionality to increase the timing to take advantage of the higher octane. I doubt even the Mk3 has this tbh.
Arguably as these fuels are the premium brand of the oil company, the additive pack may be superior to their boggo 95. Shell and use this as a selling point of VPower, I haven't seen such comments from Tesco about 99RON and can't remember if BP do or not about Ultimate (although that's pointless anyway as anecdotal comments about Ultimate from tuners suggest it's pretty crap).
Arguably as these fuels are the premium brand of the oil company, the additive pack may be superior to their boggo 95. Shell and use this as a selling point of VPower, I haven't seen such comments from Tesco about 99RON and can't remember if BP do or not about Ultimate (although that's pointless anyway as anecdotal comments about Ultimate from tuners suggest it's pretty crap).
I think there might be a grammar mistake in there somewhere. I'm not sure if he's saying the 14 degree timing mod is good or bad on a 1.6 
I know it works just fine on a Mk1 1.8 - I did it on my old Mk1 Berkeley and it gave a bit of a lift to the low/mid-range which is where you need it. It might not have helped at the top end but that isn't really as important in day to day driving.
I know it works just fine on a Mk1 1.8 - I did it on my old Mk1 Berkeley and it gave a bit of a lift to the low/mid-range which is where you need it. It might not have helped at the top end but that isn't really as important in day to day driving.
Dyno won't show any improvement unless you overlay before & after graphs.
If all you are after is adding 2bhp to the headline figure you'll be disapointed. Like I said, the benefit is in the midrange where it does get a useful lift and it is this range that make a car feel more powerful as that's where you are most of the time.
If all you are after is adding 2bhp to the headline figure you'll be disapointed. Like I said, the benefit is in the midrange where it does get a useful lift and it is this range that make a car feel more powerful as that's where you are most of the time.
NiceCupOfTea said:
Interesting, was going to ask my mech to do it but I was told you can even lose power on the 1.8...
I think we need to take a 1.8 and a 1.6 to Surry Rolling Road. Run them at 10 and then 14. Compare the results and post it up. Now whens the next PH rolling road day? 
Munter said:
NiceCupOfTea said:
Interesting, was going to ask my mech to do it but I was told you can even lose power on the 1.8...
I think we need to take a 1.8 and a 1.6 to Surry Rolling Road. Run them at 10 and then 14. Compare the results and post it up. Now whens the next PH rolling road day? Munter said:
NiceCupOfTea said:
Interesting, was going to ask my mech to do it but I was told you can even lose power on the 1.8...
I think we need to take a 1.8 and a 1.6 to Surry Rolling Road. Run them at 10 and then 14. Compare the results and post it up. Now whens the next PH rolling road day? 
Like I said, headline figure might well be disappointing, perhaps even down on stock but the midrange is where you get the benefit.
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