Shell Optimax? Marketing scam?

I would suggest perhaps you are running with the ignition retarded then. Does it still perform as it should at high revs, and can you drive up a moderate hill at 30mph in top? I had to put regular unleaded in mine once and i tell you it didnt like it - was down on idle and ran like a bag of spanners top end. I guess each individual engine is different thou and perhaps yours has suitable tolerances to allow it.

Cheers

Dan

 

is there much difference between shell optimax and bp ultimate?



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Personally I've found that Optimax makes the engine tick nicer than BP Ultimate. Im adverse to most peoples opinion, I feel that Optimax does actually work and I for a while wasnt convinced one single bit. Then after a full tankfrom bare empty things started running a lot more smooth. Also the accelarator became a lot more responsive.


Thumbs Up To the Shell Optimax Team ...


Again its horses for cobottoms. You either like it, Or dont.

 

When I got my early '89 mk2 16v a couple of weeks ago both times I was
nowhere near a petrol station that did SUL, so I had to put in 95
octane. It won't pull up a slight hill in 5th at 30mph, but then
I don't know many cars that will. It was happy from 35mph
however. The top end was certainly not lacking, and the low down
power was pretty good too. However the idle is a bit
lumpy.. could do with getting it set up. Also it
occasionally stutters when coasting down at low revs. I also
think the idle control valve (or ISV as you guys would call it) needs a
clean because it's holding revs occasioanlly when coming off the power
with the clutch down.



Anyway, yesterday I put in Esso 97 octane, and I have to say I don't
think it's made the blindest bit of difference. I've done 45
miles since then, and it still seems to idle slightly lumpily, not pull
fom 30mph and has a similar top end (maybe a bit quicker, but then I'm
not used to the car enough to say). I'll keep an eye on my fuel
economy and see if it warrants the 4p a litre extra. There is a
shell garage one mile from my house, though it's not on my work
route. Unfortunately the last time I was there (about a year ago)
the optimax was 7p a litre more than normal 95RON!

 

It won't do - your car is 98 Octane minimum - optimax is the only way.

Cheers

Dan

 

i didn't realise that optimax was a higher RON than bp ultimate, think i will be visiting shell more often now!<!--
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It's a shame that they got rid of 4star, now that was proper stuff. Some places still sell it but you'll struggle to find them, it's more for the really old collectors cars.

Every engine benefits from higher octane (RON), doesn't matter what it is. It all comes down to how much bang you want for your money.

 

Just went to tesco's and what did i see-99RON super unleaded at 94.9p a litre-not bad for those wanting a higher ron!

 

having read this topic over the last few days i decided to switch from
bp ultimate to shell optimax today, however i am quite confused as i
went to my local shell and could only find shell "super unleaded", not
the same thing as Optimax apparently as i believe its only 97 RON and
not 98 like the optimax. Is optimax only available at
certain Shells?<!--
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Well, it certainly looks like the marketing worked.

This point is interesting:

A 1.3 carb engine that runs fine on 95 octane (or even 92 octane for that
matter) will make no more power if you run it on super unleaded,
Optimax, Ultima or even methanol unless you advance the timing to suit.
As for these other benefits, I'm not convinced. Certainly, the small block
VW carb engines were designed to run just fine on any cheap petrol.

This is Edmund John Philip Brown, Baron Browne of Madingley, better
known as Lord John Browne, the chairman of BP:



Why's he looking so pleased with himself? Because every time somebody
puts a tank full of Ultima in a car that doesn't really need it his wallet gets
just that little bit fatter. Lord Browne of Madingley is unmarried, listing
fine cigars, antique furniture and the arts among his interests.

Save your money.

 

I was going to get some super unleaded last night as on the filler flap on the 16V I've just bought it says min 98 ron. BUT! It was 99.9p a litre and the normal 95 ron was on special price at 87.9 a litre. So at 12p difference a litre I went for the 95 ron, but am still not sure if this is totally ok?!

 

my 8v says min 98RON on the filler cap but for ages i ran it on 95RON
unleaded before switiching to BPUltimate about 2 months ago, now I am
changing again to Shell Optimax as I recently found out that its
actually 98RON, 1 higher than the BP ultimate. i never had any probs
with the 95 RON, think i noticed somewhere in the service history where
the timing was changed to suit unleaded. <!--
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To be fair any car that has been mapped for 98RON from the factory will
survive on 97RON. On 95RON it would be a different story
however. My point was that you would expect at least some
difference with 97RON if there was an issue with 95RON in my car.
However everything felt just the same throughout the rev range. I
doubt one octane point higher would suddenly transform my car into one
that pulled from 30 in 5th up a bit of a hill or stopped the occasional
jumpiness at low revs on part /cruising load. I will try optimax
for the next tank and post if a difference is apparent. To be
fair if your car doesn't pull from 30mph in 5th doesn't mean the engine
is unhealthy... comparing mine and my brother's 1.1 litre fiestas years
ago, mine would pull from a couple of mph lower in 5th, was just as
fast, had the same gearing and power, and similar mileage to my
brothers. But mine pulled from lower than his. His was a
younger engine too. The MOT test results were very similar for
both cars, nothing unusual, so I doubt either engine was in any way
ill. It;s just natural tolerences. I wouldn't expect a 1.8
litre engine producing 139PS from that era to pull from 30mph in 5th
even with the valver's short gearing.

 

Tesco fuel is hit and miss, some days its really good and other
days it like water, Theres also been reports that if the
tankers fill the wrong fuel tank up and its less than a
quarter full they just fill the rest up with the right fuel to dilute
it!!!

Dunno about you but i wouldnt want to run my car on 25% diesel or even worse a diesel on 25% petrol

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A much more accurate test would be to get somebody else to fill your car
up for you the next few times using different petrol each time and you
have to say what difference you noticed before you were told what type it
was. Then you wouldn't be able to trick yourself into noticing a placebo
effect.

 

I've tried some 99RON from Tescos for the first time, only done 40miles so not really noticed anything.

Main reason it was only 90.9p!!! Tesco's Watford. Couldn't believe the higher Octance petrol was cheaper than normal 95Ron (86.9p) in some areas of UK at the moment.

 

I used it as i was in a hurry before work to get fuel, and the only pump availiable were city diesel and super unleaded. I thought instead of paying 98.9p a litre at the local on the way to work, i'd rather pay 94.9p for super 99ron at the tesco's.

No harm done, if i could, wouldn't have stuck to the 89.9p normal jobby

 

most of us havent got high compression engines or turbo lumps so it wont
make a blind but of difference. Hell id water my polo fuel down if it would
work

Dads car is fine with 95, but with 98 its smoother. The new M5 would deffo
benifit as it individually cylinder trims each injector and timing.

also as fro 99, that probably due to it being summer, they increase the
octain so with the time delay between them and us it doesnt boil off too
much.

 

Got some 97 ron super unleaded from Sainsburys this morning that was 91.9 a litre which I though was pretty good. As I've mentioned before I've been using normal 95 ron unleaded, but I've noticed that over the last week or so the idle wasn't as smooth, especially when the engine's a bit cold. It could have been that it didn't like the Texaco petrol as much which is what I used in the last tank? Will see if there's much difference with this tank!
Edited by: Aquablue

 

I've been mixing petrol for the past year since I've had my car and I can say I've never noticed any difference between 95RON petrol and Optimax. Got a mk2 valver which states min 98RON on the fuel flap but its been fine on all the varients of unleaded.
Think its just that placebo effect as mentioned tbh. My mileage always varies as my driving style is never continually the same, some days I drive like a nutter and others an old fart. Generally I just use whatever station is nearby and I think I'll continue that way