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Shell Optimax or BP Ultimate?


SL26UK
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Not sure Optimax is the fuel of choice, my manual reccomends a fuel that is 98 RON and Optimax is the only fuel in the UK that is (with the exception of this new Tesco 99 RON). BP Ultimate in the UK is only 97 RON so is not the same spec, hence Optimax being the only real option.

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Supermarket fuels come from the same refinery as Petrol stations fuel and hence ARE just as good.

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Not necessarily true. Shell will spec their feul to their own requirements, whereas BP will have different requirements.

There is a need to differentiate their products and so they'll have additives and stuff in each that differs from the other brands.

Supermarkets may buy 'Shell' or 'BP' fuel or they may buy their other stuff thas not been through the same processes and the branded fuel.

Otherwise Shell and BP have been lying to us all these years.

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I found Tesco's fuel to no more pokier and allot less fuel efficient so am sticking with Optimax. I also hear that the cheaper supermarket fuels are not as good as brand name fuels due to them not having certain additives

[/ QUOTE ]Yes I remember reading an article the gist of which was that they are all refined the same but the various companies additives are added at the final tanker fill stage.

Anyone confirm?

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I think you'd have as much luck getting the US defence strategy for 2006 than finding out about Shell's Refining process 169144-ok.gif

There was a geek on here (sorry, member) who's dad worked for Shell. He documented in detail about the differences, but I fell asleep by the second paragraph and figured that i'd just see for myself 169144-ok.gif

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I remember that detailed post about the process too.

I exclusively use Optimax, for both 98RON and for its reportedly engine-healthy additives. No complaints whatsoever and it's not too expensive....99.9p. There's no point spending about £25K on a motor and then not looking after it as best as one can, especially as it's designed to run best on 98RON. I didn't realise that BP Ultimate was only 97RON....I wondered why it was cheaper. Mobil do high octane too but not in the UK.

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Filled up with 99ron at Tescos at the Meadows. After 5 miles, the mpg was reading 27.4 ooo.gif, which I dont believe for a minute. However, for the rest of the journey home it stayed above 27. Will be chuffed to bits if this is the case and it is accurate.

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Well, ya know where the Meadows Tesco is, busy as hell as always, but for 99ron it was 95.1p I thought I would give it a try, cos the Optimax around here is a bit on the dear side at the mo. Sainsbury's doing 95ron for 91.1p and 97ron for 94p

This 99ron seems pretty good to me, but am a little iffy about getting 27mpg out of a 6.0l engine.....nah cant be right??? But it was stable after a 35 mile run

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yep, me too. only optimax for mine.

higher octane fuel apprently doesn't contain any more energy than lower octane fuel, its just that it's less volatile and burns more evenly and cleanly instead of exploding in the chambers (which causes knocking and pinging). not quite sure how the increased costs come in though, but i believe there are octane enchancers,? btw, fuel sold in the US has a really low octance rating. But cars can be tuned to take in lower octane fuels up to an extent i think, like combustion retardation techniques, lowering combustion ratio (making it less explosive). If anyone has read the technical manual which was sent out not too long ago about the tfsi engine, will see that that the fuel is pumped in at incredibly high pressure, cant remember but over 50psi? this liquid pressure can injure someone and if directed at eyes etc could maim.

anyway i believe that using low octane fuel on the gti in a prolonged basis will damage the engine due to knocking caused by high volatility of the fuel. there is definitely a chemical and physical reason for avoiding low octane fuels.

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You're not quite understanding the ECU's on these engines. If you use poor fuel the ECU WILL back off the timing until there is no knocking hence the 98/95 on the filler cap. 98 is preffered but 95 will be OK but with slightly reduced power. Also the FSI engine is less likely to suffer from this problem as the fuel is injected directly into the cylinder at the precise millisecond it is required giving less chance for detonation(knocking) than there would be on a conventionally fueled car.

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