RIDE magazine report: Fancy Fuels

[AcIdBuRnZ]

Hi,

Following on from the thread a wee while ago on the topic of fancy fuels, RIDE magazine has published a report in Feb 2005 issue.

Basically they wanted to find out if premium fuels (such as Optimax) actually make your bike run better.

Conclusion?

A 2003 Gixxer 600 made an extra 1.5 BHP (giving 100BHP) @ 13,100rpm compared to the stock 98.5 BHP @ 13,400rpm. That was using BP Ultimate fuel.

Quite a significant increase when you consider it. I stand corrected as in the last thread I said that it wouldn't make any difference.

OK, it's a small amount, but to gain extra power from a couple extra quid at the garage? Surely got to worth it.

Mark
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Past: Honda NSR125R >> Kawasaki ER-5a2 >> Kawasaki ZZR-600e1 >> Suzuki GSXR-750Y >> Honda VTR 1000 Firestorm
"Chickity China the Chinese Chicken..."

[stormwarning]

I use it in my car and bike. My bike makes an extra 1bhp, but it's so much smoother which makes the most difference. Good throttle response and pretty good mpg.

I like it!
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https://www.bikebidder.com/index.php / https://www.adopt-a-racer.org.uk/

[kaillum]

i use optimax in my bike 99% of the time.. and can notice the difference if I fill up on sh!tty stuff... dont know if its all in my mind, but throttle response, idle and mpg seem to be a lot nicer on optimax than anything else...

[Claud 14.7 to 1]

[AcIdBuRnZ]

What I was meaning was that we spend hundreds on kit (end cans etc) to gain 6-8 more BHP, but spending an extra few quid at the pumps can give an extra 1.5 BHP.

It was a price vs. gain comparison, if you get my drift.

Not only the power gain, but the better overall running of the engine.
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Past: Honda NSR125R >> Kawasaki ER-5a2 >> Kawasaki ZZR-600e1 >> Suzuki GSXR-750Y >> Honda VTR 1000 Firestorm
"Chickity China the Chinese Chicken..."

[Hooky]

On a standard engine the gains are fairly good, on a tuned motor the increases are smaller overall but it does seem to cause less wear and stresses on valve seats etc.
Standard r6 (2002) 102 bhp (tesco unleaded) Shell optimax 104 BHP
Race r6 (2002) 112 BHP (Tesco unleaded ) Shell optimax 112 bhp !(increase in torque at 7-8000 rpm)
So whats the score , how and why does it work (or not) im confused
Anybody
Both bikes measured on same dyno on same day.
Im really not sure if this dyno testing is all that important.
I think more speed can be gained from loosing some inches off the waistline (3 foot in my case )

[Claud 14.7 to 1]

Sure Acidburnz . Wasn’t meant to be confrontational or anything.

When I used a car I put any old cak in it.

But I actually like my bike, so I put better (IMO) fuel in.

Depends on how much you like your machine/which machine/how you use it, and how much money you have as to whether it's worth it or not.

[instigator]

Mark - Is that you on truebloo's gixxer on your avatar?

When does he allow me a shot

As for the fuel debate, I've used optimax a few times but only because I've done it by mistake. I dont usually use the same fuel station type place twice in a row so all of these different colours goes right over my head.

Filled up my old 125 with 97 octane unleaded before, that was an unbelievably horrible ride, bike nearly died on me at every set of lights

[Kickstart]

Hi

The extra octane rating is not going to be relevant for most vehicles. Think Shell claimed a higher energy content for the fuel, but not that sure how that would manifest itself. Quite possible that depending on timing / stroke / conrod length some engines might well take advantage of it.

The better detergent abilities might well help, but personally I would only expect that to show after using it for a while.

I normally use super unleaded in the RS125, but that is because it was designed for higher octane fuel anyway. The higher octane petrol will not help performance, but might well stop the piston looking like a Polo mint.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Barker-CBR 600]

Possibily a slight psycological effect as well, same as when you polish it all up and make every nook an cranny clean an tidy an well oiled.

Might make a slight amount of physical difference granted, but more likely you will feel more relaxed, smoother and generally more proud (and therefore value, and therefore concentrate more) of it. So you'll ride along in a better mood and it'll feel better, whether it is or not.

*EDIT*

And in my opinion thats also well worth the couple of extra quid.
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Previous - Gilera DNA50 / XVS125 Dragstar/Honda CBR 600F/GSF 650 Bandit
Current - 2013 Suzuki VZ800 Intruder
'Is this a rhetorical question?'

[AcIdBuRnZ]

[8316]

considering keith was talking a little bit about octane levels- i think we should feel a little sorry for our canadian friends. ok, the petrol costs 25p a litre, but the octane is only 87! surely that wont help their bikes. and their equivalent of super unleaded is a lame octane level 91!
im glad we have good petrol, even though its a little expensive( )ah well. cant win everything!
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Now own a Fireblade!! Speed Limits? Bah!

[veeeffarr]

[Panther]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Think the USA / Canada use the PON (pump octane number) which is an average of the RON and MON figures. As a very rough rule of thumb the MON figure is 10 below the RON figure, so for a rough equivalent add 5 to the quoted PON rating to get the RON rating.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing