Living in the dark ages

[Venkman]

Just thought I'd have a rant about the ineptitude of fuel suppliers in the channel islands. Found out yesterday that from March they will no longer be supplying (super unleaded 97/98Ron) at all in Jersey or Guernsey. The forecourts have been told but theres not been any public notification at all. The best we will be able to get is 95 Ron. As our nearest point to fill up will be a boat ride away to either St Malo or Poole it that leaves us with either forking out for octane boosters which will be expensive in the long run or simply not using our performance cars. Well that's one way to ensure I keep a low mileage WR1! Anyone know what the long term effects of using additives in fuel are, is it wise? Also the motorsport we do have in the islands rely on Super unleaded and have a ruling against fuel additives so that's another point we've been shafted on not a happy bunny that's for sure

[Gary75]

Looks like you will need to fill a couple of gerry cans on each visit to the mainland?

[Venkman]

..or invest in a moderately sized tanker Problem is I use my car as a daily runner although I did have plans to keep her as a dry weather car once I've renovated the house and cleared out the garage.

[Gary75]

..or invest in a moderately sized tanker Problem is I use my car as a daily runner although I did have plans to keep her as a dry weather car once I've renovated the house and cleared out the garage.

Yes good idea with regards to a tanker.....

[Megaman]

Ive used octane booster before - Millers +2 octane booster. Used it when i went to germany as it was hard to find a shell selling v-power. The car drove okay but the power was certainly lumpy and not as smooth as oem vpower. I tended to add more than I should of done as a bigger bang is better than not enough bang. So for 95 ron i was adding 3 x +2's to get it up to 101ron. Created some nice flames out the back now and then when running rich but like I say its hard to find the happy medium.

Some people put octane booster in AFTER filling up. I dont see the point as half of it will be stuck coating the fuel pipes on the way down into the tank so personally i put mine in before i filled up.

Suppose it depends what your car is mapped to, my car was running at 420bhp when I was using it, the oem car might be perfectly fine with the usual octane boosters

[Venkman]

Those are good points mega. As far as I'm aware my car has never had a remap and the engine is standard, never had to use octane boosters before though. I'll see how things play out with the fuel supplier as they haven't released an official statement yet.

I've always said I'd never sell the car but if things go pear shaped it may be a reluctant option. It's only just done 27k miles despite being a daily driver - shows how small Guernsey is!

[Megaman]

The car will run on cheaper fuel on the oem map as that is designed to cater for lots of fuels in different countries and climates. However you will lose the grunt top end if using the cheaper fuels so you do notice it.

Still cant believe they are ditching quality fuels, not good at all for performance car enthusiasts. It may be a deterrent to put off boy racers turning up for a blast, who knows.

[asperformance]

you will have no issue with something decent quality like the Millers Power EcoMax which will add 2RON.............with this additive it reaches a saturation point where regardless of how many extra "shots" you add it doesn't keep adding RON at a linear rate and simply flatlines, i suspect this is where Megaman was and it is unlikely you would have reached 101..........


the other alternative would be the NF Race additive, now this can be overdosed if want/needs be but would generally be run at 1ml/ltr for a 2RON increase

[Venkman]

Cheers guys that's really helpful. Looks like I'll be getting myself some Millers then! At least when I take her away I can put some decent stuff in her and give her a good run

[The Swede]

Venkman,

How much do you need the 97/98Ron? The octane number refers to the resistance to knock of the engine. Now, if I am not mistaken, you aren't allowed or able to drive you car hard in Guernsey. So you might be OK on good quality 95.

Your engine will not go "boom" because you drive on 95 once. It's the long term use of it that will cause increased wear.

So to avoid that, when you get to the continent, you fill up on 98 and if you're not on the continent for a while, you indeed occasionally chuck a bottle of octane booster in the tank.