Octane Booster

[peterkelty]

Hello all,

 

I'm sure it's been covered before but can't seem to find a definitive answer. I live on a remote Scottish island and can't buy any sort of premium fuel, 95 is the best and only you can buy, and when I'm on the mainland with the car I always use super unleaded, I've managed to not put normal petrol in the car since January, but now I'm running low and with no immediate trip to the mainland planned I am considering the use of octane booster instead of just running it on the standard petrol alone. The car is a mk2 facelift VRS on a 62 plate, totally standard not been mapped or anything like that.

 

Do you think it would be beneficial to run it with octane booster? If so with every single tank or only every so often? Which octane booster would you recommend? Is there any downside to running 95 with octane booster in every tank?

 

Another reason I've been put off running on normal petrol alone is that a friend of mine has a Mini Countryman John Cooper Works (1.6 turbo) he runs it on the standard petrol  we can buy here all the time and finds that from time to time the engine management light will come on with the message "increased emissions" but brimming the tank and adding a dose of redex will cause the light to turn off almost immediately after running it with the redex which leads to me to believe the normal petrol that you can buy here is just not good enough for relatively high-performance engines, but possibly not even as good as the standard fuel you'd be able to buy on the mainland.

 

Any input is welcomed.

Many thanks.

 

[xman]

10 minutes ago, peterkelty said:

 

 a friend of mine has a Mini Countryman John Cooper Works (1.6 turbo) he runs it on the standard petrol  we can buy here all the time and finds that from time to time the engine management light will come on with the message "increased emissions" but brimming the tank and adding a dose of redex will cause the light to turn off almost immediately after running it with the redex which leads to me to believe the normal petrol that you can buy here is just not good enough for relatively high-performance engines, but possibly not even as good as the standard fuel you'd be able to buy on the mainland.

 

Stale fuel can cause this. Regular 95 has up to 5% ethanol, possibly more in the future which is hygroscopic and absorbs water. If you don't fill often, petrol can start to go off in as little as 2 or 3 weeks, the lighter fractions evaporate and water condenses in tank air spaces, depending on temperature changes and humidity which I guess is always high where you live. In extreme cases phase separation occurs where the water/ethanol seperates physically. Once that happens you have big running problems. Also affects the fuel in the petrol station you use which may have a low turnover, and storage tanks above ground.

 

If you only refill every few weeks then refuel more often with smaller topups.

 

You probably would benefit from a fuel stabiliser of some sort, can't recommend anything in particular, just advise you to stick to large well known brands.

 

Heres some to consider but do research well before using.

 

https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/cp4l/p/-/-/-/-/?555770570&0&cc5_861&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImYLH1_6K3gIVgbHtCh1OxAEhEAQYASABEgKhBvD_BwE

 

https://www.wynns.eu/product/supremium-petrol/

[peterkelty]

To be honest I don't think my mates problems are to do with fuel going off, he uses his car more than I do and I've never had any actual problems like he has, I don't think he tends to brim his tank often either usually just topping up every now and then whereas I will brim my tank with super when I'm on the mainland, and usually take a few jerry cans of it back with me aswell.

 

Would there be any downside to running something like this:- https://www.amazon.co.uk/STP-GST56200EN-200ml-Power-Booster/dp/B008R9GLAE?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1 in every tank (of locally bought standard fuel) as a precaution?

 

I would love to get my car mapped aswell, but the lack of premium fuels available is a concern, I don't want to be left thinking I can't use the car because I can't get fuel for it!

 

 

[ScoutCJB]

I had issues on my Oct 2 running a supermarket fuel last year - car just didn't run right, started to be a bit hesitant etc - i then moved on to BP/Shell and the issue went away.  Since getting my Oct 3 in December last year it has only had Shell.  From around June to September I ran V-power diesel, roughly 15 tanks.  The car felt a little perkier but i didn't see any increased MPG.  The increase in fuel costs recently made it prohibative so I moved to the boosters (Redex had been on offer in Asda).

 

The car doesn't feel as perky as it was on V Power (4 tanks later), but is it better than standard - I dont know.  I need to stop running the booster additive and see what it felt like.  I wouldn't think there is any harm in it, but unsure it would match the levels of a high octane ron fuel.

[xman]

5 hours ago, peterkelty said:

To be honest I don't think my mates problems are to do with fuel going off,

 

How often does the petrol station you use refuel its tanks and are the tanks above or below ground? Is it a station that only sees a handful of cars a day?

[Russ77]

In your filler cap and/or owner's manual, it should state the correct fuel type to use, if it ways 95 RON then you really don't need to run anything higher.

 

However, running a higher rated fuel will allow the ECU to advance the timing a little as there will be less chance of pinging which may make the engine feel like it's running better although the actual performance gains will be minimal.

[vonbeck]

 Hi  i have  used octane booster in the past, I always used millars octane plus which gives you up to 2 octane to your fuel, i have used it with  v power and tescos 99 ron stuff when doing any  track days etc or there is the millars  CVL turbo which adds 4 octane 

http://www.millersoils.co.uk/motor-sport/treatments