Fuel for the R36?

[Audemars]

What do you guys put in the tank of your R36? For the first few months I went with Caltex Vortex 98 simply because there's a Caltex just down the road.

Then one day I put BP 98 in it instead and MAN what a difference!! The BP juice gives such a tight ride with reliable power from low to high revs. Completely different to the Vortex 98.

A few times I've gone back to Caltex again just to see if I've been imagining things. And every time it's becomes obvious that my R36 loves BP so much more. Even the missus (who isn't a petrol head) called me one day to say that she loved how much better the car drives on the BP petrol. So now there's no looking back.

What do you put in your R36?

[Steve]

Mine gets BP Ultimate, mostly because it's good but partly because I drive past a BP no matter which way I choose to get home.

Mum's Golf GTI loves BP Ultimate too, although Dad isn't enamoured with BP diesel for his Q7.

[Lance B]

I have always used BP 98 Ultimate.

[Burkey]

BP is definitely the preferred fuel for me. Hard to pin it down, but the car just seems to like it a lot better. The Caltex can be a bit hit and miss.

I know that everyone here is hooked on the MPG but the car seems to go that bit further on a tank of BP.

Cheers,
Brett

[Rocket36]

BP Ultimate is definitely the best 98 RON fuel out of the big 4 IMO. I've tried them all. Most importantly, steer clear of V-Power (formerly Optimax).

The Mobil 98 RON (can never remember what it's called, 8000? 9000?) is just BP Ultimate according to some people.

But mostly I use BP Ultimate or Caltex Vortex 98.

What worries me is if there's another 98 RON shortage like there was about a year ago......

[Cro]

I have a Caltex and BP card so switch between the two.
I do notice a bit more performance when I fill up with BP Ultimate, but not enough to go out of my way to find one over a Caltex Vortex 98.

I wouldn't be worrying about 98RON shortages, our cars run fine on 95RON. I've done many thousands of km's using Caltex/BP 95RON on long hard mountain country type drives without pinging/knocking/detonation. The only noticable impact is the drop in performance. Although it's not severe, you do still notice it.

[Rocket36]

Ah OK... I was wondering how they go on 95 RON. Thanks heaps for that info Cro.

I will always use 98 RON unless there's no 98 RON available anywhere.

[Jayse]

Hey Rocket,

Why no to V-Power??...like most, my petrol choice is on convenience. I have a BP near where i live, but Shell is on the way and back to work for me. I'm up for info on a better choice in 98RON petrol though. Seems like the majority on this thread go with BPUltimate.

Cheers,

Jayse.

[Rocket36]

Ever since Optimax and the cleaning additives in it, I personally don't trust Shell fuels.

[ROGUE]

BP Ultimate has a massively lower sulphur content than the 'other' 98 fuels.

I put a tank of opticrap in my hatch once because BP had run out of ultimate. Ran like a dog until i put ultimate back in...

[apom]

It does make a difference but firstly all aus fuel is crap quality. Speak to anyone who is into racing (karts) and you are forever doing carby kits due to the crap fuel here. Of all the fuels BP Ultimate does seem to be consistantly better in its quality. I am just moving to an R36 from a Monaro and the story was similar. Steer clear of shell fuels (especially with a Gen III) , caltex and BP 95 are very similar and BP Ultimate gives the bet performance overall.

This is one of the best forums I have been on, just the first plus in buying a R36, cant wait till it arrives!

[ron]

so the R36's are quite fine running on 95 RON?
Does the ECU retard the timing accordingly??

[Rocket36]

Just put 98RON in it AS PER THE MANUAL!!!! If 98RON isn't available then it will be fine on 95RON for half a tank until you can get it back on 95RON.

[DJC]

Just don't flog it when you have 95 or less in it, and it wont be prone to detonate and cause the ECU to retard the timing. The ECU doesnt have a clue what fuel is in there, but it will soon learn the quality of that fuel under load, hence detonation and causing the ECU to retard the timing.

[Treza360]

Anything that is performance oriented, it is best to stick with the majors and I'd always make sure to put 98RON in. Also never let your fuel tank drop down to into the red. Any sediment and other gunk that has built up over time in the bottom of your fuel tank will be sucked up and into your engine. Personally I try to never let my tank drop to below a quarter. This way you should also always have enough fuel to get you through if the servo has run out of the 98 stuff.

As for brand preference I ran BP Ultimate for at least a year and have recently switched back to Shell V-Power as a bit of an experiment to see if there is any difference. So far after about 2-3 months of running it I can say I've noticed bugger all in terms of economy and power.

I will switch back again once I've run it for 6 months to see if I do get this big change that some people talk about. From what I can tell it seems to be a model specific thing where the fuel seems to make a difference. Also which refineries you get your fuel from also seems to make a difference as well. Here in Brisbane there are only two refineries; Caltex (who also supply Shell) and BP (as far as I know).

From what I've heard with the additives with V-Power these are only an issue if you get an old batch that has gone "off" so to speak which can make your car run like a bit of a dog.

Luckily with the area I live there are plenty of people who use V-Power so there's little chance of this happening.

Finally it would be interesting to see back to back dyno runs done with the same car in as much the same conditions as possible with the different fuels to really see what kind of a difference they do make.

Cheers,
Trent