Team-BHP - Hindustan Petroleum launches 99-Octane fuel for high-end cars

State-owned fuel retailer Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) has launched a new high-octane petrol called 'poWer 99'. This fuel boasts of an octane rating of 99, which is currently the highest rating in India.

The company has launched poWer 99 as part of a pilot project in Bangalore. The high-octane petrol will be sold through HPCL's outlet in Murugeshpalya, on Old Airport Road, Bangalore. The fuel's reach will eventually be expanded to other metros in the coming weeks.

Owing to its high octane rating, the poWer 99 petrol can withstand higher compression ratios before the air-fuel mixture gets ignited. Using a lower octane level fuel in engines with high compression ratios results in engine knocking.

This will thus be an ideal fuel choice for high-performance cars from automakers like Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari. With cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Gurgaon seeing an apparent rise in the number of such high-end cars, the demand of good fuel with high octane rating is surely on the rise. HPCL will thus be focusing on these key markets to launch the poWer 99 petrol in the future.

Source: ET Auto

Hindustan Petroleum launches 99-Octane fuel for high-end cars-hindustanpetroleumretailoutlet.jpg

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Quote:

Originally Posted by rohanak1 (Post 4135943)

Any idea of the prices? Might be costing a bomb.

97.03 rupees a liter. Available in the hp petrol pump just before manipal hospital on airport road.

Filled a tank yesterday. The response from the engine is manic - way better than s97.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reignofchaos (Post 4135945)

Filled a tank yesterday. The response from the engine is manic - way better than s97.

What car did you put it in and what Octane number is the recommended? Increasing the Octane number above the manufacturer’s recommended number typically won’t give any meaningful improvements.

So I’m very curious to understand how yours could be manic.

Jeroen

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeroen (Post 4135953)

My Volvo v40 which has a 1.6 Ford Ecoboost engine with a Polestar tune. The manufacturer recommends 95/98 RON. This engine is known to deliver more power with higher octane brew so its not a placebo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reignofchaos (Post 4135965)

My Volvo v40 which has a 1.6 Ford Ecoboost engine with a Polestar tune. The manufacturer recommends 95/98 RON. This engine is known to deliver more power with higher octane brew so its not a placebo.

i checked and the way I read it is actually designed for RON 98 but also runs on 95. So if anything you are probably seeing the sort of performance it was supposed to have all along. Enjoy!

Jeroen

Quote:

Originally Posted by reignofchaos (Post 4135945)

Filled a tank yesterday. The response from the engine is manic - way better than s97.

Man, this is awesome news! 100 bucks a liter is expensive, yet owners of high-end / premium / super cars will rejoice. IIRC, Hindustan Petroleum used to only sell 'power' branded fuel earlier, which was regular octane petrol with some additives thrown in. It was Bharat Petroleum that brought 97 octane petrol.

Related thread - link.

With petrol coming back in a big way - including in the luxury segment - the timing couldn't have been any better.

I filled my KTM RC 390 - with an engine originally designed for 95 RON and with a high compression ratio of 12.6:1 (marginally lower than 2009 Yamaha R1, a litre class sportbike - 12.7:1) with this 'poWer 99' just to test it. The price was Rs.91.58/- per litre yesterday.

The main difference I have observed is that the characteristic jerkiness at lower RPMs has reduced considerably. The throttle transition at lower RPMs is smoother. The lower RPM 'knocking' is reduced too.

I have ridden only inside the city so far. I hardly observed any difference beyond 5000 RPM though. I would say, save your 160 bucks per tank and fill 91 RON regular petrol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by theredliner (Post 4182618)

Have had the same experience on my Duke 390. Same engine, insanely high compression ratio for a 375cc.

Runs just so much better on s97.

Badly waiting for a s99 pump in Pune.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crankpin (Post 4379850)

What rating does Shell V Power have? I believe its about 93?

Shell V power is 91 RON with additives. This is the mail reply i got from them on an inquiry long back when it was first launched in India.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crankpin (Post 4380167)

Oh it’s just 91? Well it’s quite a premium you pay for Shell V Power over regular for just being 91

Definitely. Rs.8 per litre is too much of a premium to pay for a 91 RON fuel with additives. When we consider that regular Shell fuel itself is ~ Rs.2 more expensive than PSU pumps, it is Rs.10 extra per litre.
Shell missed a chance by not launching V-Power as 95 RON. Since they are mainly located in big cities, they would not have had to get their staff to beg people to fill it like they do now, as many big bike owners would have happily bought 95 RON at 10Rs premium as BPCL and HPCL are anyway ripping people off with Rs.20 premium for 97/99 RON (which apparently turn out to be ~93 RON in many cases as per VW India).
Heck, I'd have filled my little 390 with that fuel most of the time.

Quote:

So as per BS4 norms most A grade cities require 90+ rating for petrol?

If I'm not wrong, BSIV fuel all over India is 91 RON.

I really don't see why they have to charge such a big premium on cleaner fuel which other than being more efficient inside the engine, will also be cleaner from an environment point of view!
I don't believe it takes any much more to make 93/95 RON fuel as compared to the fuel they are selling currently.