Team-BHP - Speed 97 and High RON petrol discussion thread

Wow. But 97 octane is premium grade fuel, only put to good use under the hoods of stage 3 vRS's, Porsches and the like. So it's okay, methinks.

IMHO, 5 years down the line, it wouldn't matter if fuel prices hit 150 bucks a litre. People wouldn't have enough money left to buy cars by then, all thanks to our dear speculators, hedge funds & the OPEC cartels.

I am committed to Speed 97 and have been using it for the past 10000 kms or so. The price hike really hurts, but I plan to continue using Speed 97 as long as it is available.

Quote:

Originally Posted by veyron1

But 97 octane is premium grade fuel, only put to good use under the hoods of stage 3 vRS's, Porsches and the like.

Actually it makes a noticeable difference even for my old Santro. The pickup has undoubtedly improved and the car now regularly crosses 150 kmph on certain level smooth stretches of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. On the sloping stretch where my Avatar was snapped, the car is willing to cross 160 kmph with something to spare! This also has something to do with the fact that my Turanzas are now slightly worn out at 15000 kms and probably have the optimal rolling resistance at this stage (and maybe the lower tread depth will slightly inflate speedo readings).

I think the benefits you see will vary from car to car depending on the compression ratio and the ability of the car's ECU to adjust the timing for optimal performance. It is important that you run 2-3 tankfuls of Speed 97 to flush out the old petrol and to give your ECU some time to make the adjustment. Immediately after switching, you may not see much difference.

If I can get unadulterated normal Speed, I would prefer that. But I find that with normal Speed, the car's performance is highly variable. Sometimes the car really struggles and the speed drops by 10 to 20 kmph on the same stretch. I put this down to variable quality of normal Speed (maybe even at the supply stage).

Many years ago when i had just bought the P180 in 2002 i used 97 octane for every tank fill. Used to fill from the Mahalakshmi signal pump. the bike used to be so silent and rev happy and comfortable on the redline that i blew my head gasket/seal one day @ 20000 kms. The valves were white when they opened the it and i was told that when poor quality fuel is used the valves usually turn black. Regardless, nothing beats 97 octane.
I then tried using octane boosters+regular petrol to replicate the same effect, but nothing came close to the original 97.

@spadival: I probably have to go for a new car within the next couple of years. At 74000 kms, my old Santro is still going strong and I do not have the heart to abandon this car (my good old reliable friend through some very bad times). This time, as I was driving through the Lonawala ghats through some very thick clouds at about 10 PM, the visibility was almost zero. The thought occurred to me that if the car breaks down at this stage, I would be in big trouble. I know I can count on my Santro not to let me down, as long as I take good care of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spadival (Post 858343)

OT: [Baleno] will give you speeds in excess of 160kmph while being a lot safer than Santro, yet will give you a milage of 12-14kmpl on Normal unleaded petrol.

Baleno is a good car, but I doubt if it will give that kind of mileage if driven at 140-160 kmph, regardless of fuel used. My old Santro gives only about 12-13 kmpl under these conditions and will probably give 14-15 kmpl if driven at 90-100 kmph. With Speed 97 there is at best a very marginal increase in mileage. I think Baleno is way too big for my needs. I believe that the 1.2 lit i10, with 81 BHP under the hood, should be capable of cruising at 140-160 kmph on normal petrol and I want to consider that car after my old Santro hangs up its boots (probably at 1 lakh+ kms, within the next year or two).

Quote:

Originally Posted by rks (Post 858335)

I am committed to Speed 97 and have been using it for the past 10000 kms or so. The price hike really hurts, but I plan to continue using Speed 97 as long as it is available.
Actually it makes a noticeable difference even for my old Santro. The pickup has undoubtedly improved and the car now regularly crosses 150 kmph on certain level smooth stretches of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. On the sloping stretch where my Avatar was snapped, the car is willing to cross 160 kmph with something to spare! This also has something to do with the fact that my Turanzas are now slightly worn out at 15000 kms and probably have the optimal rolling resistance at this stage (and maybe the lower tread depth will slightly inflate speedo readings).

I think the benefits you see will vary from car to car depending on the compression ratio and the ability of the car's ECU to adjust the timing for optimal performance. It is important that you run 2-3 tankfuls of Speed 97 to flush out the old petrol and to give your ECU some time to make the adjustment. Immediately after switching, you may not see much difference.

If I can get unadulterated normal Speed, I would prefer that. But I find that with normal Speed, the car's performance is highly variable. Sometimes the car really struggles and the speed drops by 10 to 20 kmph on the same stretch. I put this down to variable quality of normal Speed (maybe even at the supply stage).

rks - buy beer. It's cheaper.