Premium Diesel

almillar

I didn't see any reason to say what car I have

I'm not being nosey, but it's important, that's why I asked. Age and mileage is also important.
IF we were talking about petrols, and the octanes of fuels, it would either make no difference (Mazda RX-8), make a bit of a difference (most cars I've had) or be critical to using the car properly (Nissan 350Z).
If you've got a new, low mileage diesel, for example, you might want to KEEP the engine nice and clean, so the cleaning properties you're talking about could be useful. If you've got an older diesel with high miles, maybe before the common rail technology came along, you may have build ups of dirt in around your engine. Best thing to do may be to leave these alone, because you wouldn't want them floating around.
And, there's no such thing as a diesel M3.

motorguy

almillar wrote: »

I'm not being nosey, but it's important, that's why I asked. Age and mileage is also important.
IF we were talking about petrols, and the octanes of fuels, it would either make no difference (Mazda RX-8), make a bit of a difference (most cars I've had) or be critical to using the car properly (Nissan 350Z).
If you've got a new, low mileage diesel, for example, you might want to KEEP the engine nice and clean, so the cleaning properties you're talking about could be useful. If you've got an older diesel with high miles, maybe before the common rail technology came along, you may have build ups of dirt in around your engine. Best thing to do may be to leave these alone, because you wouldn't want them floating around.
And, there's no such thing as a diesel M3.

+1

We've a 370z and it requires 99RON. Impossible to get here in NI, so i use 97RON and an octane booster.

My previous 2012 Golf TDI ran quite happily on supermarket diesel but i've just bought an older '05 Jaguar 2.2D and i'm a little more jumpy.

utopia_11

Using premium fuel for most cars wouldn't make a noticeable or worthwhile difference. There are however some cars (high performance) that recommend using at least RON 97 and state explicitly in their handbook.


I recently went through the handbook in a '09 BMW 330i E92 and it did recommend using only 'premium' fuel with minimum RON98. Something about the fact that it has knocking sensors so the engine runs a lot better with the premium fuel.

motorguy

utopia_11 wrote: »

Using premium fuel for most cars wouldn't make a noticeable or worthwhile difference. There are however some cars (high performance) that recommend using at least RON 97 and state explicitly in their handbook.


I recently went through the handbook in a '09 BMW 330i E92 and it did recommend using only 'premium' fuel with minimum RON98. Something about the fact that it has knocking sensors so the engine runs a lot better with the premium fuel.

I guess with "premium" diesel though, you're paying for the additives moreso than any sort of RON rating.

almillar

I'm in NI too motorguy and may have drooled over your 370Z in car parks - sorry. I hope it's 97RON that I need as I haven't been using any booster. For the 350Z at least, there's variable valve timing, which ramps things up from 4,000 or 5,000 RPM, and the mapping above here isn't tolerant of below (I hope) 97RON. So you put standard unleaded (95RON) in only in an emergency, and NOT revving above 4,000RPM, to get you to the next petrol station that has Super. It really worries me how many people are driving round in performance cars not knowing what they're meant to run on.

motorguy

almillar wrote: »

I'm in NI too motorguy and may have drooled over your 370Z in car parks - sorry. I hope it's 97RON that I need as I haven't been using any booster. For the 350Z at least, there's variable valve timing, which ramps things up from 4,000 or 5,000 RPM, and the mapping above here isn't tolerant of below (I hope) 97RON. So you put standard unleaded (95RON) in only in an emergency, and NOT revving above 4,000RPM, to get you to the next petrol station that has Super. It really worries me how many people are driving round in performance cars not knowing what they're meant to run on.

Yes, thats generally it. I keep a bottle of octane booster in the boot (works out at around £1 per fill to boost by two RON points), so if we "have" to put unleaded in, we stick enough in to get us to a superunleaded station. At a push and we "had" to fill with unleaded, i'd use the Octane booster to take it to 97RON. Generally though, we run 97RON and boost it to 99RON.

The car can apparently run with 95RON but it retards the timing, so you lose a percentage of power.

utopia_11

Honestly, half of this belongs in piston heads. Why not buy racing fuel from Elf with RON110

motorguy

utopia_11 wrote: »

Honestly, half of this belongs in piston heads. Why not buy racing fuel from Elf with RON110

Because the car just needs 99RON

utopia_11

motorguy wrote: »

Because the car just needs 99RON

The 370z is quite a rare beast here in Greater London. How does it compare to the E46 M3 or Z4M if you've ever driven the M's? Both have similar power outputs to the 370z with its NA S54 engine I believe. Can't think of too many direct rivals of this generation with NA engine...Porsche Cayman maybe?

BeenThroughItAll

utopia_11 wrote: »

The 370z is quite a rare beast here in Greater London. How does it compare to the E46 M3 or Z4M if you've ever driven the M's? Both have similar power outputs to the 370z with its NA S54 engine I believe. Can't think of too many direct rivals of this generation with NA engine...Porsche Cayman maybe?

Oh for the love of God. Here you go again with the BMW-fanboyism.


Can you not just leave one thread without bringing up M3s/BMWs in general?