36 replies to this topic

[davexdavexdave]

does super unleaded make any difference in a minis performance?????

[minidaves]

only if its set up to run on the stuff else no not really

[davexdavexdave]

how can you set it up for it??

[Jake Blues]

Have a look at this topic click here for loads of evidence that it does make a difference...and as for setting it up..well the guys at Southam Mini Centre who do race stuff and tuning/rolling road for a living said that you only need to tune a race engine for different fuels not normal road going cars.

Feel free to disagree but I am only passing on their advice!

[minidaves]

love the bhp thing if you run a car on the rollers twice it will give differant fiqures, on tpi cars it will make a differnace, the others might make them run smoother etc, but thats about it

dave

[Jake Blues]

But the general concensus from that thread was that all cars ran smoother, got better fuel economy and seemed to be a bit quicker too.

[gsms]

if your mini's injection it should adjust itself to the new fuel by itself!

[MaryQuant88]

Tesco have the best Super Unleaded havent they?

Read somewhere its got a octane rating of 99

[gsms]

Tesco have the most octane, but this isnt needed by minis, however Shell Optimax has additives which supposedly clean parts of the fuel system. I use Optimax and it does seem to run smoother with more mpg.

Guy.

[Dan]

if your mini's injection it should adjust itself to the new fuel by itself!

Twin points definitely will but AFAIK the SPi doesn't have a knock sensor and so can't adjust the timing to cope with different octane ratings. You just have to put up with the octane setting it was designed with which is probably 95 (and hence why it's covered in 95 RON unleaded only stickers)

[Turbo Nick]

whereabouts is the knock sensor on an MPi dude?

[Jake Blues]

if your mini's injection it should adjust itself to the new fuel by itself!

Twin points definitely will but AFAIK the SPi doesn't have a knock sensor and so can't adjust the timing to cope with different octane ratings. You just have to put up with the octane setting it was designed with which is probably 95 (and hence why it's covered in 95 RON unleaded only stickers)

Well, like I said in the other thread, when we put Optimax, BP Ultimate ot Tesco Super Unleaded in TC's Rover Cooper S Spi, it makes a difference in smoothness, power and fuel efficiency..........or is it just in the mind? (apart from economy obviously, which we can measure easily :tongue: )

And.....like I also said earlier, the guys at Southam reckoned setting up for different octanes was only critical in race tuned engines.......

[Grayedout]

Yes you may get 'smoother running' and better fuel economy from a Super Unleaded but its due to higher quality and quantity of the addtives in the fuel and not the octane rating.

[Jake Blues]

Well then, exactly!
So the answer to the original question

does super unleaded make any difference in a minis performance?????

has got to be yes!

Even if it is only smoother running and better economy

[Dan]

whereabouts is the knock sensor on an MPi dude?

Screwed into the back of the block, between #3 and#4 I think.

Of course you get smother running if it's 98 RON and your ignition is setup for 95. You are miles away from where it will start to knock so it'll run smooth. If you want to get the very most your engine with the fuel you have then you must time for all it's octane will take but then you are stuck only being able to use that RON or you risk detonation, you'll also start to loose some of the smoothness. That's why it's not such a great idea on road cars, you want to be able to use any fuel if you really need to (like if you get to the only station for 50 miles and they're out of Optimax) and you want a smooth drive.