Premium (PULP) Fuel in SOHC Engines?

[replaced]

I'm still confused, even after doing a search and reading up on all the Premium threads whether or not to fill up my car with premium. I own a civic vti and used to fill up premium all the time, now i've made the switch back to just plain unleaded and can't seem to figure out if there really is a difference in power and smoothness between the two.

Can someone with a SOHC engine please enlighten me? :confused:

[vteccoupe]

I'm still confused, even after doing a search and reading up on all the Premium threads whether or not to fill up my car with premium. I own a civic vti and used to fill up premium all the time, now i've made the switch back to just plain unleaded and can't seem to figure out if there really is a difference in power and smoothness between the two.

Can someone with a SOHC engine please enlighten me? :confused:
hi there...currently driving a civic vti coupe...have tried both premium and plain unleaded...and the car feels mre powerful at the lower revs...bear in mind..its at the lower rev that our vtec engines are lacking..thus u kinda feel that its punchier at the lower revs..also at the high revs it feels smoother...

have u tried ron 98?feels even beta :D

[Weq]

i only used 98ron BP. My engine loves it. Its burns bloody clean as well, my head looked great. kept the fuel injectors clean and the carbon down. highly recommend it - these engines are aimed at performance - why not?

[EK_coupe]

i've got a VTi coupe as well, and i definately feel the smooth running of the engine when i fill up with premium.

[babyboy]

Yeah tried all the premium and only fill up BP ultimate or mobile 8000. Optimax feels like crap for some reason. Tried normal unleaded the other week cause i didn't have that much money and yea i noticed the difference in smoothness and power. Not a great deal but there's a slight difference.

[aimre]

I honestly dont feel the diffrence :confused:

[lengjaiboy]

Yeah.. same here.. feels the same.. and i dont even notice any increase in fuel effeciency either..

I've come to the conclusion that your engine has to be tuned to premium petrol for it to take advantage of the higher octane.. :confused:

[ECU-MAN]

i only used 98ron BP. My engine loves it. Its burns bloody clean as well, my head looked great. kept the fuel injectors clean and the carbon down. highly recommend it - these engines are aimed at performance - why not?
true. premium is a cleanser fuel, keeps your ports, valves, TB, combustion chamber cleaner than normal unleaded. I use it in my lawn mover, gokarts and both cars. if you dont notice the power difference, it is still doing your engine good. I get extra 5Km/h from my go kart with premuim.

[spoondc2]

I use optimax on my EK1, i don't feel the car getting faster but smoother, not more revving when doing uphill

[ABZY]

it must be just diff engines, cause my ek vti loves optimax, if i use anythin else it seems to be a be sluggish...

[Setanta]

It's a waste of money - if your engine is tuned for 91 or 96 octane then 98 is just costing you more money for little if no result. SOHC or DOHC, if the engine isn't set up to require a higher RON (we don't use MON figures with octane) then it won't need it.

BTW - Optimax is sh|t - always has been and always will be.

[josh]

premium fuel or high octane fuel what ever you call it has high octane which means its a slower buring fuel so when you have high compression or advance timing, forced iduction etc it will stop pinging and pre igntion it doesnt make your car quicker thats bull sht but it does give better millage so really if your car isnt highly modifed it dosent really matter and always use the known brands like shell and bp all others put water in the underground tank to rasie the fuel level so they save a bit of cash and even if you use high octane sometimes when you got a bit more cash it dosent make a diffrence so if use it use it all the time if you only use it sometimes your wasiting time

[Dr4g0n]

i noticed that i had to give the car more accelerator to move on unleaded as opposed to the smooth acceleration on premium. in doing so, i would burn off the unleaded quicker resulting in poorer fuel economy. so the extra you save buying unleaded means it'll be put towards another tankful of unleaded sooner. if i used premium i'd get better fuel economy so the difference in purchase price balances out in terms of how many km's you get out of your tank. plus, how much do you really save buying unleaded compared to premium? i mean come on, save a few dollars a tank... i'd rather have cleaner and nicer petrol for my baby to drink.

[aimre]

premium fuel or high octane fuel what ever you call it has high octane which means its a slower buring fuel so when you have high compression or advance timing, forced iduction etc it will stop pinging and pre igntion it doesnt make your car quicker thats bull sht but it does give better millage so really if your car isnt highly modifed it dosent really matter and always use the known brands like shell and bp all others put water in the underground tank to rasie the fuel level so they save a bit of cash and even if you use high octane sometimes when you got a bit more cash it dosent make a diffrence so if use it use it all the time if you only use it sometimes your wasiting time
Our cars run on petrol. Petrol mainly comprises of C8H18 (octane) but may also contain small amounts of C7H16, C9H20 etc (these are hydrocarbons.. all flamable methane is one [C1H4]) The more C8H18 the higher the octan rating.

All engines are tuned to run with a certain octane. Menaing that it will spark when it meets the right conditions for the fuel (that its tuned for) to burn at most efficiancy.

If infact, u put one of higher or lesser octane, the fuel will be ignited at the wrong time and will not be at its most efficiant (meaning not all will burn).

Example. engine tuned to run 92 oct but u put in 98.

Ocatane need more air than heptane [C7H16] (also found in fuel).
Your engine gets the air in it and puts the apropriate amount of fuel in. BUT WAIT!!! U put a higher octane... need more air but it doesnt no that... which now means u have less air than needed. Meaning less of the fuel actually burnt and more harmfull gasses (CO instead of CO2)

:wave:

[Nuttz]

the octane rating is got to do with pre-ignition not power. its the extra additives in the premium stuff that makes the car run smoother and cleaner.

[Limbo]

If the car feels better it can't be too bad. so just go for it! It not like higher octane is gona hurt your car. Might fix some of those pinging problems. Also most people here seem to have modified their airboxes so i think they are prob getting more air to burn off that extra octane anyway.

[SiReal]

I drive an EK1 and i have been putting High Octane mostly. I feel there is more power but its probably pyschological (how the hell do u spell that).

[KB]

I drive an EJ8, an can honestly say I can't tell the difference between ULP, PULP or 98 Octane Fuel. Like 'Aimre' said I think if a car comes from the Honda factory tuned to run at a certain octane then maybe you should put that in it. For months I would put nothing in but BP ultimate into my car, in the endless pursuit of more power. But actual fact it was probley more pychological than anything. Now ive just reverted back to BP 91 ULP as thats what Honda reccommend for my specific car. And it runs exactly the same.

[Weq]

It doesnt matter if u get more power or whatever, that shit ULP will clog up everything and anything in ur intake/exhaust system.

[replaced]

It doesnt matter if u get more power or whatever, that shit ULP will clog up everything and anything in ur intake/exhaust system.
I'd have to agree that my car feels rather sluggish running on ULP compared to that of PULP. I'm running my eg on BP ULP at the moment, and will probably make the switch back to BP Ultimate :)

[ABZY]

i tryied the bp ultimate on the w/e.. found it was very good, better than optimax, my car felt like it went harder and reved quicker..

[reckless]

sorry to resurrect this thread, and pardon my ignorance BUT how do you determine/find out what fuel is recommended for your car by Honda?

[bennjamin]

to add -

i run caltex or mobil premium ( 96 RON ?! the middle range ) in my lil stock honda civic Si - and the difference between this , and normal ULP is very much noticeable.

With ULP the engine feels much weaker , rattlier and generally poo.
Usign permium seemingly increased overall smoothness and poke of the engine.
Also , for the same amount of litres of fuel , i would get aroudn another 50kms more out of a tank of premium.

(this is after using for about 2 or 3 tanks worth of ULP , then swapping over to premium for 2 or 3 tanks worth too)

[joyride]

sorry to resurrect this thread, and pardon my ignorance BUT how do you determine/find out what fuel is recommended for your car by Honda?theres a sticker on the inside of fuel flap says "unleaded/premium only" or check the manual that came with the car.

[reckless]

theres a sticker on the inside of fuel flap says "unleaded/premium only" or check the manual that came with the car.

oh i didn't mean that, guess i should've been more specific. anyway if someone doesnt mind explaining, what does all this 96 RON etc mean?

[waymad]

guys i have had 98 oct in my car plus i put in octane boost in which made it 105 oct i did notice the diff in power but it was only little so form 92 oct to 98 oct it would be the same for me in my town and my car it works out about $2.40 more to full up my car per tank which to me is not much and we know that it is better fuel for your car, just dont think that you pay extra to get performance but peace and mind that better fuel is going through your engine cleaning it out

[_CiVIC_]

But isn't it bad to put octane boosters in the car?? Everyone I know keep telling me not to put octane boosters in my car, apparently it screws up the injectors of the car.. anyone care to share some insight on this?? thanks.

[Terry]

i have a EJ8 and got NGK power cable and spark plug.....use premium unleaded fuel + additive my car just work perfectly....feels like have an extra 3hp :D

[reckless]

i have a EJ8 and got NGK power cable and spark plug.....use premium unleaded fuel + additive my car just work perfectly....feels like have an extra 3hp :D


hey terry, what type/brand of additive are u using? and whats this NGK power cable? pardon my ignorance again! :D

[^^v]

just drive when its really cold.. and u'll get extra 5hp :rolleyes:

[MaTTeO]

as waymad said above

same reason

extra performance or not

bp ultimate in my case, i have not taken a look at the engine internally myself
but if it indeed is sticking to the claims that it is making my engine cleaner, along with better performance, whether i feel it or not, then for the extra couple of dollars a tank, i am not going to be crying about that

id rather pay more for something of quality & something i can trust

[Terry]

yeah.....whenever i filling up my car.....rather than buying a picnic bar for myself....i'd like to spend those extra dollar for the premium unleaded:D

PS:The NGK power cable and spark plug can be source from ozhonda trader....although is for B16A but it works well on my vti....

[aaronng]

Higher octane rating means the petrol is more resistant to self ignition. It has nothing to do with being more difficult to burn or extra power. The "resistance" to self ignition is when the mixture is compressed and the temperature in the chamber rises. Higher octane is less likely to combust before the spark due to the high temperatures. But when the spark occurs at the spark plug, all the fuels, 89, 91, 95, 98, 105, racing fuel will ignite.

If your car cannot adjust the ignition timing on its own based on the fuel you use (means it has to have a knock sensor), then putting 98octane or octane boosters will do nothing.

On the topic of detergents in fuel, because the higher octane fuels are more expensive, the petrol companies will have to create a selling point, since not everyone is tempted by extra power. Will any housewife fill with BP Ultimate if it gave her more power to her Camry (not stereotyping here:)). But if you tell her that Ultimate is cleaner because of the detergents, of course she is going to fill it in. Cleaning agents are good. Slows down the buildup of deposits at the injectors and/or throttle butterfly..

As a rule of thumb, if your engine is of high compression (above 9.5:1) or turbocharged, you might need at least 95 octane. If your car is one of the newer engines with direct injection, then you can get away with regular at a high compression above 10.0:1, but then again, direct injection engines need clean fuel. So you still might be better off with a petrol wi th added cleaning agents.

I usually follow the "Don't go lower, but if you are feeling rich, it's ok to go higher" thought.

[mrwillz]

i drive a honda civ GLi 00 model
the car use to run on a shitload of ULP
i've jus recently started filling wif PULP, the PULP jus drained so quick from the ULP clogging up the internals.
there is no difference in power, jus the price and economy per tank. after a fewfills the car is running much smoother thanks to the PULP