4 Star petrol

[MattHarris19872016]

Excuse my ignorance but what is 4 Star petrol. I remember in the early 90s both 4 Star and unleaded were available.

Was 4 Star the only kind of petrol initially and was unleaded brought in to replace it?

 

[jackwhoo]

4 star contained tetraethyl lead and the number of stars indicated and octane rating.
There were 2 star and 3 star.
Try Google for more info.

 

[Eklipze3k]

Varying grades of leaded petrol were available (1, 2, 3 and 4 star IIRC). Obviously, tetraethtyllead is extremely poisonous but a lot of older engines depended on it so it took a while to phase out in favour of unleaded. You can read a lot about it with a quick google.

Edit: Beaten by jack by seconds

 

[hennabm]

There was also 5 star petrol which was phased out in the late 70s. This caused some of the V8 rovers and Roll's needing to be retuned to cope with 4 star.

Not only was it related to leaded petrol but he Octane rating of the fuel, with 5 star been around 99.

 

[g8rpi]

You can still buy four star petrol if you don't mind paying for it. There is a list of suppliers part way down this webpage.
http://www.fbhvc.co.uk/legislation-and-fuels/fuel-information/
I used to drive by the one in Burley when I lived in Dorset.

Robert G8RPI.