General Petrol?

[Ian_Dublin]

I was told by a guy who works in a fiat garage that i should run my car on super unleaded (97/98 ron) petrol as the 1.4 sporting engines benefit from it, can anyone shed any light if this is true or a load of cobblers, its 23 cent dearer than the normal stuff so i was just wondering if i would see any benefit from it?

 

[dave]

ask paul he knows he been to shell

 

[space]

Isnt the 1.4 model the GT rather than the sporting ?

 

[The Negotiator]

My thoughts initially would be what fuel the 1.4 was designed to use? Assuming RON 95 then I would ask a second question, does the engine have a knock sensor? If not, you shouldn't expect to have any benefit from a higher octane fuel simply because your car can't compensate for it, it will still be ignited at the same time.

I spoke extensively with the chief tester of Shell Optimax at the home of Optimax (Stanlow) and his opinion was that he wouldn't use optimax in a car without a knock sensor. The additives do have a cleaning effect but he said this wasn't worth the extra cost. The thread about my visit can be found by searching for shell optimax. A lot of it is relevant to your question even though you don't talk specifically about Optimax.

If you have a knock sensor the engine can adjust the ignition timing to make use of the extra octane (i.e. ability to be compressed without spontaneously combusting causing pinking). However, only you can decide whether any extra response is worth the extra cost.

Hope that has been of some help.

Paul

 

[thefishdude]

punto sportings now come wth a 1.4 unit unlike mine

 

[Ian_Dublin]

Thanks for the replies guys, my local garage that is selling it isnt a shell garage so it wouldnt be optimax i dont think, i could be wrong? Also what exactly is a knock sensor, i havent got a clue if i have one to be honest. The thread about shell optimax was very usefull thanks

 

[klaus23]

It probably won't make a difference. Only high-end engines are designed to run on Super Unleaded - for example, the New Golf GTi. If the engine is meant to run primarily on 95oct Unleaded, filling it with Super will give a small performance increase but it's not worth the extra cost.

 

[pritch]

A knock sensor is a newish device fitted to usually more expensive, faster cars, that monitors how the engine is compressing and igniting the fuel being fed to it. If there is slight misfire or pinking (unburnt fuel going by the pistons, causing them to make a rattling noise, which can eventually damage the engine, it can insturct the ECU (I think?) to alter the timing of the engine. This fully realises the benefits of a higher octane fuel.

Thing is, ordinary unleaded has a lowish octane rating, comparatively, so it does sometimes cause a little bit of pinking in all cars, especially on hot days. The way to solve that though is, imo, not to change fuel but sort out the ignition timing.

I don't know but would doubt the new 1.4 Sporting unit has a knock sensor. If anything would it would be the HGT but I don't think that woudl either.