Clio 182: 98 RON or 95 RON?

Rusty140 · Oct 4, 2005

Probably been discussed before in which case apologies. :boring:

Does 98 RON fuel make a noticable difference to performance? There is a recommendation sticker for 98 RON in the inside of the fuel cap but I never bring myself to shell out the extra for the better fuel cos its already costing me a fortune. Some people swear by Optimax but is it any different from BP Ultimate etc.?

A mechanic mate of mine always says that higher octane fuel makes no real difference except with a performance engines which are tuned differently (by which he means Ferraris and stuff).

Any thoughts?

Mondial172 · Oct 4, 2005

Find my Cup has better pick up with the 98 fuel.

Leeshez · Oct 4, 2005

98 Ron is designed for performance engines

Sport182 · Oct 4, 2005

Adamf said:
Find my Cup has better pick up with the 98 fuel.

Me to. I now never use anything else.

Munson · Oct 4, 2005

It doesnt say 98RON just for fun, like most people seem to think. Mine lives on a strict diet of Optimax

Liam · Oct 4, 2005

Optimax from new also. Even got dealer to put in before I took delivery of car. Only ever missed one fill up with optimax and even then used £10 worth of BP ultimate to get me to a shell station.

PYE21 · Oct 5, 2005

How can 182 not be a 'performance engine' with 180bhp from 2.0 litres?

Not using 98ron could lead to pinking and a very short engine life!

thedoc · Oct 5, 2005

95 wont kill it - but i prefer the posh stuff.

Loopz · Oct 5, 2005

In my experience, the car also has bigger consumption when it runs on 95 fuel.

PYE21 · Oct 5, 2005

The ron level refers to a fuels burning rate and combustion temperature, if your start to use 95 it will may begin to burn sooner and for longer than is required (pinking). This then cause the heat to build within the combustion chamber and eventually will cause nice shiny holes to appear in pistons.

ukaskew · Oct 5, 2005

BP Ultimate is 97 RON and I think Tesco Super is as well, so if I was to stick strictly to 98 RON I would need Optimax, nearest service station: 20 miles in both directions!

I've always used Ultimate so can't say if there is a noticeable difference between that and 95 stuff.

dmh182 · Oct 5, 2005

Assuming the engine is fitted with a knock sensor (99% are) the ecu should adjust the timing to take account of whatever fuel you throw in.

It'll probably run slightly better/more efficiently with ultimate or optimax, but standard fuel shouldn't hurt it. In which case it really just depends on your view of whether you want to shell out for the extra for the extra performance!

sh33n · Oct 5, 2005

Why stop at 98; mines been living on a diet of Tesco 99 RON (most of the time).

PYE21 · Oct 5, 2005

Knock sensors can only account for so much and shouldn't be used as a long term excuse, if a manufacturer recomends 98ron and you run an engine on 95 then its your own fault if there is a problem (would take about 5 mins to find out what fuel you have been running once an engine has been opened up).

Also, the published fuel reports show that although fuel such as Tesco 99ron leaves the refinery at that level, fuel deteriorates over time and will probably only reach the pumps at 97. All fuels are the same, exept Optimax which tends to reach the pumps every month at 98ron.

Rich · Oct 5, 2005

Optimax diet from new in mine. 95 wont harm it but you wont get the best out of the car according to Renault.

edgerfs · Oct 5, 2005

In the book it says 95 is fine, infact it even says u can use 89ron for a short time if needed!

Rusty140 · Oct 5, 2005

Cheers for all your comments! Think I'll give it some Optimax to sup on next time I pass a Shell garage.

Liam · Oct 5, 2005

shell state that their optimax is 98 RON at the pumps, and have done tests to confrim this.

PYE21 · Oct 5, 2005

Liam182 said:
shell state that their optimax is 98 RON at the pumps, and have done tests to confrim this.

Yes, others are stated from refinery.

Tom_16v · Oct 5, 2005

Hasn't Shell actually been tested at 98.6 iirc....

Liam · Oct 5, 2005

Tom_16v said:
Hasn't Shell actually been tested at 98.6 iirc....

correct

Thomss · Oct 5, 2005

Optimax for mine

sh33n · Oct 5, 2005

I thought that all figures were given from the refinery??

Who supplies the fuel to Tesco?

Woodentop · Oct 5, 2005

sh33n said:
I thought that all figures were given from the refinery??

Who supplies the fuel to Tesco?

The people that sell it the cheapest

trailerparktrev · Oct 5, 2005

Optimax will be superceeded very soon with V-Power. So bye bye optimax, even though I stopped using it when it went 93.9 per litre and started using sainsbury's super unleaded.

Liam · Oct 5, 2005

thats what they use in Europe aint it? V power.

rcp · Oct 5, 2005

Only put Optimax in mine.

trailerparktrev · Oct 5, 2005

Yeh it's in europe and V Power is coming to the UK to replace optimax it's 100 ron rated too!

Liam · Oct 5, 2005

can you have too much ron? lol

ukaskew · Oct 5, 2005

sh33n said:
Why stop at 98; mines been living on a diet of Tesco 99 RON (most of the time).

Because even though Optimax is 20 miles away, Tesco 99 is even bloody further away!

Munson · Oct 5, 2005

Supermarket fuel = dross?

kiza1986 · Oct 5, 2005

i do ron ron ron i do ron ron.....sorry couldnt resist

Munson · Oct 5, 2005

LOL I was gonna post that earlier

Adam · Oct 5, 2005

optimax for me too.had a couple of litres with normal when the prices went up abit last month but now back to the good stuff.

mcyates · Oct 5, 2005

I have used 95 since i bought it, i only treat the car to 98RON every once in a while.

Norris_309 · Oct 5, 2005

been on the Super unleaded since having mine (172).. that always seems to be 97ron, not tried this optimax as it's a little far away for me. might treat the old bird at some point.

Day · Oct 5, 2005

Roy Munson said:
Supermarket fuel = dross?

Tesco 99 = Esso

ChrisO182 · Oct 5, 2005

I`ve always used optimax apartfrom the odd £5`s worth of what ever is available if i get caught out and can`t find a shell garage.

What about oil though, surely it`s worse to use crap oil than the proper ELF rated stuff that it says in the hand book, i asked at reg vardy when i had my service what they would have put in if i hadn`t had brought my own in and the mechanic basicly said "what ever is in the drum, all the cars use that".!!

16v_jon · Oct 6, 2005

i get a knock sensor error and serv light when i run on optimax after a few weeks but none on plain jane 95 no lights but worse mpg

dmh182 · Oct 6, 2005

Don't forget that the engine (the same basic unit is also fitted in other renault ranges albeit in different states of tune etc) had to be designed to run on a wide variety of fuel grades throughout Europe/Rest of the World.

As such its highly unlikely that it won't operate perfectly well on anything from 88RON upwards! The beauty of modern engines using ECU engine mapping is that they are able to adjust timing etc to effectively take account of fuel quality (OK I know its not quite that simple, but *effectively* thats what happens).

Undoubtedly, the engine will perform better and you'll get better mpg using optimax or Ultimate/Super...and under test-bench conditions the engine will last longer (albeit in reality the rest of the car will probably fall apart and be scrapped before an engine run on 95RON fails anyway), but overall its a simple choice about whether you are willing to spend the little bit extra to get the extra performance!

Clio 182: 98 RON or 95 RON?

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