Technical Unos and Super Unleaded fuel

[a73uk]

I think I`ll go & put LRP in my Uno to see if it does anything, its only 2p more than unleaded & 2p less than super.

Might seal the valves a bit more... ever so slightly... might even give me 1/2 a pony power!

 

[a73uk]

We also have 99RON super at Tescos (which is what I put in the Jag) & 102RON octane at BP station (called "Ultimate super").

You can also get octane booster at some car accessory shops.

We also had a high percentage of sulphur in unleaded till 2001, this caused BMW & Jaguar V8 engines suffer extremely fast bore wear, especially if the car did alot of short journeys, as they had Nikasil bore liners, this resulted in huge warranty issues for both companies.

In the UK, as here, Premium Unleaded is 98 and Super Unleaded is 95, but unlike here, you can't seem to get 91 any more. It's all quite confusing to know which is Premium, and which is Super. It's a bit like buying minced beef at the supermarket here. There's budget mince, mince, quality mince, prime mince, and premium mince (in that order). If in any doubt, you just look at the price

There is good unleaded petrol, and bad unleaded petrol. Like most things in life, you probably get what you pay for.

Good unleaded petrol has a low amount of aromatic hydrocarbons (aromatic = compounds that contain 'benzene rings', such as toluene, xylene). There won't be any ethanol. No sulphur, and a certain rate of evaporation that is neither too low nor too high. I think in New Zealand, good unleaded petrol is 98 octane and from Singapore, followed by 91 octane refined in New Zealand.

And then there's the idea of mixing ethanol with the petrol, usually at less than 10%. Lots of countries now do that. I don't know enough about the ill-effects, only that in the USA, Alfa 164 fuel pumps and gauge senders stop working. I don't know why, but it has only happened (to dozens of cars) since ethanol was put in. For example, the low-fuel light comes on after the tank is filled. My guess (and it is only a guess) is that the water content of ethanol leads to tarnishing of the electrical contacts.

-Alex

 

[Chas Uno]

Unleaded fuel doesn't contain more than 'naturally occurring' traces of lead - if it did, it would ruin catalytic converters.

The measurable amount of lead in unleaded fuel is less than 1/100th the amount there was in leaded fuel.

True, but it still has lead in it so is not "lead free" as some people are "lead" (groan!) to believe. And the statistics about lead levels going down in children was to do with replacing lead water pipes rather than unleaded fuel as I mentioned above. However, instead of risking having stupid children by using lead in fuel (clearly that didn't work!) they replace it was carcinogenics instead. Kind of out of the frying pan into the fire...

Plus let us not forget that catalytic converters require precious metals as part of their design so we're using up valuable earth resources. "Lean burn" technology was around and is a far better solution to pollution compared with cats. Lean burn aimed increase the efficiency of fuel combustion and would produce less pollutants as a result, which is a far better objective than cats that aim to clear up the mess AFTER they have been produce. It's always best to treat the cause rather than the effect!

 

[SteveNZ]

Lean burn engine have their problems. They produce a lot of NOx emissions. There is not a lot of cost effective technology around yet to effectively deal with that.

Why is there alwasy a "leaded fuel" supporter/sceptic on a all forums? Lead is bad ****, our bodies can't filter or process it so we store it forever.

Lead is super old tech as far as fuel additives go. It should have been outdated years before it was. It only stuck around because GM solely supplied it to the fuel companies. They of course kept producing crap engines that required leaded fuel so they could keep selling the stuff.

 

[rawill]

Why is there alwasy a "leaded fuel" supporter/sceptic on a all forums? Lead is bad ****, our bodies can't filter or process it so we store it forever.

So as we improve technology we replace one killer product with some others.

Fuel cell here we come.

 

[Chas Uno]

So as we improve technology we replace one killer product with some others.

Fuel cell here we come.

My point exactly. Replacing lead with known carcinogens isn't the wisest of moves to my mind. Fuel cells may well be the answer.

 

[a73uk]

At the end of the day, any mechanical/electrical "consumption" of power will have an impact whether its liquid or gas fuel powered. Hydrogen is no exception.

You also have to look at the production process, the materials used & how they are extracted & processed & the fuels extraction & processing too.

The only forms of genuinely non-poluting transport are us, humans, & animals, horses etc.

Even then, we produce methane! (one of the `greenhouse` gasses!).

Personally, I`ve always wanted to make an petrol/electric Panda.

Has anyone tried the hydrogen fuel cells they have on ebay which are suposed to supliment the petrol mixture? I`ve been considering giving it a try...