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For the petrol variants of the E50, and for E51/52 owners, this question comes up a lot!
There has been a LOT of debate about this on Facebook, and not just in Elgrand groups, but other Japanese Import groups.
The handbook stipulates that for the VG33/VQ25 you need 95ron fuel (this is standard unleaded in the UK). For the VQ35 you need 97ron fuel (super unleaded).
In my honest opinion, I do not know enough about the subject to really advice much, so please feel free to discuss within this thread.
My personal recommendation though is not to run ANY petrol Elgrand engine on anything LESS than 97ron fuel, and to try and get 99ron as often as possible (Tesco Momentum).
The RON rating of the fuel doesn't give more/less power, but it dictates how the fuel behaves under pressure.
A 95 RON fuel is more likely to PRE-DETONATE (ie explode before it's meant to) when exposed to compression / heat. This means you get what is known as "knocking". The premature detonation of the fuel works AGAINST the flow of the pistons in the engine and can cause internal damage.
A 99 RON fuel is more likely to make it to the "spark" before it ignites, which removes the potential for causing damage.
These engines have a "knock sensor" build in which detects these kids of issues. If it detects a knock, it will reduce the flow of fuel which will reduce power from the engine. This may not be to a point that is noticeable, but you could end up with an EML light due to this, or more serious damage if ignored.
UPDATE
Thanks to the screenshot shared below, and @Alan Morgan for pointing out the small print, it would appear that Regular Unleaded will be fine in your VQ35 engine (3.5 V6).
As you can see, there are comments showing what the Regular/Premium unleaded RON rating is in both Japan and UK, and also a caveat to show that regular unleaded is fine to use if premium is not available. As this is talking about Japanese fuel, that would drop as low as 89 RON. Meaning that UK regular unleaded being 95 RON is safe to use without concern.
There has been a LOT of debate about this on Facebook, and not just in Elgrand groups, but other Japanese Import groups.
The handbook stipulates that for the VG33/VQ25 you need 95ron fuel (this is standard unleaded in the UK). For the VQ35 you need 97ron fuel (super unleaded).
In my honest opinion, I do not know enough about the subject to really advice much, so please feel free to discuss within this thread.
My personal recommendation though is not to run ANY petrol Elgrand engine on anything LESS than 97ron fuel, and to try and get 99ron as often as possible (Tesco Momentum).
The RON rating of the fuel doesn't give more/less power, but it dictates how the fuel behaves under pressure.
A 95 RON fuel is more likely to PRE-DETONATE (ie explode before it's meant to) when exposed to compression / heat. This means you get what is known as "knocking". The premature detonation of the fuel works AGAINST the flow of the pistons in the engine and can cause internal damage.
A 99 RON fuel is more likely to make it to the "spark" before it ignites, which removes the potential for causing damage.
These engines have a "knock sensor" build in which detects these kids of issues. If it detects a knock, it will reduce the flow of fuel which will reduce power from the engine. This may not be to a point that is noticeable, but you could end up with an EML light due to this, or more serious damage if ignored.
UPDATE
Thanks to the screenshot shared below, and @Alan Morgan for pointing out the small print, it would appear that Regular Unleaded will be fine in your VQ35 engine (3.5 V6).
As you can see, there are comments showing what the Regular/Premium unleaded RON rating is in both Japan and UK, and also a caveat to show that regular unleaded is fine to use if premium is not available. As this is talking about Japanese fuel, that would drop as low as 89 RON. Meaning that UK regular unleaded being 95 RON is safe to use without concern.
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