Fuel test
Been wondering what fuel to use! Quite a lot of online tests been done on fuel (link to one test above). All show very little difference, the golf tested was 240hp so similar to Elgrand.
Only comment I would make re text is they should have reset the ECU before testing each fuel as car would have adjusted it's ignition automatically to suit different Ron.
Although I found another test online that did reset the ECU with pretty much the same results, if anything results were even closer.
Interesting comparison, would there be a difference between Japanese 96ron (Japanese super) and UK 95ron (normal UK unleaded), considering the difference between 95ron (unleaded UK) and 97-99ron (UK super unleaded) as tested above in video.
1ron difference between UK unleaded 95ron vs Japanese 96ron fuel.
2-4ron difference between unleaded 95ron UK Vs 97-99ron UK super unleaded.
I don't think there would be more than 1 or 2hp difference at the very most. Air temp, air pressure can make a lot more difference than that, I have seen 12hp difference on my race cars between testing on a Dyno in the morning and then again in the afternoon, (when the figures are corrected for air temp and pressure they corrilate back to the same figure).
On another note Renault, Mitsubishi and a few other manufactures used the same engine as Elgrand also 240hp versions 3.5 L 24 valve V6 between 2008–2015 all used 95ron fuel.
As did the Dallara TO5 to TO12 Renault World cup single seater race cars, they used a 420hp plus version of VQ Nissan engine (Renault called it the V4Y engine) they ran 95ron fuel. They had a Renault badge on the cam covers of course.
2020 Nissan 370z VQ37 engine with a 11.1 compression ratio (higher than Elgrand 10.0:1 or 10.3:1 on early versions, 10.6:1 on later engines) is recommended to run on 98ron fuel, but can run on 95ron.
Japanese friend who used to work for Nissan (race team) said the higher octane rating recommended was to help preserve the Catalytic convertors as they were sensitive to fuel quality.
So my take on fuel is running 95ron is not going to hurt you engine, if it is a really hot day and you are thrashing the car constantly at high revs or have all 4 Cats in place, use super to be safe. Living in Scotland has its benefits don't have to bother with to many hot days.
More worrying is the introduction of E10 fuel, due to hit the forcourts in 2021, that will impact a fair few older cars. Nissan says all engines built after 2000 are fine to use it. Currently fuel is E5 which over time will degrade some older cars fuel systems had problems with some old Landrovers and Jaguars. 10% Ethanol will not help power that's certain, but will raise octane.
To date, no E10 petrol is being sold on forecourts in the UK – although it is available in some nearby countries like Germany and France.
In 2017, the manufacturers with the highest number of E10 incompatible cars on the road were:
- Rover – 91,624 vehicles
- MG – 75,827
- VW – 61,398
- Nissan – 55,139
- Mazda – 46,040
- Ford – 37,578
- Toyota – 36,646
- Peugeot – 27,217
- Austin – 26,368
- Triumph – 24,943
The impact of E10 fuel - Wengraf - July 2018