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Robin Smith - 01 Mar 2005 14:54 GMT

Anyone know the benefits of Optimax and other branded Petrol/Gasoline
upsells. I'm trying to figure out the reality behind their claims of:

Better mileage
Better engine life
etc

Can anyone offer guidance here?

Thanks

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Michael Heiming - 02 Mar 2005 20:18 GMT

In alt.autos.ford.focus Robin Smith <robin@noaddress.com>:

> Anyone know the benefits of Optimax and other branded Petrol/Gasoline
> upsells. I'm trying to figure out the reality behind their claims of:

> Better mileage
> Better engine life
> etc

> Can anyone offer guidance here?

IMHO, complete nonsense in addition to respectable rip-off. The
Focus ignition/injection system is programmed to use the petrol
quality outlined in your owners manual by Ford nothing else.

Sure it would be great, just filling up your car with this magic
fuel and have your engine run like Michael Schumacher's Ferrari,
while reducing fuel consumption.;)

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Paul Gibson - 07 Mar 2005 17:59 GMT

> In alt.autos.ford.focus Robin Smith <robin@noaddress.com>:
> > Anyone know the benefits of Optimax and other branded Petrol/Gasoline
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> > Can anyone offer guidance here?

This subject has been done to death on the FFOC forums
<http://www.ffoc.co.uk/forum/> but here is my tuppence worth...

> IMHO, complete nonsense in addition to respectable rip-off. The
> Focus ignition/injection system is programmed to use the petrol
> quality outlined in your owners manual by Ford nothing else.

There is definitely a (slight) performance benefit in using Optimax
over 95 RON fuel, but whether it's worth the extra cash for that alone
is very debatable.

The main improvememnt I noticed was that the engine appeared to run
more smoothly and was slightly more responsive.

> Sure it would be great, just filling up your car with this magic
> fuel and have your engine run like Michael Schumacher's Ferrari,
> while reducing fuel consumption.;)

My consumption stats for a 2.0 Focus are:

95 RON: 32.28 mpg over 28173 miles
97 RON: 29.89 mpg over 7996 miles
98 RON: 30.65 mpg over 4517 miles

As you can see, the economy figures for standard unleaded are best.

I'm sure Optimax could produce similar results, but when you've forked
out a significant premium for it, you're going to use every last drop
of extra performance it gives. Unfortunately as far as fuel economy
is concerned, the greatest performance benefit over standard fuel
appears to be at 4500rpm upwards and that puts a big hole in your
pocket where economy is concerned.

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Michael Heiming - 07 Mar 2005 19:21 GMT

In alt.autos.ford.focus Paul Gibson <aaff@cestria.com>:

>> In alt.autos.ford.focus Robin Smith <robin@noaddress.com>:
>> > Anyone know the benefits of Optimax and other branded Petrol/Gasoline
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>>
>> > Can anyone offer guidance here?

> This subject has been done to death on the FFOC forums
> <http://www.ffoc.co.uk/forum/> but here is my tuppence worth...

>> IMHO, complete nonsense in addition to respectable rip-off. The
>> Focus ignition/injection system is programmed to use the petrol
>> quality outlined in your owners manual by Ford nothing else.

> There is definitely a (slight) performance benefit in using Optimax
> over 95 RON fuel, but whether it's worth the extra cash for that alone
> is very debatable.

Times the fuel came up, it has been tested by various car
magazines over here, they put different cars on a
power-absorption roller and there was IIRC nothing that couldn't
be explained with measuring tolerance.

They compared with the fuel quality outlined by the manufacturer.
Sadly RON/ROZ are not directly comparable, so I don't know which
quality 95 RON would be over here and if it's in the spec for
Foci over here.

> The main improvememnt I noticed was that the engine appeared to run
> more smoothly and was slightly more responsive.

IMHO, you'd need a reprogrammed ECU or so to take advantages from
the fuel. It's easy to fool oneself, only a power-absorption
roller would show if there's a real gain.

Sure anyone who thinks he could benefit from it should simply
test it out and see for himself and his car. It doesn't cost you
a fortune to fill up your car once or twice with it.

Your fuel consumption is 7.2-7.8 l/100km, never got this out of
my Focus (2.0l manual), I'm lucky to get below 9.0 l/100km (26
mpg), with some care. As soon as you drive >160 km/h (>100 mph)
the Focus starts guzzling fuel, >200 km/h (>125 mph) an you can
watch the fuel gauge fall.;( On the other hand you aren't really
annoyed about a partially speed limits on your way, it helps to
keep the average fuel consumption in acceptable regions.

Of course, if the highway is empty enough, which is rare enough,
the weather fine, mostly it's not and no speed limit, you should
have more luck with that, it's nice letting the Focus run. DON'T
look at the fuel gauge... ;-)

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Paul Gibson - 08 Mar 2005 07:26 GMT

> In alt.autos.ford.focus Paul Gibson <aaff@cestria.com>:
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> quality 95 RON would be over here and if it's in the spec for
> Foci over here.

It's the bog standard unleaded in the UK. Your engine would be same
as mine, so I'd expect the fuel requirements to be similar.

> > The main improvememnt I noticed was that the engine appeared to run
> > more smoothly and was slightly more responsive.
>
> IMHO, you'd need a reprogrammed ECU or so to take advantages from

I have Bluefin and an induction kit.

> the fuel. It's easy to fool oneself, only a power-absorption
> roller would show if there's a real gain.

I agree that having laid out a few extra pennies per litre, you really
*DO* want to notice the difference, so there is the obvious danger
that you'll perceive something that's not really there.

I never did try Optimax on a standard ECU, but a good few folk have
reported the same as I described.

> Your fuel consumption is 7.2-7.8 l/100km, never got this out of
> my Focus (2.0l manual), I'm lucky to get below 9.0 l/100km (26
> mpg), with some care. As soon as you drive >160 km/h (>100 mph)

Carcare tells me I've had 150 fuel purchases and I've never had less
than 25mpg. I do drive my car hard...

> the Focus starts guzzling fuel, >200 km/h (>125 mph) an you can

...but never at that speed!

I'm surprised it actually goes that fast because it really does run
out of steam at high revs.

> watch the fuel gauge fall.;( On the other hand you aren't really
> annoyed about a partially speed limits on your way, it helps to
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> have more luck with that, it's nice letting the Focus run. DON'T
> look at the fuel gauge... ;-)

The car is reasonably economical at lower speeds, but once the revs
climb, it's disappointingly thirsty.

I had a 2.0 Primera that was way more lively than my chipped Focus,
revved forever and was still waaaay more economical at high speeds.
Maybe I was spoiled. Anyway, I digress...

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Michael Heiming - 08 Mar 2005 17:28 GMT

In alt.autos.ford.focus Paul Gibson <aaff@cestria.com>:

>> In alt.autos.ford.focus Paul Gibson <aaff@cestria.com>:

[..]

> I have Bluefin and an induction kit.

Ah, so your ECU is reprogrammed, it's likely your engine can gain
from higher ROZ fuel.

>> the fuel. It's easy to fool oneself, only a power-absorption
>> roller would show if there's a real gain.

> I agree that having laid out a few extra pennies per litre, you really
> *DO* want to notice the difference, so there is the obvious danger
> that you'll perceive something that's not really there.

> I never did try Optimax on a standard ECU, but a good few folk have
> reported the same as I described.

Questionable, with "bluefin" like you have mounted it should be
quite possible and measurable.

[..]

> I'm surprised it actually goes that fast because it really does run
> out of steam at high revs.

Sad thing is, speedometer stops short before 220 km/h, revs climb
up a little bit more. To find out speedo tolerance, tested with
my GPS one/twice.

Astonishing the tolerance with original tires 195/60-15 is only
5%. GPS shows 209 km/h at 5800 rpm, it does some more revs, but
those times had no GPS with me. Not that bad, thinking about the
201 km/h Vmax outlined in the registration.;)

[..]

> The car is reasonably economical at lower speeds, but once the revs
> climb, it's disappointingly thirsty.

Full ack, matches exactly with my observations.

[..]

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Robin Smith - 08 Mar 2005 22:20 GMT

Thx Paul, good data

> > In alt.autos.ford.focus Robin Smith <robin@noaddress.com>:
> > > Anyone know the benefits of Optimax and other branded Petrol/Gasoline
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
>
> http://www.cestria.com/

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Paul Gibson - 09 Mar 2005 19:10 GMT

<snip>

> > My consumption stats for a 2.0 Focus are:
> >
> > 95 RON: 32.28 mpg over 28173 miles
> > 97 RON: 29.89 mpg over 7996 miles
> > 98 RON: 30.65 mpg over 4517 miles

> Thx Paul, good data

If you're interested, that data and a whole lot more is generated by
Carcare. <http://www.carcaresoftware.com/>

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Robin Smith - 10 Mar 2005 10:57 GMT

Cheers! Have you tried the sowtware yourself? Is it worthi ti and does it
support UK operation?

Rgds

> <snip>
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> http://www.cestria.com/

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Paul Gibson - 10 Mar 2005 21:04 GMT

[Carcare]

> Cheers! Have you tried the sowtware yourself? Is it worthi ti and does it
> support UK operation?

I'm in the UK and it does everything I want and a whole lot more. I've
been using it for a LONG time now and it's great. There are links to
independent reviews on the website and you can download a trial copy
for evaluation if you wish to give it a try.

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Robin Smith - 11 Mar 2005 10:25 GMT

Paul, I tried it and thought it would be quite useful, but only the fuel
part. Do you use the PDA version and sync up etc

Rgds

> [Carcare]
> > Cheers! Have you tried the sowtware yourself? Is it worthi ti and does it
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> http://www.cestria.com/

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Paul Gibson - 15 Mar 2005 11:17 GMT

> Paul, I tried it and thought it would be quite useful, but only the fuel
> part. Do you use the PDA version and sync up etc

[CarCare]

I run it solely on my desktop PC for the fuel logging and servicing,
MOT reminders etc. I have no real interest in anything deeper than
that - if you were obsessive about logging everything it could take
over your life! ;)

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Robin Smith - 18 Mar 2005 14:27 GMT

(:

I see your point. I max out my use of PDA, with the hope that one day we'll
be able to do all we need to do on it

I think I'll give it a try

rgds

> > Paul, I tried it and thought it would be quite useful, but only the fuel
> > part. Do you use the PDA version and sync up etc
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> http://www.cestria.com/

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Paul Gibson - 09 Mar 2005 19:13 GMT

<snip>

> > My consumption stats for a 2.0 Focus are:
> >
> > 95 RON: 32.28 mpg over 28173 miles
> > 97 RON: 29.89 mpg over 7996 miles
> > 98 RON: 30.65 mpg over 4517 miles

> Thx Paul, good data

If you're interested, that data and a whole lot more is generated by
Carcare. <http://www.carcaresoftware.com/>

Signature

Paul...

http://www.cestria.com/

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