Ron Rating and Engine Power for F10

[Shotgun]

I've read somewhere that the 306bhp rating for the N55B30 engine on the 535i is rated at RON 98. As we do not have RON 98 in Malaysia, does anybody have a quick answer or an educated guess on the power and torque outputs for that particular engine for RON95 and RON97 petrol. These are the 2 most common petrol grades in the market. The car will run on anything above RON 91 I believe and the major difference will be power output. Any guesses??

 

[rx8]

Shell v power racing is ron 98. I use this on my n54b30. N at rm3 per liter, it better b better than 95. The extra ron is useful espc when u have a heavy right foot. Not 2 say u cant use 95, just that 98 is better. Like saying full synthetic oils r better that non synthetic oils. Both can also use.

 

[MRsamdol]

ok, can somebody somehow confirm the reason shell here don't advertise shell vpower racing red as ron98? is it because technically you can't sell petrol higher than ron97 in Malaysia? Is this a rumour? is vpower red really ron98 or ron97 with additives? On the local shell website i think it does not state anywhere it's ron98 anywhere nor do i see it at the pumps or maybe i blur not noticing it.

Thanks to anyone who can explain...

 

[Shotgun]

I actually tend to think that VPower is RON97 with extra fuel additives and detergent. I doubt it is RON 98 unless someone proves me wrong. That's why they never market it as such. IMHO, it is a better fuel than the premium unleaded RON97 but does not quite meet international RON98 standards.

I also don't think that there is any law that restricts the sales of RON98. Anything above RON95 is not govt controlled and is free float based on international fuel prices. Again, please correct me if I'm wrong.

My concern is finding out ballpark figures for the N55B30 engine performance under different octane ratings for malaysian fuels. Educated guesses if you will.

 

[MRsamdol]

Yup, that's what i think so too but if you read this article

http://paultan.org/2010/09/28/not-all-fuels-are-the-same-we-dig-deeper-into-shell-v-power/

and to quote the article:-

"V-Power 97 is RON97, but what’s the actual RON rating for V-Power Racing? Eric Holthusen said “a minimum of RON97″ with a cheeky smile, which makes me suspect that it’s actually higher. Or at least that’s exactly what they want us to believe. In any case, remember that the base fuel for VPR is of a higher quality, which explains the 38 sen premium over V-Power 97."

and also many people saying the base fuel for vpower racing is ron98.

So if you want to have an educated guess and to compare with bmw's numbers i guess the best fuel would be shell vpower racing to achieve the closest to 306bhp.

 

[rx8]

Me bad, Mr samdol is right n i m wrong. apologies. Dont know why but i had always 'assumed' v power racing is ron 98. That's why he drives a real m3 whereas i can only afford d m3 emblem.

 

[Shotgun]

So question is where can you get the bestt quality petrol to unleash the full power of M vehicles and the inline sixers of the F10?

 

[MRsamdol]

Me bad, Mr samdol is right n i m wrong. apologies. Dont know why but i had always 'assumed' v power racing is ron 98. That's why he drives a real m3 whereas i can only afford d m3 emblem.

Huh??? i am just as confused as you! I assumed vpower racing is ron98 too! but i can't find anywhere online that confirm that... and i ask many people and everybody said different things. I am just confused and hoped maybe someone can explain to me. Me driving an m3 has nothing to do with anything here. Shotgun wants to know how to get the nearest to official bmw figures of 306bhp and i agree with you shell vpower racing is the better fuel sold in M'sia. My apologies if i sidetracked here by asking more info on it.

 

[t2ribena]

there is no clear answer if V-Power Racing is RON98 but based on common sense we can assume that it is...based on some points below;

- Shell market the Fuel Save 95, V-Power 97 and V-Power Racing (? marketing two RON97 fuel makes little sense...so VPR must be higher RON or with super premium fuel additives (other than friction modifier which bring us to the next point)
- Butt Dyno says the car has more oommmpph on VPR and on Dyno machine as well shows at least 5hp gain...but that gain is subjective, could be environment factor...but such HP gain cannot be from friction modifier additives...
- the V-Power racing base oil comes from shell facility near Singapore that refines RON95 and RON98...

all this high RON thingy only beneficial for high compression engines...using it on low compression engine is a waste of resources...

 

[Vroom325]

according to a reliable source,(don ask me where, I can't tell u...) it's ron 97. However, the fuel base is different from the 95 and 97 that we are using. It's "lighter" so it burns better, as a result better feel.

 

[t2ribena]

what is 'lighter' fuel? and how does 'lighter' fuel burns better?

according to a reliable source,(don ask me where, I can't tell u...) it's ron 97. However, the fuel base is different from the 95 and 97 that we are using. It's "lighter" so it burns better, as a result better feel.

 

[Vroom325]

I donno, u don ask me coz I m not chemist.

 

[Shotgun]

according to a reliable source,(don ask me where, I can't tell u...) it's ron 97. However, the fuel base is different from the 95 and 97 that we are using. It's "lighter" so it burns better, as a result better feel.

I tend to agree with Vroom325. Otherwise they would have marketed it as RON98 to your face. Right now they not denying it neither are they confirming its RON98. That leaves it up to your own individual interpretation on the RON rating. It would be good if the oil companies can provide more information on the products they are selling. Just to clear the confusion among consumers.

 

[gameover]

I tend to agree with Vroom325. Otherwise they would have marketed it as RON98 to your face. Right now they not denying it neither are they confirming its RON98. That leaves it up to your own individual interpretation on the RON rating. It would be good if the oil companies can provide more information on the products they are selling. Just to clear the confusion among consumers.

Actually I believe it's a Malaysian regulation issue, not a marketing issue. RON97 is the max you can market a fuel at according to regulations and it doesn't make sense that Shell will have RON98 V-Power Racing in Singapore and a different one in Malaysia when it's coming from the same refinery.

Again my educated guess only. I don't use Shell

 

[Shotgun]

After going thru the web for information, i found some interesting information. According to wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating here, the V power and V power racing here is RON97. In Singapore it is RON98. The regular unleaded is RON95. It makes sense now cos if it's RON98 here, they would have advertised it that way. Second piece of info is what I found from the US 5 Series owner's manual which says the 535i engine is rated at 300hp with AKI 91 fuels. AKI is the rating for the american and canadian system. AKI is the Anti-Knock index which is tested differently from the RON (Research octane Number) system. There is a table on the wiki website that equates the american AKI91 fuel to be similar but not exactly the same, to RON95 which is our regular fuel.

It also says that the regular american fuel is rated at AKI 87 which is equivalent to RON91-92 here. Thats probably why the bloke on the youtube site that dynoed the 535i only achieved 277hp at the wheels due to lower fuel quality and also some drivetrain losses. (check that youtube video out)

From the bits and pieces of info online, I would put a guess that at RON95 (regular unleaded here) the power output for the 535i should be 300hp which is not far off from the manufacturer's claim of 306hp with RON98. So if you use RON97 or Vpower, it should bring you closer to the claimed 306hp by BMW. Different strokes for different folks here but the lowest you would get from regular is 300hp which is pretty decent.

My original concern after watching the dyno video is that the car might lose lots of HP from using lower grade petrol here. Now I doubt that's the case and that i also know that we actually do get pretty good octane numbers from the petrol here.

On a different note, the americans actually recommend AKI89 or better for the 535i, which i guess to be RON92 equivalent. The disadvantage for that is a lower power output for engine.

 

[Shotgun]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_V-Power see also the wikipedia entry on shell v power to see the variations around the world. Different markets sell different quality fuels.

 

[pussy]

HP on the engine on 306hp ratings does not depends on petrol alone, consider weather, dusty or cloudy or rain, plus the height of the car, sea-level...

and most engines does not produce the same 306 ratings, some will be lower, higher...



psst... let u on a inside note, VPR is RON97+.. they can't say it's RON98, due to the stupidy of the gomen requirements...

 

[Shotgun]

HP on the engine on 306hp ratings does not depends on petrol alone, consider weather, dusty or cloudy or rain, plus the height of the car, sea-level...

and most engines does not produce the same 306 ratings, some will be lower, higher...



psst... let u on a inside note, VPR is RON97+.. they can't say it's RON98, due to the stupidy of the gomen requirements...

Selling RON98 petrol by saying that its RON97+ is like selling a 535i and badging it 528i. It does not make marketing sense for the company to do. In my opinion, because anything above RON95 is sold at international market prices, means it is not government controlled and therefore a free market product to sell. Also, all Malaysian base fuels, regardless of brand comes from the same refinery. If Shell has access to RON98, it means all other brands will have access to it as well. So the conclusion would be, if nobody else in the market has RON98, neither does Shell.

As for Singapore, I presume they source their fuels from a refinery located in Singapore and would therefore have access to different quality fuel. That's probably why they have RON98 there for V Power Racing.

 

[Shotgun]

As for this thread, I was initially concerned about the engine performance with the fuels we have here. I was afraid it would not be able to achieve the advertised 306hp and perform at a much reduced power output. I would conclude that its not the case here. Because they will normally tend to underrate their engines a bit. I also believe that BMW having so many markets around the world would have had the sense to design their engines to operate under a very wide range of fuel conditions and environmental conditions.

Even the diesels sold here have the same power rating as the diesels sold anywhere in the world regardless of fuel quality. And apparently our diesel fuels are quite dirty.

 

[willie]

As for this thread, I was initially concerned about the engine performance with the fuels we have here. I was afraid it would not be able to achieve the advertised 306hp and perform at a much reduced power output. I would conclude that its not the case here. Because they will normally tend to underrate their engines a bit. I also believe that BMW having so many markets around the world would have had the sense to design their engines to operate under a very wide range of fuel conditions and environmental conditions.

Even the diesels sold here have the same power rating as the diesels sold anywhere in the world regardless of fuel quality. And apparently our diesel fuels are quite dirty.

High in sulphur does not mean dirty my friend... It is "dirty" for environment, not much for the diesel engine...