Re: Caltex better than Shell?
I would like to share some info on fuel.
M54 engines work best when you fill up with 98 octane and above. Therefore anything below it is a no brainer. The car will still run but at a retarded ignition advance. Hence lesser power. Technically when you run 98 octane, your car should be able to produce maximum power. Although when the wallet feels a little bloated, a tank of 100 octane does produce a little more power given a little time for the car to optimise the ignition advance.
The ECU will occasionally advance the ignition curves by 1 degree and check for detonation or commonly known as "pinging". There are knock sensors on the block that detect detonation even before they become audible. So given the right ambient temperature (ECU also compensates for hot intake air), a fresh tank of 100 octane stuff will deliver better "go" after about 50km of travelling give or take.
Why does Shell deliver better ecomony? The V power range of fuels are more volatile given the same octane rating as Caltex. That is why they can cause detonation in some highly tuned cars. For Caltex, the addition of Techron is a godsend. I used to buy Techron to clean the injectors and intake ports. The web site for techron is this.
http://www.chevron.com/products/prodserv/fuels/additives/concentrate_plus.shtml
This is so far the best cleaner that i have tried, damn fast cleaning power.
So for cars that have dirty injectors and ports, Caltex is good to clear up the gunk to restore power. You may not feel the increase immediately cos it take some time to clear the deposits but given a couple of tanks and long runs up NS expressway, All the original power should be restored.
As U might have guessed, Caltex gets my vote for now.
Cheers
Anyone wanna do group buy on Techron? Dunno how to ship from US though.... sigh...