... haven't we!?!! For those of you who match or exceed my 36 years of age - you'll no doubt remember when Shell in the mid 1980s produced the 'Formula Shell' product which, if my memory serves me right had some kind of a combustion chamber cleaner additive as well as a 'spark aider' that ensured ... Read review
Not the cheapest, but makes sense for sports cars!
Advantages: Invaluable when used with a performance car Disadvantages: Pricier ... but that's why I use AA petrol watch!
...you'll no doubt remember when Shell in the mid 1980s produced the 'Formula Shell' product which, if my memory serves me right had some kind of a combustion chamber cleaner additive as well as a 'spark aider' that ensured more efficient combustion. It worked for me (I was only 18 years of age in 1986 .... and as a young driver, penalised from an insurance point of view as a young driver - I sought every possible extra BHP from my 1,000CC engine that ... .../>
WHAT IT IS
Shell Optimax contains a detergent which is of course intended to remove sooty deposits and other residues from "stop-start" driving .... but I understand it differs from 'Formula Shell' in that it contains a special additive that boosts the Octane level in the fuel. Although it is not 100% clear to me exactly what Octane level this fuel is at ... I understand from the internet forums I have checked out that it is ... more
INTRODUCTION Well, Perhaps we've seen these kinds of 'performance' fuels before ... haven't we!?!! For those of you who match or exceed my 36 years of age - you'll no doubt remember when Shell in the mid 1980s produced the 'Formula Shell' product which, if my memory serves me right had some kind of a combustion chamber cleaner additive as well as a 'spark aider' that ensured more efficient combustion. It worked for me (I was only 18 years of age in 1986 .... and as a young driver, penalised from an insurance point of view as a young driver - I sought every possible extra BHP from my 1,000CC engine that my then pitifully insipid econo-box possessed) .... but there were those who apparently had problems with it., such as those who maintained that the 'spark aider' apparently caused 'pinking'/pre-ignition problems. The product was no longer available a while later - but at least it seemed hence forward that other fuel companies had thereafter seemed to endorse the idea that detergents in petrol had something to offer as a benefit to motorists.
WHAT IT IS Shell Optimax contains a detergent which is of course intended to remove sooty deposits and other residues from "stop-start" driving .... but I understand it differs from 'Formula Shell' in that it contains a special additive that boosts the Octane level in the fuel. Although it is not 100% clear to me exactly what Octane level this fuel is at ... I understand from the internet forums I have checked out that it is about 98.6 Octane. This means that along with the cleaning feature of the detergent in the fuel that it also has a higher Octane level than the average Super Unleaded 97 Octane fuel available from other companies ... and if like me you own a high performance car ... well, you will be glad of the benefits:
BENEFITS As a rule, I understand that the higher the Octane level in the fuel, the more the protection that your car's engine's combustion chamber has from detonating / pre-igniting /' pinking' ... these apparently are the 'tinkling' sounds you might hear from your engine if you go up a hill under full throttle load which may occur from too weak a mixture or too far advanced ignition timing for the grade of petrol being used. Higher Octane levels therefore can protect your engines from these sorts of symptoms. I am informed that Higher Octane levels in the fuel used can prevent the internal 'knocking' in the combustion chamber that can occur from using a lower Octane fuel.
WHERE THE BENEFITS DID NOT SHOW: My wife's car is a 1.8 Litre Automatic Toyota Avensis 5 door family hatchback. Whilst the engine is Double Overhead Cam and 16-Valve ... with a Multiport Fuel Injection and quite brisk in its nippy performance .... it is nevertheless (although 'Hi-Tech' ) a family car. When I used Optimax in this car I found no appreciable gains in either performance or fuel economy. But then again this did not surprise me as the car was (so I understand) designed to run normally on the basic 95 Octane grade of fuel that is freely available in the UK, and of course this grade of fuel is usually at least 5p per litre cheaper than a 'Performance' Fuel like Optimax .... so there was, from my own experience, no noticeable change in the car's performance or economy that compelled me to keep using Optimax on this car.
WHERE THE BENEFITS UNQUESTIONABLY ARE: In October of this year I bought a Nissan Skyline GTS 2.5 Turbo (Oh! do let me 'plug' the fact that I've recently done an Op on this car!) which most who know about cars to any considerable degree would undoubtedly consider to be a high performance car: the car insurers for one do ... as they put it firmly into a group 20 rating along with Ferraris and other such cars. When I picked the car up from the dealer and drove it home from Hampshire to North London I noticed that whilst it had awesome power capabilities ... when it came to accelerating hard up certain steep hills near where I live, that there was a very, very slight 'pinking' sound. I checked on a few Skyline Owners website forums and found that in Japan (from where these cars get imported) that these cars are supposed/able to be run on 100 Octane fuel. Therefore if I didn't want to have the timing retarded I would have to use a fuel that assisted in preventing the 'pinking' when (only sometimes) climbing hills under load. Needless to say I did my research and friends who actually race cars on the tracks themselves extolled the virtues of Optimax above other 'performance fuels' on the market so I gave it a try.
THE RESULT Story so far .... NO PINKING .... NOT A SAUSAGE !!! This car runs perfectly since I have ensured that I always use "Optimax" in the tank (i.e. no other fuels have been used at intervals since I resolved to use it singularly as my fuel of choice). For a Turbo-Charged car the GTS 2.5 Turbo has a high compression ratio (9:0 to 1) so protection against 'knocking'/'pinking' is even more important. Those who also have performance cars may well also benefit from the consistent usage of this fuel. Let me know if you have similar or different experiences but for now I will continue to use Optimax - besides my mechanic, who is reputed by many to be one of the very finest Skyline specialists in the UK, absolutely advocates the use of this fuel in my car!
AFTERNOTE: I have been asked to judge certain attributes at the foot of this report that I dont feel are relevant for describing a petrol, such as: "Speed Of Response" "Cost", "Level Of Cover" and "Customer Service" ... given what I perceive to be a lack of relevance of these criteria I have merely responded with an "Acceptable" rating!
Advantages: Increased performance(esp mid range) and economy, quieter and smoother idling Disadvantages: Cost 89.9p per litre eye-wateringly expensive (at time of writing) availability-not too many Shell stations around these days,may need a couple of tankfulls to be effective, benefits only for those with performance cars/modded engines
...to Telford and as the Shell station on the Tettenhall Rd, Wolverhampton and filled it with Shell Regular Unleaded-nothing unusual about that. Well it was about that time, I started to notice a premium grade of Petrol called Optimax. I asked my best friend about it who told me not to bother because the benefits were only noticable in higher performance cars. Well I changed cars and upgraded to a Fiesta 1.6 Zetec S-a bit more of a performance car. ... ...permium of at least 5p per litre over regular unleaded and Shell petrol stations seem to be ever dwindling in numbers., so availability isn't so good.
Overall, provided your car fits into the catergories I've mentioned,you would be mad to use anything else.!
Liquid Gold..in performance AND price! ...
peterkinxl5 07.04.2005 (08.04.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Shell Optimax Petrol
Advantages: Shell get much richer !!!! Disadvantages: I get much poorer !!!
...GREEN>>>>>>>>>>
BACKGROUND
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now Shell Optimax has been around for a couple of years and you probably remember the strange advert with the yellow fish swimming about at 100mph (do fish use petrol?). Shell claim that the fuel has the "highest octane rating of ANY petrol available in the UK". Shell also claim that it is "specially designed to deliver better responsiveness by cleaning your engine as you drive". Finally Shell say that ... ...deals and TV advertising that Shell have done !!!!!
PERFORMANCE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They say the longer you use it the better it should get. Obviously there is a point were it will hit the optimum performance (see those people at Shell marketing don't get paid thousands for nothing you know). I have heard that this should be 3-4 weeks of continual use (maybe slightly longer for older cars). I have used it for this time and haven't really noticed much ...
LeeroyBrown 28.07.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Shell Optimax Petrol
Advantages: Gives more power, smoother drive. Disadvantages: Price premium, availability.
...were debating the use of Shell Optimax, and by and large the comments were pertaining to the positive end of the scale i.e. use it if you can get it!!
Shell Optimax is a premium unleaded produced exclusively for Shell garages and is currently available at around 60% of their networked garages. (Source www.shell.com).
Now higher octane petrols are available at most petrol stations aren’t they? Often referred to as super or super plus unleaded they ... ...green pumped stuff. Shell Optimax has replaced their own super plus petrol. The blurb in the garage leaflets or on the shell website has you hooked in quite quickly in that it’s developed by the same people who developed petrol systems for F1 teams and Ferrari. Indeed in Germany I understand M.Schmacher himself is the man on the advertising for Optimax. Along with the higher octane rating of 98, (I can’t explain Octane ratings, but then again this ...
alflavor 10.07.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Shell Optimax Petrol
Advantages: Higher performance, cleans fuel system as you drive Disadvantages: None if you dont mind paying a little extra
...superior product.
'What is Shell Optimax?'
Shell Optimax is a higher octane fuel available in both diesel and unleaded, standard unleaded petrol has an octane (RON) rating of 95 whereas Optimax is rated at 98 RON, basically what this translates into for you and me is that Optimax burns alot faster, cleaner and also offers a far superior performance to 'most' cars especially noticable when pulling away from lights or round-abouts whilst also offering ... ...quicker?'
Well no, but Shell Optimax offers far more than just an improvement in performance, the fuel does burn more cleanly and contains far less harmful ingredients to both your engine and to the environment, Shell Optimax actually cleans your entire fuel line, carb, injectors and valves as you drive and the more you use it the better your engine will perform and in theory (but as yet not fully proven due to the relative newness of the product) ...
Rabid 01.04.2004 (12.04.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Shell Optimax Petrol
Advantages: Will make a marked improvement on your car. Disadvantages: Won't happen overnight. More expensive.
Optimax petrol is very good. It does make your car more responsive . To put my theory to the test, I ran my car on Optimax for 1 year the changed back to regular 95 RON petrol. My car became more sluggish and the MPG came down significantly. From 380 per tank (about 50 litres) to 280. So, the extra 3p per litre could justify this. Because Optimax is more refined it burns much cleaner and hence, ... ...to my car; other people may get different results. The "Optimax" effect will not happen overnight. To really feel a difference you'll have to run it for at least 3000 miles. However, please don't be fooled that the higher octane rating the better it will be for your car! This is a fallacy. Most UK cars runs on 95 RON, using a higher octane rated petrol will make no effect on your car's performance. If higher octane ratings make ...
KatiePuckrik 28.03.2003 (01.04.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Shell Optimax Petrol
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Using ShellOptimaxpetrol the average town MPG has increased to 40 mpg.
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The "bomb proof" VW 1.8 20VT engine (voted one of the top ten engines ever built) is taken from the Audi S3 and achieves 210bhp/270nm of torque by way of 20 valves, twin intercoolers and KO4 Turbo.
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The R's extra 30bhp over the Cupra does not seem to affect fuel economy, 32 mpg cruising and 28 mpg mixed driving using ShellOptimax. (98 RON petrol is recommended)
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rattle a bit and my Fiesta can struggle to hit 50. At other times it?s easy to get to 70. (Any idea why?). This model has a rev counter which I really like. Be warned carrying over 60 stone in weight can literally be difficult but the car can cope.
You will notice with this car that when it comes to MOT day you might find it difficult to pass on the emissions test. I find that using ShellOptimaxpetrol has helped. (£28 - £35 to fill tank at 80.9 p litre) My garage agrees that this helps to clean the engine and can only be a good thing. Watch out as the Fiesta can rust on the valence and the wheel arches which could lead to a fail at the MOT test centre.
NB. Front tyres seem to wear on this car very quickly over my dads Saxo and Mums Corsa which are all front wheel drive. This is a known fact on the Fiesta. However it may point to ...
Not the cheapest, but makes sense for sports cars! 
