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fuel economy with PULP

Submitted: Wednesday, Nov 03, 2004 at 23:24

Smocky

G'day, I'm sure this probably has been spoken about a bit, but wanted to add my experience to the forum.

I've got a new Rodeo 3.5L petrol, which everyone knows is a pretty thirsty vehicle. Have switched to using PULP (96 octane instead of 92) and my fuel economy has gone from 16.8 to 14.0l per 100km. Now when I filled up tonight, PULP was $1.16 vs $1.12 so at 4% dearer fuel for 16% more K's that was a no-brainer.

Add to that the fact that I have to fill up less and the car responds better and it's PULP all the way. Even if it were 10c a litre dearer, I still reckon it's well worth it.

I'm going to keep a good log over many tanks and will advise of averages later on.

This is on a very new car with mixed (hwy and suburban) driving.

Cheers,

Smocky.
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AnswerID: 82960   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 06:29

Voxson (Adelaide) replied:

I totally agree with your comments....PULP i get 270kms a tank vs 240 a tank with ULP....
(motorcycle).....
Reply 1 of 8
AnswerID: 82961   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 06:52

Member - Jimbo (VIC) replied:

I've got a new 3.5L V6 and I ran 3 tanks of Optimax through it.

Didn't get any noticeable improvement in economy and performance measured against a stopwatch didn't improve either. Tried the same with my XR8 a few years ago with similar results.

However I did tow a 17 foot boat with a 2.6L Magna a few years back and it had noticeably better pulling power, especially up hills.

Barry Lake wrote a technical article on high octane fuel in MOTOR a couple of years ago saying that if the engine isn't designed for PULP, it won't help.

The hanbook in the Magna quoted different power output according to fuel type and it did make a difference. Makes me think Barry Lake's theory is correct.

My conclusion is check with manufacturer if they have built a car that will benefit from PULP. It may be a windfall or a waste of money.

Cheers,

Jim.
Reply 2 of 8
AnswerID: 82972   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 08:23

Rockfish replied:

I noticed a huge difference when using PULP in my 80 series. 1.5 - 2.0l/100km in fact! I went from struggling to get 18l/100km on a highway run to my current best of 16l/100km (albeit driving for economy as well) using shell optimax. As you can understand this makes a huge difference in the thirsty 80 series. Power is noticeably better as well.

I think the key here is not whether the engine is designed for PULP (which certainly will make a difference) but whether the engine has knock sensors fitted to sense pinging/detonation and then adjusts the ECU accordingly. I know other 80 series owners who have had similar results. I also know owners of other vehicles who so no difference whatsoever.

Cheers
Ron
Reply 3 of 8
AnswerID: 82974   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 08:42

Savvas replied:

I don't always notice the difference going from ULP to PULP/98 in a 3.5 Jackaroo, but I always notice the drop in performance going from PULP/98 back to ULP. ;-)

I also get consistently better fuel economy on highway/freeway running using 98 than I do with ULP, usually about 2L/100km improvement. But there is bugger all economy improvement around town.

There is a post somewhere here about how a Prado ECU adapts to fuel qualities but does so over a very long time. It states that to get the benefits out of PULP or 98, you need to use it consistently over something like 3000-5000km. It could be the case that a number of other ECUs have the same characteristic.

I'm currently doing a "test" where I exclusively use Optimax in the Jacakaroo for 6 months and see if and how economy improves. In 6 months, the Jack should do about 7000kms.

The ECU has been reset to factory defaults last week after two tanks of Optimax, and I'll be graphing consumption for the next 26 weeks. The Optimax will cost me about $7 extra per tank over ULP and I generally go through a tank a week.
Reply 4 of 8
FollowupID: 341995   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 08:53

bushfix posted:


http://www.lcool.org/technical/prado_high_octane_fuel.html
FollowUp 1 of 2
FollowupID: 342064   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 16:09

Savvas posted:

that's the one ... thanks bushfix
FollowUp 2 of 2
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AnswerID: 82978   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 09:15

Uppy - Member replied:

Hi Socmky.I ve got a gq 4.2 efi .I only use pulp i find I get better consumption and power.I dont use gas ,I find the Shell pulp the better of the lot for my wagon
regards uppy
...the school bus,still gets us there
Reply 5 of 8
FollowupID: 342104   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 21:50

Bryan (WA) posted:

Hi Uppy,
I also have a 4.2l efi gq. I tried pulp a few years ago on a country run (3 tanks back to back) and didnt get any improvement in economy at all.. :-( so Ive never tried it again..
I also dont use gasl, so I am very intereted in the increased economy improvements you get.
I only use shell/caltex/woolworths (which is caltex) fuel as they have the higher standard octane levels.. Have you tried caltex/woolworths pulp?
did you find it took a period of time to see the benefits? and do you get the benefits city and country driving??

thanks for the info

regards
Bryan
FollowUp 1 of 6
FollowupID: 342116   Submitted: Friday, Nov 05, 2004 at 00:07

Uppy - Member posted:

Hi Bryan,before we moved to WA, we lived in rural nsw,and could only get ulp .I only got about 450-500 kms per tank.Ive been using pulp from both shell and woolworths,since Ive been living here and Ive really notice the differance.I get 500 around town and about 650 on the open rd (100ks)Ive used caltex as well .But i think the shell is better,Keep in touch and maybe we could go for a drive sometime
regards uppy
...the school bus,still gets us there
FollowUp 2 of 6
FollowupID: 342167   Submitted: Friday, Nov 05, 2004 at 14:07

Bryan (WA) posted:

Hi Uppy,
my email address is ccie3106@iinet.net.au
drop me your details so I can let you know when i do go for a drirve.
I am planning to do a trip along the pwr lines with a couple of friends soon - 1 who is new to 4wdinging, so it will be a fun and relaxing day.

regards
Bryan
FollowUp 3 of 6
FollowupID: 342244   Submitted: Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 15:43

PerthGQ posted:

Hey guys,
we're just finishing the first tank of PULP on the 4.2 EFI GQ and already notice the improvement in economy & power, and that's with the remnants of ULP still in there. Another tank or two and the ULP should be flushed out and should be able to confirm the actual improvements on PULP. At this stage the numbers look like we should see around 14L/100km's (930km/tank) as against the current 17L/100kms.
Regards,
Keith
FollowUp 4 of 6
FollowupID: 342322   Submitted: Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 23:25

Bryan (WA) posted:

Gday keith,
what are the specs of your gq - ie what mods have you done?
to go from 17l down to 14l is a huge drop to say the least!!
also what brand and type of pulp was it? bp ultimax?

regards
Bryan
FollowUp 5 of 6
FollowupID: 342821   Submitted: Wednesday, Nov 10, 2004 at 22:22

PerthGQ posted:

G'day Bryan,
It's a '96 LWB auto,with LR tank & 2" OME suspension. 31 10R 15 Super Diggers at 40psi on the road. 1100mm storage drawers but usualy empty, except for the weekends, so not too much weight. The only engine changes are K&N filter & bosch plug leads. Currently still on the first tank of "mixed" fuel the numbers look like around 15.5km/100kms but this is guessing on the fuel gauge and km's covered. Yes, BP Ultimate, only cos it's the nearest to home. I'll keep you posted.
Regards,
Keith
FollowUp 6 of 6
AnswerID: 82981   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 09:37

Smocky replied:

G'day all,

thanks for your responses.

I'm sure there will also be variances depending on the type on PULP as well. BP has normal at 92 octane, PULP at 95 and Ultimate at 98, all obviously at increasing prices.

I intend also doing a long term documented experiement using different types of fuels and will put together a spreadsheet.

Would be interested in any other data you may want to submit. Even in the Crumpledore I had previously, I got better economy and more power out of higher Octane fuels, so there is definately something to it.

Cheers.
Reply 6 of 8
AnswerID: 82983   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 09:41

Will replied:

Hi Smocky, in regards to running PULP the general feel is that it does make a difference, but because different brands use a slightly different mix it is sometimes a case of trying a few brands to see which is best for your beast.
Will
Reply 7 of 8
AnswerID: 83032   Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 17:52

mr diamond replied:

gday.
i used pulp once in our 6v jack no difference.
listening to the radio today they were talking about e10 fuel i think it means ethanol 10%.almost every body who rang in said they were getting far more ks to a tank one guy said 100ks but most were around the 50ks.
also it is cheaper than unleaded.
Reply 8 of 8