Mi16 Super Or Normal Unleaded?

[Guest TEXR2000]

Does a Mi16 Need to be run on super? my old 1.9GTI always run better on it and didnt pink.

 

Thanks

[Ryan 99]

The handbook for the Mi16 (certainly the earlier ones with the 2-row ECU anyway) says that super unleaded is required. The later ones with a knock sensor can run in 95ron.

 

Whether the handbook is right or not varies from one engine to another. Some run fine on 95ron, some don't.

[boombang 2]

Should be run on super. They will run on 95 but tend to get very sooty and dirty inside.

[mattmk1 0]

Yeh the Handbook, Haynes and Autodata all say 97 RON. Mine feelss less urgent at high RPM on 95 RON and is also slightly less economical.

[KRISKARRERA 2 1 Cars]

The 405 Mi16s before chassis number 70000000 are supposed to run on 98 octane 4 star or super unleaded. Those after (approx. 1991 H reg) drink any old s*ite thanks to the knock sensor. Definately sounds better on a bit of V power or that 99 ron junk that Tesco sell.

[Rom 0]

Ive always used V Power.

I did use normal unleaded once. It didnt run very well, hesitated etc. I drained it out and flogged it, it was that bad. Mines an early non knock sensor engine.

[Ethos 0]

Silly question, but how do I know if im running a knock sensor on my mi16?

[cybernck 400 1 Cars]

you can check going by the ECU number (do a search) but to make sure it's better

to take a look at your engine from below, looks for a black plasic sensor screwed

into the center of the block above the sump .

[rossi 0]

What about the GTI 6, is it necessary to run super-unleaded? I usually use v-power anyway. I have tried standard 95 RON and it seems just as good, 'power delivery wise'. Still prefer to use v-power though.

[Jon_Bmw 13]

I was just a weeeee boy at the time, but back in 1989 when the mi16 was introduced, was there even any super unleaded available? I don't run mine on it and its a 2 row ECU. I'm not getting any detectable knock either. Did they used to run on 4 star and then they were converted by Pug/Cit dealerships(seems unlikely).

 

I personally don't get the whole super unleaded thing if your car hasn't got a knock sensor. BUT i am suprised to see you all say that an early mi16 has to be run on 97...

[jackherer 543]

I was just a weeeee boy at the time, but back in 1989 when the mi16 was introduced, was there even any super unleaded available?

 

No, but 4 star is the equivalent high octane fuel. Normal 95 RON unleaded isn't as high octane as four star was. A car that could only run on 4 star (205 GTI 1.9 for example) can only run on super unleaded these days. 4 star was something like 98 or 99 RON.

[McDude 33]

I personally don't get the whole super unleaded thing if your car hasn't got a knock sensor. BUT i am suprised to see you all say that an early mi16 has to be run on 97...

If you don't have a knock sensor and the engine has been set up to run on 95 you will see no benefit in running 97+ because the engine cannot adapt to the fuel by advancing the timing. But in the case of the 205 engine it has to be set up to run on 97 and you will see a detriment in performance if you run it on 95 - theoretically you should see knock because the timing cannot retard automatically.

[Guest TEXR2000]

Thanks For The Info. When i get it up to drop the oil will see if i have a knock sensor. Will prop run it on super anyway, collect my V-power points

[Jon_Bmw 13]

If you don't have a knock sensor and the engine has been set up to run on 95 you will see no benefit in running 97+ because the engine cannot adapt to the fuel by advancing the timing. But in the case of the 205 engine it has to be set up to run on 97 and you will see a detriment in performance if you run it on 95 - theoretically you should see knock because the timing cannot retard automatically.

 

Yes I realise. The amount of times someone comes on the BMW forum I use and claims that his 1989 325i runs 10times better is unreal, they will work on 92 octane and none have a knock sensor!

 

I am genuienly suprised that even the 205 gti 8v was setup to run on 97 octane... My mi16 on a recent rolling road gave no indication of knock, put the right power down, the AFR were very very close to 13:1 the whole time, oh and it made bang on what it should have(163bhp) all on supermarket 95 ron...

[2052006 10]

No, but 4 star is the equivalent high octane fuel. Normal 95 RON unleaded isn't as high octane as four star was. A car that could only run on 4 star (205 GTI 1.9 for example) can only run on super unleaded these days. 4 star was something like 98 or 99 RON.

 

Does this mean I SHOULDN'T be running my 1.9 with cheapo 95? ie. Will it harm it? The wife uses it daily and there's no point her filling up with super if 95 is ok to use.

[Tom Fenton 1,526]

It all depends on how the timing is set. If you advance the timing to book figures then they will pink at high load/low revs on 95RON Unleaded, however if you knock the timing back a bit they will not pink, at the expense of a "little" power loss. My 205 1600 8v gets 95RON as most of the time it doesn't get driven hard enough to tell the difference due to traffic conditions.

[KRISKARRERA 2 1 Cars]

Thing is, at least in the case of the earlier Mi16s that didn't have a knock sensor, they seem to tolerate 95 ron unleaded. But the timing was set for 4 star and that was either 97 or 98 ron, so in theory you really oughta be using super unleaded.

 

[jackherer 543]

It all depends on how the timing is set. If you advance the timing to book figures then they will pink at high load/low revs on 95RON Unleaded, however if you knock the timing back a bit they will not pink, at the expense of a "little" power loss. My 205 1600 8v gets 95RON as most of the time it doesn't get driven hard enough to tell the difference due to traffic conditions.

 

The 1600 loses much less than the 1900, even Peugeot say the 1.6 can be modified (ign. retarded) for 95 but not the 1.9 even though its possible as the power loss is so big.