0-60

[chindley]

spotted this on youtube, a bit quicker than the specs state
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDOVoACjlaY

 

[Ozukus]

Wonder if this is with premium fuel.

 

[BeerHunter]

Wonder if this is with premium fuel.

I dont expect premium fuel would make any difference in this example - all the engine did was to produce electricity (series hybrid) which does not tax the engine. Only in direct drive (parallel hybrid) would any additional ICE performance due to fuel be felt.


I would expect the 0-60 time being even shorter if the charge button was pressed before "launching" as this would save the split second it takes for the ICE to kick in.

Kev.

 

[Stu]

I doubt, personally, that premium fuel in the PHEV would make any difference, regardless of mode, to performance or economy. The engine is naturally aspirated and too small to take any benefit from it. It's really only larger and/or forced induction engines that can benefit in this area, in my experience.

Constant use over a long period of time would no doubt see less degradation in performance and economy when compared with a PHEV of the same age and mileage, so premium fuel is certainly not without its merits, but you'd probably be into years to get any benefit, I reckon.

Cheers

 

[ufo]

I doubt, personally, that premium fuel in the PHEV would make any difference, regardless of mode, to performance or economy. The engine is naturally aspirated and too small to take any benefit from it. It's really only larger and/or forced induction engines that can benefit in this area, in my experience

.


The engine size does not play any role at all in terms of taking advantage of premium fuel, there are so many small turbo and supercharged small engines out there, one example is VW's 1.2 & 1.4 Lt engines which are both turbo & supercharged and require premium fuel also Ford came out with a 3 cylinder engine which is turbo charged and requires premium fuel, there are many more examples out there. Also non-force induced (non-turbo or non-supercharged) engines can take advantage of premium fuel by higher compression ratios and changing valve opening time and amount, a good example would be Honda's VTEC engines, these engines would open valves more after a certain engine rpm to produce more power using premium fuel. Even non VTEC standard engines take advantage of premium fuel just by engine design based on valve timing and/or compression ratio. I used have a 1998 Holden Barina (which is actually an Opel Corsa with just a different badge on it) there was a plug on the engine if you unplug and re-plug it in crossed (180 degree rotation) it would require and use 98 Octane to produce more power. With this crossed plug-in, the engine was using completely different throttle/valve timing map to take advantage of premium fuel to create more power. If you used regular fuel with crossed plug-in, engine would wildly ping and vibrate whereas if you used premium fuel with standard plug position it wouldn’t make any difference to anything at all because even though you had premium fuel, engine wasn’t using a mapping to take advantage of premium fuel and all you are doing was wasting your money by using premium oil.
So you are right with your claim that using premium fuel with PHEV wouldn't make any difference at all in terms of performance and/or power output. But that is true because engine is not designed to take advantage of it. It's got nothing to do with engine being small and/or Natural Aspiration (Non-turbo or supercharged).

 

[maby]

I doubt, personally, that premium fuel in the PHEV would make any difference, regardless of mode, to performance or economy. The engine is naturally aspirated and too small to take any benefit from it. It's really only larger and/or forced induction engines that can benefit in this area, in my experience

.


The engine size does not play any role at all in terms of taking advantage of premium fuel, there are so many small turbo and supercharged small engines out there, one example is VW's 1.2 & 1.4 Lt engines which are both turbo & supercharged and require premium fuel also Ford came out with a 3 cylinder engine which is turbo charged and requires premium fuel, there are many more examples out there. Also non-force induced (non-turbo or non-supercharged) engines can take advantage of premium fuel by higher compression ratios and changing valve opening time and amount, a good example would be Honda's VTEC engines, these engines would open valves more after a certain engine rpm to produce more power using premium fuel. Even non VTEC standard engines take advantage of premium fuel just by engine design based on valve timing and/or compression ratio. I used have a 1998 Holden Barina (which is actually an Opel Corsa with just a different badge on it) there was a plug on the engine if you unplug and re-plug it in crossed (180 degree rotation) it would require and use 98 Octane to produce more power. With this crossed plug-in, the engine was using completely different throttle/valve timing map to take advantage of premium fuel to create more power. If you used regular fuel with crossed plug-in, engine would wildly ping and vibrate whereas if you used premium fuel with standard plug position it wouldn’t make any difference to anything at all because even though you had premium fuel, engine wasn’t using a mapping to take advantage of premium fuel and all you are doing was wasting your money by using premium oil.
So you are right with your claim that using premium fuel with PHEV wouldn't make any difference at all in terms of performance and/or power output. But that is true because engine is not designed to take advantage of it. It's got nothing to do with engine being small and/or Natural Aspiration (Non-turbo or supercharged).

This is interesting - in that you are associating "premium" with "higher octane". That clearly can be beneficial in cars designed to be able to take advantage of it, but a lot of the so-called premium fuels sold round here are standard octane with a variety of snake-oil additives that supposedly keep your engine clean or other subjective benefits.

 

[ufo]

Well in AU only 95 & 98 Octane fuel is called premium. Only other existing fue is 91 Octane which is considered/called Regular. We also have 91 Octane fuel with 10 % Ethanol in it which is rubbish. I can't claim anything for fuel sold in EU but as far as I know all those additives are there to increase the octane of the engine so the fuel can be commpressed more without early detonation (pinging) to create more power. I also lived in US for 6 years, fuels called premium were always the high octane fuels.

 

[greendwarf]

Well in AU only 95 & 98 Octane fuel is called premium. Only other existing fue is 91 Octane which is considered/called Regular. We also have 91 Octane fuel with 10 % Ethanol in it which is rubbish. I can't claim anything for fuel sold in EU but as far as I know all those additives are there to increase the octane of the engine so the fuel can be commpressed more without early detonation (pinging) to create more power. I also lived in US for 6 years, fuels called premium were always the high octane fuels.

What you describe is how it used to be in UK before we switched to unleaded. The service stations needed to free up one of the u/g tanks, so higher "Premium" high octane fuel went - lots of complaints from high performance care owners having to de-tune their cars. Eventually leaded fuel was phased out - more complaints from those with classic cars unable to use unleaded - providing a "spare" hose at the pumps, initially used to provide diesel more widely but as pumps were replaced with more hoses the petrol companies had this "spare" tank in the ground - so bingo they created a new "premium" fuel (as described above).

It's all just marketing. As far as I know, no motoring organisation or car manufacturer in the UK recommends their use, certainly not at the premium price against the supposed benefits.

 

[maby]

Well in AU only 95 & 98 Octane fuel is called premium. Only other existing fue is 91 Octane which is considered/called Regular. We also have 91 Octane fuel with 10 % Ethanol in it which is rubbish. I can't claim anything for fuel sold in EU but as far as I know all those additives are there to increase the octane of the engine so the fuel can be commpressed more without early detonation (pinging) to create more power. I also lived in US for 6 years, fuels called premium were always the high octane fuels.

What you describe is how it used to be in UK before we switched to unleaded. The service stations needed to free up one of the u/g tanks, so higher "Premium" high octane fuel went - lots of complaints from high performance care owners having to de-tune their cars. Eventually leaded fuel was phased out - more complaints from those with classic cars unable to use unleaded - providing a "spare" hose at the pumps, initially used to provide diesel more widely but as pumps were replaced with more hoses the petrol companies had this "spare" tank in the ground - so bingo they created a new "premium" fuel (as described above).

It's all just marketing. As far as I know, no motoring organisation or car manufacturer in the UK recommends their use, certainly not at the premium price against the supposed benefits.

Definitely - there is some international confusion over terminology creeping in here. You will not go into a UK petrol station and see pumps labelled "Regular" or "Premium" - it's all "Unleaded" and, while it's a long time since I actually looked at the octane rating in the small print, it broadly corresponds to your "Regular". Then, in many petrol stations, you will see some kind of enhanced option - the manufacturers attach different labels to it - typically things like "Plus" or "Performance". Some may claim a higher octane rating, but many don't. Typically they carry a price premium of several percent and they claim to do things like keep your engine clean for longer between services, improve fuel economy or run smoother. They typically are created by adding additives to standard fuel and there have been a few high profile problems with them when this process has not been done properly. One of the big suppliers had to pay out a lot of compensation to motorists some years ago when their tanker drivers were not mixing the stuff properly and engines were getting damaged.

 

[BeerHunter]

Here is a 0-62mph in 8.9 seconds - http://youtu.be/lrP-zyFWRpI
Still without the charge button being hit before launch.

Kev.

 

[aitchjaybee]

Here is a 0-62mph in 8.9 seconds - http://youtu.be/lrP-zyFWRpI
Still without the charge button being hit before launch.

Kev.

always thought the black one would be quickest of the colours [hee hee :lol: :lol: ]