Shell 'Optimax'
Posted by: J.N. on 13 October 2002
Is it worth it?
Anyone tried it?
Anyone tried it?
quote:
There is nothing better than overtaking a quick car on the outside of a roundabout when turning right!!
quote:
Who said anything about speeding?? I stick within the speed limits at all times. I just get there quicker!!
so in fact you're not overtaking 'quick' cars at all - after all, how can they be 'quick' if they're driving below the speed limit?
So what exactly was the point of your first post then? Hardly a great achievement.
Of course if you had any real talent you'd be able to outrun superior machinery on track
NB goes back to smoking his pipe and sitting in his armchair with his favorite slippers on!!
quote:
NB goes back to smoking his pipe and sitting in his armchair with his favorite slippers on!!
don't you know that smoking will kill you!
btw jokes aside, have you driven the supra on a track?
Seriously now, yes I have driven my Supra on the track. One of the best experiences of my life.
I have spent four years on upgrading my Supra, not just the engine but the brakes and suspension and electronics as well.
I had some fun and overtook some very fast cars, got overtaken by some even quicker cars. In the back of my mind though was one slip and my car would be written of, so I could have gone a bit quicker.
One thing that really surprised me was I thought I was a decent driver but some of the more experienced drivers made me look slow.
NB
I have spent four years on upgrading my Supra, not just the engine but the brakes and suspension and electronics as well.
I had some fun and overtook some very fast cars, got overtaken by some even quicker cars. In the back of my mind though was one slip and my car would be written of, so I could have gone a bit quicker.
One thing that really surprised me was I thought I was a decent driver but some of the more experienced drivers made me look slow.
NB
quote:
In the back of my mind though was one slip and my car would be written of, so I could have gone a bit quicker
Yep, funny how that works. Of course if you're driving someone elses car the thought never enters your mind
quote:
For 'Experienced' I think you can also substitute 'Crazy Motherfucker'.
have to disagree there. I'm was more relaxed being driven around a track by a professional driver than with the average muppet out on public roads. There's no craziness, they're just very smooth, precise and have excellent car control.
This raises the question, do people watch motor sports for the racing or for the crashes?
Regards
NB
Regards
NB
Johan R I hope you don't have a Vodafone mobile?
Regards
Howard
Regards
Howard
All that excitement in one minute, how do you handle it??
NB
NB
I believe that Toyota UK know very little about the Supra Turbo. The only dealers that will service it will also be Lexus dealers. They were the only outlets allowed to sell it.
Getting a reliable 450bhp out the three litre twin turbo engine is trivial. You just need to raise the boost pressure from the standard .8 bar to ~1.3 bar. (Although you should do something about keeping exhaust gas temperatures at a sensible level. Front mounted intercooler and/or water injection are the obvious solutions.)
There are several ways of getting this sort of power, cheaply by removing the cats in the stock exhaust system, more expensively by using electronic controls. Of course the fuelling has to be corrected when doing this, because the standard ECU and fuel system can really only handle upto 1 bar.
Regarding the gearbox being able to handle this sort of abuse. The supra has either a six speed getrag, or a four speed auto. The German getrag box is known for its strength, and the auto is electronically protected. Temperature, pressure etc are monitored by an ECU and if anything should go outside limits, the ECU will reduce the power output of the engine accordingly. It’s also got a water/oil intercooler, for the gearbox, fitted as standard.
I’ve heard the supra really is quite a beast. I recon the chap at Toyota engineering that Craig was talking to was referring to the current range of cars. I wouldn’t expect a Corrolo or Yaris gearbox to handle that sort of power
If for instance the ECU had been replaced by an aftermarket unit (probably Japanese, as that’s where most of them come from) then you may well see a significant power increase when using Optimax. The ECU would have to be reset so it could ‘relearn’ the knock threshold etc. As it is most standard spec Supra owners see some increase when using it.
I do agree with more modern engines being run close to the limits, but he JZA80 Supra engine appears to be seriously over engineered, and can reliably handle these sort of upgrades.
Hope this helps
Mike.
Getting a reliable 450bhp out the three litre twin turbo engine is trivial. You just need to raise the boost pressure from the standard .8 bar to ~1.3 bar. (Although you should do something about keeping exhaust gas temperatures at a sensible level. Front mounted intercooler and/or water injection are the obvious solutions.)
There are several ways of getting this sort of power, cheaply by removing the cats in the stock exhaust system, more expensively by using electronic controls. Of course the fuelling has to be corrected when doing this, because the standard ECU and fuel system can really only handle upto 1 bar.
Regarding the gearbox being able to handle this sort of abuse. The supra has either a six speed getrag, or a four speed auto. The German getrag box is known for its strength, and the auto is electronically protected. Temperature, pressure etc are monitored by an ECU and if anything should go outside limits, the ECU will reduce the power output of the engine accordingly. It’s also got a water/oil intercooler, for the gearbox, fitted as standard.
I’ve heard the supra really is quite a beast. I recon the chap at Toyota engineering that Craig was talking to was referring to the current range of cars. I wouldn’t expect a Corrolo or Yaris gearbox to handle that sort of power
If for instance the ECU had been replaced by an aftermarket unit (probably Japanese, as that’s where most of them come from) then you may well see a significant power increase when using Optimax. The ECU would have to be reset so it could ‘relearn’ the knock threshold etc. As it is most standard spec Supra owners see some increase when using it.
I do agree with more modern engines being run close to the limits, but he JZA80 Supra engine appears to be seriously over engineered, and can reliably handle these sort of upgrades.
Hope this helps
Mike.
quote:
Originally posted by Rana Ali:
3. Giving you engine a regular thrashing, after the engine is warmed up, will do more wonders for cleaning your valves than Shell Optimax! Sceptical as I am of such fuels (I'm with Dev on this one), using the best quality lubrication (of appropriate grade) is definitely recommended if you are like spirited driving and want a powertrain that lasts. Modern engines will generally benefit from fully-synthetic oils.
4. I suspect that items 2 & 3 probably accounted for the respondants who said Shell Optimax made a big difference, especially the respondant who he took his Alfa to Scotland. But I may be wrong, because I wasn't there.
JN,
Well it does sound as thought you have dotted your I's and crossed your T's wrt tuning your car.
The only reason that I asked was that my query to my Toyota insider was brought upon by an experience that my wife and I had one day a few years back.
I was driving my wife to work one morning when a hopped up Honda decided to shed its transaxle all over the road in front of us. I had to do some pretty creative manoeuvring to avoid ripping my oil pan off.
The young driver was luckily none the worse for wear, but his car wasn't quite so fortunate as its front right wheel decided that it really wanted to go its own way (another strike against front wheel drive?).
The poor little bugger had a horribly sad look on his face as I helped him pick up his car parts off of the roadway. I gave him my condolences, reminded him that he was lucky to be alive and offered to drive him to his destination. He was grateful but declined, deciding instead to stay with the deceased.
For me the moral of the story is that unless one is prepared to cover all of the bases it is best to leave the 'engineering' up to the manufacturer.
YMMV (whoops),
Craig
PS. I use Optimax Gold in both our cars (VW turbos) as the manufacturer specifies 91 R+M/2. Many vendors round these parts offer 92 to 94 though I can't say that I've noticed any difference between Optimax and the other vendors closest equivalents. BTW, our valves and injectors never get a chance to get dirty
Well it does sound as thought you have dotted your I's and crossed your T's wrt tuning your car.
The only reason that I asked was that my query to my Toyota insider was brought upon by an experience that my wife and I had one day a few years back.
I was driving my wife to work one morning when a hopped up Honda decided to shed its transaxle all over the road in front of us. I had to do some pretty creative manoeuvring to avoid ripping my oil pan off.
The young driver was luckily none the worse for wear, but his car wasn't quite so fortunate as its front right wheel decided that it really wanted to go its own way (another strike against front wheel drive?).
The poor little bugger had a horribly sad look on his face as I helped him pick up his car parts off of the roadway. I gave him my condolences, reminded him that he was lucky to be alive and offered to drive him to his destination. He was grateful but declined, deciding instead to stay with the deceased.
For me the moral of the story is that unless one is prepared to cover all of the bases it is best to leave the 'engineering' up to the manufacturer.
YMMV (whoops),
Craig
PS. I use Optimax Gold in both our cars (VW turbos) as the manufacturer specifies 91 R+M/2. Many vendors round these parts offer 92 to 94 though I can't say that I've noticed any difference between Optimax and the other vendors closest equivalents. BTW, our valves and injectors never get a chance to get dirty