st4
Banned
Normal fuel will be fine but there will be an economy/performance gain with a better fuel. Don't use supermarket sh** but proper branded fuel and you'll be fine.
Thanks Steve, When you say 'normal fuel' do you mean standard 95 octane? and is this the fuel recommended for the Mercedes V8 (sorry I have come from a long line of cars that need super unleaded 97 or better Octane, so that has become 'normal' for me!).
My wifes V8 X5 will run on 95 but we findthe ecomony and performance is enhanced by a super unleaded fuel like Shell's Optimax (best) or BP's super offering.
Andre
My wifes V8 X5 will run on 95 but we findthe ecomony and performance is enhanced by a super unleaded fuel like Shell's Optimax (best) or BP's super offering.
Andre
st4
Banned
Yes, 95 octane from, Shell, Esso, BP etc. Not supermarket dregs
Aye, I found the same, it was however more noticable on the I6 3litre X than on the V8 car. MB actually say in handbook not to:
a) use fuel additives
b) not to use "super fuels".
I breach rule a) with excellent results but rule b) made no difference to my diesel.
A good 95ron fuel will be fine for the CLK. At sub20mpg super would be a waste and the car is so powerful anyway that the performance gain not necessary.
When my fuel light comes i think i can do another 30/40 miles before visiting a petrol station and thats when i fill it up at any garage on any fuel and it always runs the same regardless, last week stuck some posh shell stuff in and guess what it ran the same as always
.
Didnt notice any difference in fuel economy! or power etc.
Dont forget its not a highly strung engine so std fuel will be fine, as engine tech goes its pretty boring but very reliable.
Wifes as bad as me and hates actually filling up and sticks whatever in the tank, hers is the 112 engine which is basically same as yours with the 113 engine and both cars are fine.
Ps as an aside i dont think they are very poweful at all and my last car was a disco!
Lynall
Lynall
.Didnt notice any difference in fuel economy! or power etc.
Dont forget its not a highly strung engine so std fuel will be fine, as engine tech goes its pretty boring but very reliable.
Wifes as bad as me and hates actually filling up and sticks whatever in the tank, hers is the 112 engine which is basically same as yours with the 113 engine and both cars are fine.
Ps as an aside i dont think they are very poweful at all and my last car was a disco!
Lynall
Lynall
Ok, that all pretty much answers my questions thanks guys.
Actually looking at the HP figues from the Mercedes (275) and the BMW (346) the Mercedes is quite lazy and hence the advice/comments, cool, thanks again.
Actually looking at the HP figues from the Mercedes (275) and the BMW (346) the Mercedes is quite lazy and hence the advice/comments, cool, thanks again.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2008
- Messages
- 2,383
- Location
- North Weald, Essex
- Car
- Insignia VXR 2.8t (2017) SuperSport, AWD, eLSD / Gone :( CLK320 CAB (A208) 02
We had this discusion in depth on another MB forum, and the result was that most of the MB engines run perfect on 95ron, with no benefits from 97 at all, but seemed that most would use a tank full of super fuel once in a while to make use of the detergents to give the engine a bit of a spring clean
This has been discussed at length on this forum too! IMHO you should try a few tanks (not just one) of the higher octane stuff every now and then and IME it's made a marginal improvement to my w202 c230k but hardly enough to warrant it for every visit.
As you say though a bottle of "redex" or whatever is bound to cost more per tank than paying the extra 4-5p per litre for the "good stuff".
Just talking to father in law and he was telling me tried the new super fuel when it first came out and yes he felt more power and there was a mpg improvement but the extra mpg wasnt enough to cover the extra cost of the fuel.
Ps this was in a performance nissan 1.3 sunny!
Pps welcome to the very rare 430 club only about 4 or 5 people on here with one.
Lynall
Ps this was in a performance nissan 1.3 sunny!
Pps welcome to the very rare 430 club only about 4 or 5 people on here with one.
Lynall
I dont know what bmw you are comparing it to, but the BMW 540 4.4 litre engine (used in the 645, 745, etc) has 286bhp, So its on par with the mercedes 430 engine.
The 4.4 Litre X5 from 2003 (facelift) has 320 BHP, not sure where I got 346 from though....
I think its totally dependant on how the engine is designed and more specifically if the electronics (on modern cars) can make use of the extra octane. I have an old Jaguar that was designed to run on 100 octane fuel - you have to manually adjust the timing to cope with lower octanes, if you use them. The '87 911 I have will make use of the higher octane, if you set the engine management switch correctly - even bigger gains are made by a re-map specifically for the higher octane fuels. I think most performance cars (probably all modern engines) will detect the fuel octane and make adjustments within their design criteria. Hence I guess the improvement in the father in laws perfomance Sunny! ;-)
I've not yet bought a CLK430, I dont think it will be too long though....so thanks for the welcome!
Andre
