Page 2 of 3

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:48 pm
by sunocoracingaus
Hi All,

Aaron from Sunoco Racing/VPW here again.

We have released the specs on our new unleaded fuel this week. It is currently being loaded onto a ship & being shipped to Aus, as we speak.
Sunoco Racing EVO 10 is coming & is ready to be unleashed on Australian Race Tracks!

Designed from the ground up and blended in Sunoco Racing’s own Marcus Hook facility under the guidance of the biggest names in Australian, USA and European Naturally Aspirated Drag Racing .

With its Motor Octane of 100 and 10% Oxygen by weight, Sunoco EVO 10 Unleaded is the Highest Octane and Highest Oxygenated Unleaded on the market today.

This fuel has been independently tested by leading NHRA’s Pro Stock, Super Stock & Comp Eliminator Engine builders and tuners. Sunoco EVO 10 Unleaded has proven to match and exceed existing leaded fuels performance with only minor/at track tuning adjustments.

Sunoco EVO 10 has been designed & tested in a wide range of engines, from 16:1 Naturally Aspirated to lower compression forced induction combinations. And because Sunoco EVO 10 doesn’t contain any MTBE or ETBE, it is safer on your fuel system & can also be used in marine applications.

Motorcycle riders have not missed out either. The high burn speed will work extremely well with small capacity high revving engines allowing maximum power without significant timing changes.

Sunoco EVO 10 Unleaded is on the water will be in Australia shortly, so stay tuned to www.vpw.com.au, www.sunoco.com.au, https://www.facebook.com/SunocoAustralia/ or Instagram/sunocoracingfuelsau for pricing & information on where to get your hands on some.
Image

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:02 am
by mal hewett
Is the 10% oxygen by weight legal in the Gas class? regards Mal

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 8:51 pm
by sunocoracingaus
mal hewett wrote: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:02 am Is the 10% oxygen by weight legal in the Gas class? regards Mal
Hi Mal,

I have to familiarise myself a bit more with the DLRA rules, so I will go through them.

The issue we have with unleaded fuels is, the is a physical octane limit you hit with unleaded fuels & the current additive technology that is both available & affordable. So us & other manufacturers will use the oxygen content & other additives to make up for that octane wall you hit.

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:54 pm
by DLRA
G'Day Aaron,
Below is the wording from the DLRA Rulebook. (Basically the same as SCTA rules, just a different machine for testing).

When we get asked by entrants what petrol to use or buy for GAS classes, the easiest (for them and us) answer to give is, buy what ever you can get from your local service station. However we do have a lot of entrants that buy their petrol from other suppliers.

NOTE: We do not actually refer to octane rating or RON or MON in the rules because they can vary so much from supplier to supplier and can also depend on how fresh the petrol is. Rather we use a meter to compare the DC value of the petrol with a known standard and then apply an upper limit of what GAS class petrol should read. This works for both leaded petrol which has a lower reading than unleaded, but does not mean that it is of any higher performance.

The problem is most manufacturers / suppliers do not state the DC value of their fuels. So if entrants are using a petrol of unknown DC value, they need to supply a sample to the club for testing so that they can then can be sure. So far as I know there has only been one team do this.

It should also be noted: We are not testing to see what type of fuel it is, this can only be done in a laboratory, rather we are testing if it can be used in GAS class or FUEL class.

The way that the testing works, if a sample is tested and it is higher than 15 it will contain some sort of additive / blend or be a high performance (racing) fuel and is not permitted for use in GAS class. For example Methanol has a DC value of 32.

GASOLINE CLASSES:
The DLRA defines gasoline to contain no nitrogen bearing compounds, no propylene oxide, no ethylene oxide, and no more than 10% methanol. The contest board may choose any test or combination of tests to assure that liquid fuels used in GASOLINE classes comply with these specifications. The tests may include but will not be limited to testing for the dielectric constant (D.C.) value, color comparisons,specific gravity, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and/or other testing methods. The addition of compounds containing oxygen, such as ethanol, methanol and other oxygenates may produce a mixture with a D.C. greater than 15.0 as measured with a Digitron DT-64 “DC Meter” zeroed on reagent grade, pure CYCLOHEXANE. 15.0 is the current DLRA acceptable dielectric ceiling. Most gasoline will check under this ceiling. At a non-“EVENT” gasoline meet, any gasoline that measures 15.0 or less on the D.C.scale and meets all other DLRA requirements will be allowed.

All liquid gasoline blends can be tested and certified to have a specific D.C., color, specific gravity, and other chemical properties. All gasoline that is tested and meets the DLRA definition of gasoline may be allowed on a case by case basis by the Contest Board. It is recommended that unknown gas be submitted to the DLRA and checked before use in competition.
E85 is not allowed in gas classes.

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2019 11:39 pm
by 600dlra
Any idea when we will have an answer on what fuel is permitted to be used in the gas class?
Telling us that buying it from the servo doesn't help much.With leaded fuel c14+ was legal,nobody gets that at the servo.
THanks,Ian

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 6:15 pm
by DLRA
If you are running GAS class and you think you know what petrol you want to run, I would strongly suggest getting a sample of it that we can test with the Digitron, that is the only way you are really going to know.
We can bring the Digitron to the General Meetings and conduct tests there or make some other arrangement.
Failing that, contact your fuel supplier and ask them for a DC reading for the petrol you want to buy.

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2019 9:19 pm
by 600dlra
Ok,I have some VP MS109,it is oxygenated but nobody can tell me what the DC is.
From the people I have spoken to,it seems the fuel companies don't rate this test very highly.I think the only way to know for sure is to test it on the actual DLRA machine.
I'm in Adelaide,who do I need to contact to get this done?
I know the point of all this is to keep it even with the leaded fuel used in the States,but comparing C14 with a pump unleaded fuel certainly puts us at a disadvantage.
Thanks ,Ian

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:30 am
by DLRA
G'Day Ian,
The purpose of the test is because the DLRA runs GAS and FUEL classes.
Fuel used in GAS class is controlled to provide a level playing field.
Remember this is only an issue if you are running in GAS class.

What we are doing right now is arranging to get as many samples of different manufacturers fuel tested as we can.
As we get these I will be publishing the results.

On a related matter, there is some good news for people running VINTAGE class engines (car and bike) in the new rule book that will be published next month.

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:42 pm
by 600dlra
Thanks for the quick reply.
I will be running in Gas Coupe & the engine is going together soon.
Will be very keen to see the results,
Thanks again,Ian

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:05 pm
by DLRA
Short answer
VP109 is not suitable for GAS class as it is highly oxygenated.

Long answer
I have compiled a table of all the fuel types that were used at Speed Week 2019, and nominated the DLRA class that they are suitable for.
Note: this is just me using the specs supplied to determine class and no fuel has been tested.
Hopefully this will help you with your build.

https://www.dlra.org.au/fuel-suppliers.htm

Plus I have found a Master Fuel Table on the VP website with all the details you need to make your selection if using VP Fuels.
https://www.vpracingfuels.com/master-fu ... 1qmilAODCU

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:28 pm
by mal hewett
Hey Greg
Can you tell us the maximum allowable oxygen content in an Unleaded fuel for it to be legal with the DLRA please.
That will help a lot in deciding what we can use.
Regards Mal

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:04 am
by DLRA
mal hewett wrote: Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:28 pm Hey Greg
Can you tell us the maximum allowable oxygen content in an Unleaded fuel for it to be legal with the DLRA please.
That will help a lot in deciding what we can use.
Regards Mal
G'Day Mal,
To be safe, I'd say none, if it has some I'd be getting it tested. It's not necessarily just the oxygen that will push it over, depends on what else is in there.
As per the Rule Book "The addition of compounds containing oxygen, such as ethanol, methanol and other oxygenates may produce a mixture with a D.C. greater than 15.0"
Look at the tables shown in the links and the oxygen contents, there's a fairly strong theme going there.

If you can tell us what it is we can try and get it tested prior to Speed Week.

Have found a Master Table for Sunoco Fuels as well.
https://www.sunocoracefuels.com/fuels/compare-fuels

Note: I don't think all of these fuels are available in Australia, but many are.
Also note the oxygen content of the standard fuels = 0

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2019 9:04 am
by mal hewett
Gday Greg
Just wondering if there is a list of legal Unleaded fuels that have been tested ? Or even a list of fuels that have not passed ?
cheers Mal

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:49 am
by peterc
mal
with the uncertainity about the oxygen in the fuels,i have opted to use the fuel I have been running and enter in the fuel class,there is little difference in the classes
peter curran

Re: Phase out of leaded fuel by September 2019.

Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:58 pm
by DLRA
Please have a look at this chart.
I've done the best I can to determine classes for the fuels listed.
I'm still trying to get access to the VP range of fuels do that we can test them and get readings using our testing methods

http://www.dlra.org.au/fuel-suppliers.htm