Hey everyone!

I'm a new owner of an MY00 S2000. The car has an F20C2 engine and according to the manual is mapped to 98 RON petrol or better.

The problem is, for some unexplainable reason, in the Republic of Ireland only 95 RON can be found at the pumps.
The previous owner was is Northern Ireland where higher octane fuel is readily available.

So what do you guys do here?

- Is it fine on the 95? No knocking?
- Remapped the engine to 95? If yes, where?
- Octane booster? If yes, which one?

Thanks!

 

F20C2? I thought those were only in the 2004 and later cars. But that bit of trivia aside I don't recall any octane requirement changes any time during the S2000's production life.

Big discussion regarding octane in the past week or two.

What does your Owner's Manual list as the minimum octane? "Premium fuel" is noted inside the fuel door on my car but no mention of octane. Here in the US the minimum octane is 91 AKI (R+M/2 pump octane) -- "Premium fuel" -- which is the equivalent to 95 RON. 98 RON equates to 93 AKI which is available in many parts of the country but is not mandated.

No way to "remap" the engine on cars earlier than 2006 without an aftermarket ECU but the ECU should react to minor octane changes.

-- Chuck

 

He says it’s fitted with a F20C2 engine, it may be well a retrofit? And he says the manual recommends 98 Ron. If not available at your pumps just add an octane booster of your choice at fill ups, sure it’ll run on 95 but not perform to the max?

 

I got the engine version from the VIN plate, so I don't think it's a retrofit.

The fuel door says 98RON.

The manual:

 

Looks right, especially the fuel door sticker. (As noted mine just states "premium fuel.") I wouldn't know where my engine number is stamped on the engine assembly. Any idea where/when your car was imported to Ireland? Hard to put the proper fuel in the car when it doesn't exist! I see 98 ROM is recommended. Is there a "minimum" or "don't use below X octane"?

There's some discussion of the F20C1 vs F20C2 here. Looks like the C2 has a higher compression ratio.:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-ta...-f20c2-688975/

-- Chuck

 

It's a UK market car, as is most (all?) the other S2000s in Ireland.
I'm its first owner here, so the previous owners didn't have to face this situation.

I know there are a few of them here, so there must be a way. Or it will just run fine on 95, idk.

That's the only page in my manual about fuel.
It doesn't state an absolute minimum anywhere, just that note that lower octane fuel can be used unless it causes knocking.

 

It’ll run fine on 95. I run mine almost exclusively on 95 due to the nearest garage with 98 being 20 miles in the opposite direction to the good roads.

the one I had years ago got mostly 98 but when I had to resort to 95 there was no difference in how it ran.

 

That's reassuring to hear!
Just to confirm, yours also has an F20C2 engine and 98 RON on the fuel door, right?

 

Your car will run on 95 fine. If you come up to this end of the island you can put the rich stuff in her. There are a few on here from your end of the island. They always put the richer fuel in when they’re up for a spin.

Did you buy Adam’s car?

 

Yeah, I'll probably do the same when I'm up North, every once in a while.
But it wouldn't be feasible for every tank, so I was curious what everyone else is doing.

I'd rather not name names, but no, the seller wasn't called Adam.