I have been playing with different combination of fuel since my thundertiger 36 engine days because it was picky on fuel. Not picky in that sense that it would only run on certain fuel, but rather it only made power on certain fuel. A better way to put it might be that it only made good power when I used fuel containing klot oil.
I have, at one point or another in my life used:
Wildcat helimix 10%
This was cheap and pretty good on power. However, it didn't run quite right with certain combinations of tuned muffler and engine. I can't exactly pin point the issue, but it just was impossible to tune because it had a good top end and idle but an extremely lean mid range. The use of a normal muffler totally solved the leaning mid range. Its easy to detect a lean run with this fuel because the smell of the exhuast fume changes to a pretty pungent smell when the engine is hot. It leave a brown stain on your muffler and engine interior which leads me to suspect a little impurity or castor in the oil.
Wildcat helimix 15%
Its the same price as coolpower 15%, but it felt a lot more powerful than coolpower 15%. Its at least as good as coolpower 20%. Although many flyers claim that wildcat smoke less, I found that it smoke less compared to the red fuel from coolpower(i.e. the 20% and 30%), but more than coolpower 15%. Heck, the smoke doesn't bother me...but it does bother my mum who says its poisonous...it does smell different though. The exhaust fume also smell different when engine is lean. It leaves a brown stain too.
Wildcat 2 &4 Stroke 15%
Was suppose to be the same stuff as helimix 15% except the colour, but I found it to run hotter and leave a bit more brown stain.
Wildcat YP30%
This is probably the best fuel ever made by wildcat. Smooth running, good power and it doesn't leave a brown stain. It doesn't smoke as much as CoolPower30% and maybe even less than CoolPower 20%. I didn't go through a lot of gallons of purely YP30% because its extremely expensive relative to lower nitro % fuel. In airplane applications, it actually does help the engine to gain a few hundred rpm compared to a 20:20mix.
Pro-Glow 15%
This is the most bang for buck fuel I have ever used. It comes in 5litre bottles from australia and cost less than coolpower 15%. It has got 20% klotz fully synthetic oil, but it leaves a brown stain too. Its more powerful than the Wildcat 15% which leads me to suspect that it has got more than 15% nitro. A pity they don't sell it over here anymore. Relatively unknown fuel, but it works GREAT. The fuel originally came in orange colour, it was changed to bright pink at a later period. I prefer the orange colour better.
LINK HERE
Coolpower 10%
As the name suggests, this runs cool, but there is no power to speak of with this fuel. I mix this with the YP30% and it works great at low cost.
Coolpower 15% HV
Cool running fuel with no power to speak off. My engine was running very cool no matter how I tuned it, but it was weak, it got so bad that I crashed after bogging in a continous flip.
Coolpower 15% MV
I have seen other flyers use it and it seems to work better than the HV version. I am using it now to blend with Coolpower 20% to reduce cost of running.
Coolpower Heli Special 20%
This is an exceptionally smooth fuel. I don't run it by itself but am always using it to mix with CP15%MV at a ratio of 2:1, that is 2part 20%, 1part 15%. Its quite expensive compared to other fuel like CP25% or YP30%. The YP30% was only Sin$5 more than the CP20% at the LHS. Although Coolpower claims it has got high viscosity oil, I feel that it actually contains lower viscosity oil because the fuel residue I get after a flight is actually thinner than that from YP30%. Its not powerful, but my engine recovers a lot better from manuveur to manuveur, so in conclusion, I lost a bit of power BUT gain consistency in headspeed when unloaded.
Coolpower 25%
The LHS has been out of this for a while. Its cheaper than CP20% because of the HV oil it contains. Basically, its the same cheaper oil package that is found in CP10% and CP15%HV-The green stuff. It doesn't feel a lot more powerful than coolpower 15% and I really don't feel the power of 25% nitro. Never ran this on a plank to know how it performs.
MYTH of Fuel
You can't Mix Fuel of different Types or Brands?
Hell NO. Regardless of the brand or type of fuel, as long as the fuel comes from a modern fuel manufacturer, THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY AND COMPLETELY MISCIBLE IN EACH OTHER. What this means is that Coolpower will mix well with Wild Cat, no matter if it is the high viscosity stuff or lower viscosity stuff, 10% or 30% nitro. It doesn't matter. Ever wonder how coolpower got multi-viscosity???
I have mixed fuel of different blends and they all work well with no noticeable performance degradation when compared to what their original blends.
Nitro %
Very often, I hear people telling me you can't run 15% or 10% nitro, you need 20% or 30% nitro. That is absolutely BULL SHIT. Whoever tells you that is either being taught the wrong things by the wrong people when they first started or have got some shares in your LHS.
You can actually use 0% -30% nitro with no problem. In fact, you can go up to 40% or 50% and the engine will make insane amount of power, but cost will be insane too. Running lower nitro is all a matter of having the correct shim, plug and needle setting. Lower nitro fuel tend to be harder to tune because needle setting is a lot more narrow, i.e. lean and rich could be just a few clicks away, but it does run. Of course, you are what you eat, your engine is what it drinks. Higher nitro will definately make it more powerful. Some european engines are factory designed for lower nitro like 0% or 5% nitro, those can be made to run on higher nitro with lots of shim and correct plug, BUT they will be extremely difficult to tune. I have ran as low as 10% nitro on my tt36 and tt50 and they both work as it should be.
Heli vs Plane fuel
Another common misconception is that you have to use heli specific fuel in a heli, aero fuel in aero, car fuel in car. That is only true to a certain extend because all of them are made of the SAME components, just in different amount of each. You can't use car fuel in heli or planes because the oil composition is way too low, but you can use heli or plank fuel in car, heli or plank with absolutely no problem. Heli fuel might cause a on-road car to accelerate slower, but it works great for a weekend off-road bashing.
For some brands like coolpower, heli and aero blends are actually the same. The word heli or aero was added solely to make the user feel better, no this is not a joke. As long as it contains 17% or more oil, it will definately work in a heli, plane or car.
High Viscosity vs Low Viscosity oil
High viscosity oil tends to bog the engine down a bit at near max output and I found that lower viscosity oil package actually helps the engine to recover better in between manuvers. However, if one is just hovering or flying around doing loops and roll, the high viscosity stuff should work better because it produces way less smoke and might save you a few $$ for that bling bling upgrade part.
Mix that I found to work great and dun cost much.
I began experimenting with mixing different fuel 3years or so back. Why mix fuel? The answer is to get the best of both world, compromising a bit to save cost-FUN R/C can come cheap too..savings can look to be puny and tiny, but it all adds up. 3$ reduction in cost per gallon will earn you another gallon after just 10gallons...so if you don't need the power...
I have, at one point or another in my life used:
Wildcat helimix 10%
This was cheap and pretty good on power. However, it didn't run quite right with certain combinations of tuned muffler and engine. I can't exactly pin point the issue, but it just was impossible to tune because it had a good top end and idle but an extremely lean mid range. The use of a normal muffler totally solved the leaning mid range. Its easy to detect a lean run with this fuel because the smell of the exhuast fume changes to a pretty pungent smell when the engine is hot. It leave a brown stain on your muffler and engine interior which leads me to suspect a little impurity or castor in the oil.
Wildcat helimix 15%
Its the same price as coolpower 15%, but it felt a lot more powerful than coolpower 15%. Its at least as good as coolpower 20%. Although many flyers claim that wildcat smoke less, I found that it smoke less compared to the red fuel from coolpower(i.e. the 20% and 30%), but more than coolpower 15%. Heck, the smoke doesn't bother me...but it does bother my mum who says its poisonous...it does smell different though. The exhaust fume also smell different when engine is lean. It leaves a brown stain too.
Wildcat 2 &4 Stroke 15%
Was suppose to be the same stuff as helimix 15% except the colour, but I found it to run hotter and leave a bit more brown stain.
Wildcat YP30%
This is probably the best fuel ever made by wildcat. Smooth running, good power and it doesn't leave a brown stain. It doesn't smoke as much as CoolPower30% and maybe even less than CoolPower 20%. I didn't go through a lot of gallons of purely YP30% because its extremely expensive relative to lower nitro % fuel. In airplane applications, it actually does help the engine to gain a few hundred rpm compared to a 20:20mix.
Pro-Glow 15%
This is the most bang for buck fuel I have ever used. It comes in 5litre bottles from australia and cost less than coolpower 15%. It has got 20% klotz fully synthetic oil, but it leaves a brown stain too. Its more powerful than the Wildcat 15% which leads me to suspect that it has got more than 15% nitro. A pity they don't sell it over here anymore. Relatively unknown fuel, but it works GREAT. The fuel originally came in orange colour, it was changed to bright pink at a later period. I prefer the orange colour better.
LINK HERE
Coolpower 10%
As the name suggests, this runs cool, but there is no power to speak of with this fuel. I mix this with the YP30% and it works great at low cost.
Coolpower 15% HV
Cool running fuel with no power to speak off. My engine was running very cool no matter how I tuned it, but it was weak, it got so bad that I crashed after bogging in a continous flip.
Coolpower 15% MV
I have seen other flyers use it and it seems to work better than the HV version. I am using it now to blend with Coolpower 20% to reduce cost of running.
Coolpower Heli Special 20%
This is an exceptionally smooth fuel. I don't run it by itself but am always using it to mix with CP15%MV at a ratio of 2:1, that is 2part 20%, 1part 15%. Its quite expensive compared to other fuel like CP25% or YP30%. The YP30% was only Sin$5 more than the CP20% at the LHS. Although Coolpower claims it has got high viscosity oil, I feel that it actually contains lower viscosity oil because the fuel residue I get after a flight is actually thinner than that from YP30%. Its not powerful, but my engine recovers a lot better from manuveur to manuveur, so in conclusion, I lost a bit of power BUT gain consistency in headspeed when unloaded.
Coolpower 25%
The LHS has been out of this for a while. Its cheaper than CP20% because of the HV oil it contains. Basically, its the same cheaper oil package that is found in CP10% and CP15%HV-The green stuff. It doesn't feel a lot more powerful than coolpower 15% and I really don't feel the power of 25% nitro. Never ran this on a plank to know how it performs.
MYTH of Fuel
You can't Mix Fuel of different Types or Brands?
Hell NO. Regardless of the brand or type of fuel, as long as the fuel comes from a modern fuel manufacturer, THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY AND COMPLETELY MISCIBLE IN EACH OTHER. What this means is that Coolpower will mix well with Wild Cat, no matter if it is the high viscosity stuff or lower viscosity stuff, 10% or 30% nitro. It doesn't matter. Ever wonder how coolpower got multi-viscosity???
I have mixed fuel of different blends and they all work well with no noticeable performance degradation when compared to what their original blends.
Nitro %
Very often, I hear people telling me you can't run 15% or 10% nitro, you need 20% or 30% nitro. That is absolutely BULL SHIT. Whoever tells you that is either being taught the wrong things by the wrong people when they first started or have got some shares in your LHS.
You can actually use 0% -30% nitro with no problem. In fact, you can go up to 40% or 50% and the engine will make insane amount of power, but cost will be insane too. Running lower nitro is all a matter of having the correct shim, plug and needle setting. Lower nitro fuel tend to be harder to tune because needle setting is a lot more narrow, i.e. lean and rich could be just a few clicks away, but it does run. Of course, you are what you eat, your engine is what it drinks. Higher nitro will definately make it more powerful. Some european engines are factory designed for lower nitro like 0% or 5% nitro, those can be made to run on higher nitro with lots of shim and correct plug, BUT they will be extremely difficult to tune. I have ran as low as 10% nitro on my tt36 and tt50 and they both work as it should be.
Heli vs Plane fuel
Another common misconception is that you have to use heli specific fuel in a heli, aero fuel in aero, car fuel in car. That is only true to a certain extend because all of them are made of the SAME components, just in different amount of each. You can't use car fuel in heli or planes because the oil composition is way too low, but you can use heli or plank fuel in car, heli or plank with absolutely no problem. Heli fuel might cause a on-road car to accelerate slower, but it works great for a weekend off-road bashing.
For some brands like coolpower, heli and aero blends are actually the same. The word heli or aero was added solely to make the user feel better, no this is not a joke. As long as it contains 17% or more oil, it will definately work in a heli, plane or car.
High Viscosity vs Low Viscosity oil
High viscosity oil tends to bog the engine down a bit at near max output and I found that lower viscosity oil package actually helps the engine to recover better in between manuvers. However, if one is just hovering or flying around doing loops and roll, the high viscosity stuff should work better because it produces way less smoke and might save you a few $$ for that bling bling upgrade part.
Mix that I found to work great and dun cost much.
I began experimenting with mixing different fuel 3years or so back. Why mix fuel? The answer is to get the best of both world, compromising a bit to save cost-FUN R/C can come cheap too..savings can look to be puny and tiny, but it all adds up. 3$ reduction in cost per gallon will earn you another gallon after just 10gallons...so if you don't need the power...
Don't be shock if you get black fuel from mixing...mixing green and red fuel in certain composition will give a dark coloured end product.
Wildcat Helimix 15% + Coolpower 15% HV
I liked wildcat for its power but thought it ran my engine a bit warmer while coolpower was cool running and yet low on power. So I combined both on a 1:1 ratio mix that gave good power and good temperature.
Wildcat Helimix 15% + Coolpower 25% HV
Same as above, but withCP25%. WHY CP25%? Because its cheaper than even CP 20% heli. With a 1:1 mix, you get 20% nitro and 17.5% oil. Works good for me.
Wild Cat YP30% + CP10%
I buy the YP30% in case and get a 5usd discount per case. I found the best compromise on power vs cost with this fuel is a 1:1 mix for a 20% nitro, 20% oil end product. It will still work good all the way till 2/3CP10% AND 1/3 YP30%.
CP15% + CP20%
2 part 20%, 1 part 15%. Works good and doesn't smoke a lot less than the 20%. This is what I am using now. Less power than the YP30% and CP10% mix, but better recovery in between moves.
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