VP Racing C12 Fuel

I have a 1985 Lamborghini Countach Quattrovalvole - Euro Carbureted variant. I’ve been considering switching from conventional modern gasoline to VP Racing’s C12 leaded fuel and would appreciate thoughts anyone has. Does anyone currently use C12 in their vintage carbureted car? Would you recommend I make the change altogether or blend the fuel? Are there any downsides or disadvantages to the health of the engine? Thank you for your thoughts.

https://vpracingfuels.com/product/c12/

 

No need to run that high an octane and leaded in that car. Go to VP Master Fuel Table | VP Racing Fuels and find an unleaded fuel that is 95 to 98 (R+M)/2.
Skip "oxygenated" it means ethanol.

 

I run C9 in both carb and FI cars. That’s what the VP station recommended. It’s also stable for longer storage.

 

I have three carbureted high-compression cars - '70 Corvette LT-1 coupe, '70 Porsche 911T ex-vintage racer, '02 ERA Cobra 289 FIA replica. I run Sunoco 110 octane leaded racing fuel in all three.

There are several gas stations in my area that sell Sunoco race fuel (usually 110 octane leaded and 100 octane unleaded) from the pump. So it's readily available, but not cheap: $9.85/gal for the 110 last time I bought some in late Nov. The cars run great on it and it's stable for long-term storage. Oh, and it smells fantastic (not that you want to stand there sniffing the fumes).

The main local wholesale supplier of Sunoco race fuels sells 5 gal cans and 55 gal drums of Sunoco 100, 110, 114 and 116. Again, not cheap.

 

I run good old Avgas in my older hi-comp carb cars. 100 octane leaded. It's great and fairly cheap. Just no good with cats and plugs don't last as long. VP fuels over here are insanely expensive.

 

Have you considered their Vintage Leaded fuel?

https://vpracingfuels.com/product/vp-vintage-leaded/?c=215&

 

Like @RedTaxi suggested I would probably seek out 100 octane LL from a local airport. It would be the easiest to find and most economical way to use leaded fuel.

This is an interesting thread. Being 38, the days of leaded gas were largely before my time. I ran it in a race motor in one if my jet skis when I was younger and yes, it smells great.

I tried doing a bit of searching but couldn’t find a concrete answer: was high grade pump gas in Italy still leaded in 1985? More specifically; do the valve seats in a Euro spec Countach call for leaded fuel? Or, do owners of older cars prefer leaded fuel to prevent detonation?

 

See the thread in Vintage (started by the same o.p., by the way) and DWR’s very good reasons for not using avgas in cars.

 

Aluminum heads always had hard valve seats installed. Valve seat recession was a problem on some cast iron heads used under heavy load.

Introduction of unleaded gasoline in Europe (Journal Article) | ETDEWEB (osti.gov)
The European Economic Community (EEC) Council of Environment Ministers, which met in Brussels on December 6, 1984, agreed that the sale of leadless gasoline in all the countries of the Community would be obligatory beginning in 1989. The other polluting emissions of cars -carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and unburnt hydrocarbons- will also be progressively reduced, according to a schedule which has yet to be defined.

 

Many thanks my friend, it’s a very good thread too! I tend to stay away from the vintage section because that would be rough on the pocketbook and I’m too damn big for cars of that era.

 

Just a quick thank you for all the feedback. It’s been very helpful. In addition to all the information provided here and in the thread I posted in the vintage section, I have also spoken with a number of trusted individuals, such as my restorer, my technician, other owners with premium vintage cars with weber carburetors, etc. I believe this fuel from VP provides what I’m looking for:

https://vpracingfuels.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/MS98L-Spec-Sheets_100419A-4.pdf

 

Have you spoken to the people at https://wearecurated.com/ ?
They discussed this once in one of their videos. I can’t remember what they run in their Countaches though.

 

I have not, but I’ll reach out to John. Thanks.