TheaterFire

Why is unleaded petrol still called unleaded?

Posted by Aaron123111@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 27 comments

Why not just petrol as there isn’t a leaded version is there?

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27 Comments

Questjon@reddit

Yes you can still buy leaded for classic cars.
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TheThiefMaster@reddit

Isn't it normally as an additive, rather than just outright buying leaded fuel?
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Questjon@reddit

I don't know what the norm is but a classic car showroom near me has a functioning leaded pump in the forecourt and it gets a good queue when the shows are on nearby.
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LostFoundPound@reddit

Absolutely should be illegal
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Better-Disk-8807@reddit

Sigh, presumably piston aircraft should be illegal as well?
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LostFoundPound@reddit

Anything excreting lead into the atmosphere yes. I dgaf how vintage the car is or quant the aircraft. There is no excuse good enough for it.
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Puddleduck97@reddit

>the aircraft (both rich men's hobbies, make the rest of us breathe poison for your obsession) I'm a licensed pilot and by no means rich. Almost all piston engined aircraft use Avgas (which actually has an astronomically tiny amount of lead in it). Those that don't use leaded fuel use jet fuel or diesel, which have simiarly unpleasant emmissions. I also presume you've never taken a diesel powered bus or gone on holiday? Would make you quite the hypocrite. Would you say that the police's 4 [fixed wing aircraft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partenavia_P.68) are a rich man's hobby?
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Better-Disk-8807@reddit

Then I am grateful that it is not up to you.
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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

I am not rich in the slightest, yet I own two classic cars and I have been running classics for decades. Is it more of less bad for the environment for a car to be scrapped, for such a tiny amount of mileage? Is a brand new car more or less damaging to the environment, than say a 50 year old one? Most of the 4\* available today is actually 98RON Lead Replacement Petrol. It uses a Tin amalgam rather than actual lead. Lead was used as a lubricant of sorts. It lines the valve seats and bores. A properly tuned engine shouldn't be pushing out lead in the emissions.
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LostFoundPound@reddit

I truly don’t care
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non-hyphenated_@reddit

Yet you're oddly ok with the metals in the battery of whatever device you're currently using? It's odd how we only pick the convenient hills to die on.
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LostFoundPound@reddit

I tend not to breathe my battery thanks. Jog on.
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non-hyphenated_@reddit

You just drink it & eat it when it leaches into the ground.
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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

No you can still buy proper 4\* from some forecourts. There are two near me. I have a 1981 VW Mexican Beetle, with a home built engine that uses 1960s cylinder heads and a 1989 VW T3 Autohomes Camper, both are engines capable of running without lead on the valves. They are setup to run on Super Unleaded, as it gives better MPG and contains only 5% ethanol. Modern ethanol fuel is crap, it eats through fuel hoses and diaphragms in carbs and fuel pumps. It also attracts moisture and goes off very quickly. When I run them on proper 4\* you get way better performance, cooler engine temps and the stuff doesn't go off quickly. If I am going to lay them up for any time, if you leave any modern fuel in the system they are a bitch to start again. If you leave 4\* in the system, they just fire up.
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7ootles@reddit

Which forecourts? I haven't seen four-star in decades.
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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

Specialist ones. There is a Tractor dealers near me that stocks it on the pump and there is a classic car specialist that also doubles as a village filling station that has a single pump. It isn't propere leaded 4 star, it is 98 Octane LRP. It is expensive. You are talking £2 a litre or more.
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7ootles@reddit

That makes a little more sense.
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Darloboy@reddit

Ahh memories of dad loading the car up with four star!
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LazyEmu5073@reddit

Remember the fuel tanker driver strikes in approx 1999? Massive queues for unleaded and diesel, that's if you could even find a station with any all! My old Ford CVH engine could take either, I just cruised past the queue of 40 cars, straight to the empty four star pump, result!!
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Kat8844@reddit

I remember the fuel strikes in I think 2000?, I was 12 ish, my parents couldn’t get petrol for the car so my dad took me to school on the back of his Ducati 916 which was unbothered by leaded petrol, good memories!.
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Urbanyeti0@reddit

Because that’s what it is?
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Aaron123111@reddit (OP)

But why not just “petrol”
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NiceCunt91@reddit

Because that's what it is. Some old cars still need lead additives but those are few and far between nowadays and you can just buy a can to add to the tank.
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ViridianKumquat@reddit

For the same reason that radio was known as "wireless" long after it displaced wired telegraphy.
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Puddleduck97@reddit

You can still buy leaded petrol for aviation use, but that is marketed as Avgas 100LL (100 Octane, Low Lead). It is used by the vast majority (but not all) piston engine powered aircraft.
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That_Northern_bloke@reddit

I thought you were changing the signs? Or was that the other Aaron?
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