Actually tried tesco 99 tonight , never used it before but , Little love used the car and it was on fumes last night , didnt think i could make middlewich , seems ok , car ran fine and its cheaper than v power

Yep, can't say I've noticed a difference between using it and V-Power. Only problem is local supply and that not all Tescos have it. Seems the same price as V-Power round here too.

Steve

I've noticed the marketing for higher octane fuel says that you either achieve more MPG or more power or a combination of both, rather than it being a fuel recommended only for higher performance engines as it used to be in the days when pumps were from 2 star to 5 star.

That's because the hope is that 'normal' motorists will buy it too

To be fair, I do get more miles to the tank with higher octane fuel anyway. I've noticed this when I've been forced to pick up standard 95 on a few occasions when I was desperate and no super was available.

Steve

But do you really get more miles to the tank if you're paying more for the fuel? It must break even and be relative...or the margin is so small it's unnoticeable?

I do get better mpg on 99.

I can drive a slight bit faster, and £/Mile it works out same / better. and I get there faster.

V-power or Tesco 99 for me, car feels smoother and more responsive, used normal unleaded when super not available and always feels sluggish on it.

i know in the two years ive had my car vpower has always been 99 and tescos super was 99 or 97 depending if they stocked the 99 or not.

Optimax was 98RON then when it changed to V power it went to 99RON

I have used V power diesel before and thought it ran a bit smother, I was going to fill up with it today but it was 111.9/litre

Have always used Optimax and then V power in my 100Bhp 16v Fabia saloon.

Frankly, running this higher compression engine on 95 RON makes it sound like a bucket of bolts (although its rated to run on 95-98RON) -presumably the 95 has marginally less anti-knock properties.

On V power , no-noise, and pick-up from low revs and acceleration is better.

I find that the slight change in engine characteristic is similar to fitting Palladium tipped plugs to motorcycles of twenty years ago. Although that was cheaper ! Presumably some chemical catalyst at work.

Using straight supermarket (Total ?) 98 RON just supresses the unwanted engine noises, performance improvement less marked.

I think these variations at the margins in fuel formulations are significant.

Just take your car to the sunny continent with a tank full of UK fuel, as i've done for the last three years. The difference in ambient air temp/pressure/moisture content over there means, in my experience, that the engine always performs worse until such time as you tank-up with the local brew.

If there was no difference, Spitfire engines would have run on low octane, wide-cut fuel. I recall in the '60s, ESSO used to offer 102 octane as Super for higher performance (Compression ratio ?) cars. The loss of tetraethyl lead additive when UK cars went unleaded in the 1980s turned the clock back and, its only just been restored in the last ten years,

However, do agree,that the marketeers are caning you for everything they can price wise with V-power.

Nick

Edited 17 October, 200916 yr by Clunkclick

Have always used Optimax and then V power in my 100Bhp 16v Fabia saloon.

Frankly, running this higher compression engine on 95 RON makes it sound like a bucket of bolts (although its rated to run on 95-98RON) -presumably the 95 has marginally less anti-knock properties.

On V power , no-noise, and pick-up from low revs and acceleration is better.

I find that the slight change in engine characteristic is similar to fitting Palladium tipped plugs to motorcycles of twenty years ago. Although that was cheaper ! Presumably some chemical catalyst at work.

Using straight supermarket (Total ?) 98 RON just supresses the unwanted engine noises, performance improvement less marked.

I think these variations at the margins in fuel formulations are significant.

Just take your car to the sunny continent with a tank full of UK fuel, as i've done for the last three years. The difference in ambient air temp/pressure/moisture content over there means, in my experience, that the engine always performs worse until such time as you tank-up with the local brew.

If there was no difference, Spitfire engines would have run on low octane, wide-cut fuel. I recall in the '60s, ESSO used to offer 102 octane as Super for higher performance (Compression ratio ?) cars. The loss of tetraethyl lead additive when UK cars went unleaded in the 1980s turned the clock back and, its only just been restored in the last ten years,

However, do agree,that the marketeers are caning you for everything they can price wise with V-power.

Nick

Just for the record of other 1.4 16v (100bhp) Fabia users; when I first bought mine (second hand), it obviously ran okay....or else I wouldn't have bought it! However, after a few fills of unleaded from Esso and Total, my car began running horrifically. It needed to be revved high to get it moving anywhere in 1st gear, it rattled, choked and chugged (alot!) and driving it was something like what I'd imagine riding a Sick Hippo would be like.....

Anyway, I read the manual and found out that this particular engine should be run on 98 RON fuel; higher octane than the more or less benchmark standard 95 RON unleaded fuel sold everywhere and so I began using Shell 99 RON. I can 100% definitely say that there is a considerable, significant difference.

The car began running smoother within about 10 miles, the rattling died down and it made less of a worrying noise on the motorway. After a few fill cycles, my engine now accelerates easier and quicker, picking up from lower revs and the rattling (that I now know of as the imfamous "Pinking") has now completley gone. It doesn't choke or chugg at all any more and it's a lot happier on the motorway than before.

Oh, and my mpg has shot up from average 28.2 to 34.5 around town as a result..... and I haven't changed my driving style either......

End result - from my experience, don't skimp on fuel with this engine, it'll thank you immediately!!!!

I use V-Power diesel in the Fabia and V-Power 99 in the Volvo.

At my local garage V-power used to be 98ron also.

Went to tenerife a few months back they had three types of V-Power 95,98 and 99 were all given V-Power and 90 and 95 as Shell Plus or something like that all I remember was that V-Power 99 was 69c a litre and diesel 56c!