95 or 98 RON for vRS

[mrzuckinihead]

Hi everyone,

 

Went and had a look at the new vRS today, and absolutely loved it.

 

But, forgot to check, anyone who's already lucky enough to own one, is it recommended to use 98 RON like the old vRS? I used to run my mk1 vRS on 98, but it was a bit expensive to fill up, especially with all the motorway work I do. If its 95, then i'm sold. Otherwise, might have to TDi it...

 

Cheers!

[Davidsr20]

It should be mapped for 95 from factory like most cars.

[jocme]

Hi everyone,

 

Went and had a look at the new vRS today, and absolutely loved it.

 

But, forgot to check, anyone who's already lucky enough to own one, is it recommended to use 98 RON like the old vRS? I used to run my mk1 vRS on 98, but it was a bit expensive to fill up, especially with all the motorway work I do. If its 95, then i'm sold. Otherwise, might have to TDi it...

 

Cheers!

 

If I'm not mistaken, the consumption is expected to be lower with 98 than 95. But someone else might correct me... 

One may also question if the lower consumption (if that is the case) makes up for the higher price per gallon...

[LadyVienna]

I dont think anyone here in the uk has received their 2013 vrs yet. I dont think skoda are releasing them until the new reg plate in september. Please correct me if im wrong though!

[LewJo]

is it recommended to use 98 RON like the old vRS?

I would be inclined to say it's probably going to need 98 although I could be wrong.

My Fabia VRS needed 98 but wouldn't drink supermarket 98, she used to misfire like a pig with tesco99 or Asdas super. So I had to go to the expense of shell vPower, it was rather annoying but it wouldn't put me off buying the Octy VRS if it does indeed need 98 or even premium fuel

[Davidsr20]

We only have 95ron in Ireland so i don't think they will map them different for every country.

[LewJo]

We only have 95ron in Ireland so i don't think they will map them different for every country.

Feel sorry for Irish Fabia VRS owners

[Davidsr20]

Feel sorry for Irish Fabia VRS owners

Why? Sure there prob mapped for 95!

[Furbytom]

Why? Sure there prob mapped for 95!

They run like a heap of carp on 95.

[gadgetman]

They'll run on 95. Don't all cars have to?

[D@z]

my MK2 TSI runs on 95 (although I use super with it being mapped) so I imagine the new one will too, also I notice the emmisions are lower on the petrol again too, £140 for the year is pretty impressive for a 2 litre turbo!

[Perra79]

The car is probably better at 98 RON

[LewJo]

Why? Sure there prob mapped for 95!

They are indeed mapped for 95 but as someone else noted they don't run very well on it. Terrible engine knock and misfires under hard acceleration.

It's fine if you drive sedately but if you enjoy spirited driving (a VRS owner clearly would) then you won't get the car to behave the same as it will with 98.

There's a buttload of threads discussing this over on the Fabia form but in essence they hate supermarket fuel, they tolerate 95 'premium' fuels but they much prefer fuels like vPower.

When I get mine in January I'll be using Tesco 99

[Timoctav]

Forget supermarket fuels - they are nowhere near as good as premium brands (Shell, BP & Esso) They might comply with the RON and BS spec and they do come out of the same refineries but they lack the additives that the premium brands use. You are far better to use Shell, Esso or BP 95 than Tesco 99, trust me. The Fabia boys are 100% correct on this one. Also if the engine is set up for 95 RON it is a complete waste of money putting any higher in, you won't get any benefit whatsoever. Even an engine set up for 98 RON should run on 95 RON with no problem, the knock sensors will adjust the timing to suit, but you will lose a bit of power and fuel cosumption will worsen as the timing will then be away from the optimum settings to prevent pre-ignition (knocking). If you get misfiring or rough running using 95 RON then there is an engine problem not a fuel problem

 

As an example my sports car - and a BMW 328i I had before - fuel consumption falls off a cliff when I use supermarket fuel. When I was on holiday with earlier tis year the fuel consumption dropped 5 mpg when I used Morrisons fuel from using Shell. As soon as I could get hold of Shell the fuel consumption returned to normal. I don't suffer this fuel consumption loss even using Shell 95 in my sports car.

Edited 8 August, 2013 by Timoctav

[philhoward]

Must be your locality - my Fabia vRS runs absolutely fine on Tesco Momentum99 (and has almost exclusively since I got it).  It doesn't like BP Ultimate or Texaco Excellium - but that might be they're only 97RON.

 

Yes, it does run on 95 (not very often) but the mpg drop makes Super financially worth it.

 

It really likes the 102RON Aral Super or the Shell 100RON V-power over here in Germany

 

Back to the original question - it'll run fine on whatever it says on the fuel cap cover...  My Scirocco was 95/98 (and ran better on 98 or better); Fabia says 98 (95).

[Stoofa]

Forget supermarket fuels - they are nowhere near as good as premium brands (Shell, BP & Esso) They might comply with the RON and BS spec and they do come out of the same refineries but they lack the additives that the premium brands use. You are far better to use Shell, Esso or BP 95 than Tesco 99, trust me. The Fabia boys are 100% correct on this one. Also if the engine is set up for 95 RON it is a complete waste of money putting any higher in, you won't get any benefit whatsoever. Even an engine set up for 98 RON should run on 95 RON with no problem, the knock sensors will adjust the timing to suit, but you will lose a bit of power and fuel cosumption will worsen as the timing will then be away from the optimum settings to prevent pre-ignition (knocking). If you get misfiring or rough running using 95 RON then there is an engine problem not a fuel problem

 

As an example my sports car - and a BMW 328i I had before - fuel consumption falls off a cliff when I use supermarket fuel. When I was on holiday with earlier tis year the fuel consumption dropped 5 mpg when I used Morrisons fuel from using Shell. As soon as I could get hold of Shell the fuel consumption returned to normal. I don't suffer this fuel consumption loss even using Shell 95 in my sports car.

 

Rubbish - Supermarket fuel at 95/98 RON is just as good as you'll get from the "premium" brands.

[Timoctav]

Must be your locality - my Fabia vRS runs absolutely fine on Tesco Momentum99 (and has almost exclusively since I got it).  It doesn't like BP Ultimate or Texaco Excellium - but that might be they're only 97RON.

 

Yes, it does run on 95 (not very often) but the mpg drop makes Super financially worth it.

 

It really likes the 102RON Aral Super or the Shell 100RON V-power over here in Germany

 

Back to the original question - it'll run fine on whatever it says on the fuel cap cover...  My Scirocco was 95/98 (and ran better on 98 or better); Fabia says 98 (95).

 

My preferred fuel for the sports car is Shell V Power, but use normal Shell diesel in the Octavia - and am getting amazing fuel consumption (60 + mpg) every tank. I've used Tesco fuel in the Yorkshire Dales and Morrisons in  the West Country as well as local and evey time the fuel consumption has dropped. Supermarket fuels are inferior, my wife works in the UK's largest refinery and the engineers there have confirmed the lack of additives in supermarker fuels is a major factor and have proved it scientifically in their own test vehicles, so it's not just me.

 

But if the car is set up for 95 you will see no benefit whatsoever in using 97, 98 or even 100 octane. I don't know what the Fabia vRS is set up to run on, but if it is set up for 95 and runs better on 97 then something is not right.

[CitigoAllen]

A friend of my husband drives a fuel tanker.  He delivers exactly the same fuel to all the different filling stations, Tesco, BP, etc.  He says that these premium fuels are a con.  I seem to remember an AA test finding exactly the same.

[Timoctav]

A friend of my husband drives a fuel tanker.  He delivers exactly the same fuel to all the different filling stations, Tesco, BP, etc.  He says that these premium fuels are a con.  I seem to remember an AA test finding exactly the same.

Wrong. Tanker driver is either speaking BS or he simply desn't know. Take it from me talking to petrochemical engineers that actually refine the stuff.

 

Yes Which? and the AA and others have conducted tests using normal and high octane fuels and no there will be no improvement usinghigh octane fuels in 95 RON cars, which is what I've said above. But there will be a difference using 95 RON in an engine set up for 98 RON. I'm not sutre about the benefits of Shell V Power diesel over normal diesel though, as Cetane ratings are the same for both and all diesel engines are set up for standard diesel fuels.

Edited 8 August, 2013 by Timoctav

[grr666]

I'm told I'll lose as much as 30bhp running the S3 on ordinary

unleaded. Can't be having that... :no: It says in the handbook

that it's meant to be fueled with super unleaded but can manage on

regular if that's all there is...

That said, I run the 500 on Super unleaded too and mostly that's

because in winter it starts better from very cold on that and my average MPG

is higher in the summer than if I use regular unleaded. Sod it,it's still about the

same price as diesel.  

[Timoctav]

I'm told I'll lose as much as 30bhp running the S3 on ordinary

unleaded. Can't be having that... :no: It says in the handbook

that it's meant to be fueled with super unleaded but can manage on

regular if that's all there is...

That said, I run the 500 on Super unleaded too and mostly that's

because in winter it starts better from very cold on that and my average MPG

is higher in the summer than if I use regular unleaded. Sod it,it's still about the

same price as diesel.  

Assuming the Audi is set up for 97 RON I don't doubt that power loss for one minute. I can feel it in my 997S running on 95 RON and pay for it come fill up.  Not as responsive and not as quick. It runs fine on 95 RON, but as I've said earlier the timing is adjusted away from the optimum to prevent knocking so that compromises power and economy.

[grr666]

997S... Nice

[Timoctav]

Rubbish - Supermarket fuel at 95/98 RON is just as good as you'll get from the "premium" brands.

 

You are completely wrong. I've had long discussions with the petro-chemical engineers that refine this stuff (my wife works in the UK's largest refinery) . It starts off life as the same fuel (obviously) but the end products are chalk and cheese.

 

This refinery produces fuel for both premium brands and the supermarkets so they are impartial and they know exactly what goes into each and the scientific test bench results obtained.

Edited 8 August, 2013 by Timoctav

[pipsyp]

I don't believe all the super unleaded hype myself. Had a Fabia vRS that was 98RON optimal or 95 with "reduced performance". Ran it religiously on 98 for 6k, then switched to 95 and frankly noticed no difference, still v quick and as poor on fuel as ever....but no worse than when on 98....also no poor running or misfires....actually it misfired on both types of fuel which was fixed with a ECU update.

I believe the 2.0 TSI's even the high output units are designed to run solely on 95 now, if you remap then sure the car will become more fuel sensitive but out of the box its a waste of money IMO. Only thing I sware by......I hardly ever buy supermarket fuel.....i tend to refuel at branded garages and nothing else....BP mainly only because its so near to my home.

[pipsyp]

I don't believe all the super unleaded hype myself. Had a Fabia vRS that was 98RON optimal or 95 with "reduced performance". Ran it religiously on 98 for 6k, then switched to 95 and frankly noticed no difference, still v quick and as poor on fuel as ever....but no worse than when on 98....also no poor running or misfires....actually it misfired on both types of fuel which was fixed with a ECU update.I believe the 2.0 TSI's even the high output units are designed to run solely on 95 now, if you remap then sure the car will become more fuel sensitive but out of the box its a waste of money IMO. Only thing I sware by......I hardly ever buy supermarket fuel.....i tend to refuel at branded garages and nothing else....BP mainly only because its so near to my home.

Meant to say also that I ran it on 95 for about the same sort of mileage again before I sold it. The twincharger is also quite renowned for being fuel sensitive too. i think its the quality of the fuel you put in rather than the RON number that really counts if you want it to run well...slightly reduced power/torque output of not.

I think its really the case that if it makes people feel better that they are being massively mechanically sympathetic to their new vRS TSi by using 98 RON to avoid engine damage and that they ensure they are getting all 217hp then let those people make that choice. The new vRS TSi will run fine on 95 RON probably still make all the quoted power, I think that's more or less the fact of the matter. if I bought one id run it on 95 RON......if it were a 90k Porsche it would be a completely different matter I can assure you.