Apologies that the below is a bit nerdy. I'm a data geek for a living so it kind of comes with the territory...

 

I did a little experiment to see if the higher RON fuel is actually as good as advertised or expensive as it seems, and see if my doubts over Supermarket fuel quality are actually valid.

 

I tested standard supermarket fuel, regular BP fuel and BP Ultimate fuel. In each case I did three tanks of the same petrol back to back in case of any need for the cars electronics to adjust the fuelling and to accomodate for differing batches, remnants in tank etc. As a control, the Supermarket fuel all came from the same Tesco and the BP fuel all came from the same BP Station. My driving style and trip mix was the same as much as possible for each fill up (stop start 20 mile commute to work, clean run 20 mile return trip, weekend trips to town/supermarket/etc etc).

 

As an average over the three tanks for each fuel, I got the following:

• Supermarket - 28.4 MPG
• BP Regular - 29.5 MPG
• BP Ultimate - 31.6 MPG

 

One litre of fuel cost as follows on average over the period:

• Supermarket - £1.299
• BP Standard - £1.289
• BP Ultimate - £1.399

 

So Ultimate is noticeably more expensive per litre. Based on 4.54609188 litres to a UK Gallon, I've then calculated a cost per gallon for each fuel type and used the avg MPG against this to calculate the total spend over a typical year (assuming 10,000 miles covered).

 

Total cost for 10k miles:

• Supermarket - £2,073.88
• BP Standard - £1,986.41
• BP Ultimate - £2,008.42

 

Therefore my findings are as follows:

• Best overall value for money is the BP Standard.
• Supermarket fuel is a complete false economy, costing £87.47 more over the year than any other fuel due to performance reduction.
• Ultimate is noticeably more expensive, however the increased economy means it is only £22 more expensive over the year than 'normal' BP.
• If the normal BP cost matches the supermarket fuel at 1.299 per litre then the cost per year becomes £2,001.82 meaning Ultimate is then only £6.59 more expensive over the year.
• Subjectively (and I have no evidence for this), driving on Ultimate resulted in better throttle response and an overall much smoother drive throughout the rev range, with better idling.
• I also noticed (again, subjectively) with the Supermarket fuel that when idling in traffic my revs were 'hunting' between 800-850rpm, as if the engine was struggling to make a 'clean' spark without additional throttle input and that engine was less able to freely rev higher up the range.

As such the minimal cost disadvantage over BP Standard combined with the subjective performance increase of Ultimate means I will be using Ultimate wherever possible and not touching supermarket fuel with a barge pole.

 

I would be interested to take this further and repeat similar with other Supermarkets like Morrisons and Asda, and also to bring in say Shell V-Power and regular Shell but that is possibly taking it a little far.

 

Either way, interesting results!

Was the BP Ultimate, 98 RON minimum, and the other fuel 95 RON minimum?

 

Maybe try the '99 ron Shell V Power Nitro',

 & the Slightly less per litre to buy 'Tesco Momentum 99'.

Maybe enough less to buy 2 litres more than the Shell for each cost of a tank full.

 

http://www.tescopfs.com/our-fuel/testing_results

 

http://www.petrolprices.com

Worth looking at how Sainsbury Super Unleaded Performs, Price-Economy-Miles

It is 97 RON Minimum.

Can't comment on minimum - merely that they are advertised as 95 / 98.

 

Interested in this Tesco Momentum 99 stuff though - can't say I've ever seen it on sale? I'll have to hunt some out.

Edited 10 April, 201412 yr by kiscix

Hopefully there in Tesco Filling Stations with Momentum 99 Pumps near you.  but not all have.

 

It comes from 'Greenergy',

and i would personally still use it if it cost more than Shell V-Power Nitro.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenergy

I've used Tesco 99RON for years simply because I've no access to any other 95+ RON fuel without driving well out my way.

 

I'd say it's significantly more pleasant to drive on but the actual mpg gains can't be much.

That Tesco must be expensive for it to be higher than BP, my local one is £1.259, so supermarket would be cheaper for me wouldn't it?

Subjectively, I feel the best response from my car comes on Esso's Supreme.

I tried V-Power and Tesco Momentum, both are decently better for me than regular fuel (95) but I don't seem to get as far on these as I do the Esso premium stuff.



Not to mention that a lot of our cars, specifically the 1.8T does state it needs more than 95RON in the manual.

Is your car not recommended as 98 ron (95 Minimum) ?

 

Esso Supreme Unleaded is 97 ron.

(In the UK it only has to be 97 RON to be called Super Unleaded.)

But its down to what suits and what you feel your car runs smother on often, 

and that might not always be the Higher Octane.

For the performance the engine was designed for that might well be with the higher Octane.

 

It is nice to get 100-102 ron in Mainland Europe without the Rip Off Duty/Tax, or Retailer milking the Higher Octanes that some cars/engines benefit from.

Shell v-power nitro seems to keep my car happiest. When i first got it and ran it on morrisons fuel it would average around 120miles to £40 of fuel with some heavy foot most days. On nitro it does around 160miles on £40

Mine runs like $h!t on supermarket stuff. V-power all the way. Not even that pricy only a couple of quid per tank.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice attempt at doing a decent scientific comparison there. Most interesting thing for me is that the premium fuel isn't working out cheaper and that the supermarket stuff is working out expensive. Backs up my usual plan of throwing in bog standard Shell diesel. Although I've also been putting a tank of premium in every three fill ups for it's supposed cleaning properties.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Have you taken into account the gentle upwards slope of seasonal temperature around this time of year? This will have a bearing on consumption. If your car is supposed to run 98RON it will be pulling ignition timing on supermarket fuel, so will probably lose efficiency.

That Tesco must be expensive for it to be higher than BP, my local one is £1.259, so supermarket would be cheaper for me wouldn't it?

 

At £1.259 your 10k cost is £2,010.02, still making it £23.61 more expensive than the 'Standard' BP.

 

Interesting points on the 'designed for 98RON' stuff though - are we generally of the concensus that this would have a big impact? I had (perhaps wrongly) assumed that it was 95RON standard recommended and 98RON if mapped for it.

 

If so I'll do something similar for Shell V-Power vs BP Ultimate vs Tesco Momentum (since i've now found a local Tesco that has it).

 

TBH i've always taken the 'has to be 98+' thing with a bit of salt - if I'm nearly out of fuel and all I can get at the station is 95 then that's usually what i'd get

If you want a 'Pinch of salt', then thats the Shell V-Power Nitro you are after,

those Secretive Additives and detergents they fail to name will include Sodium.

 

http://www.tescopfs.com/our-fuel/specifications

 

http://volkswagen.co.uk/technology/glossary/octane-number

 

If you want better than 100 ron in the UK, just splash the Cash on some Hiprflo 250

http://vitalequipment.co.uk/Racing-Fuel/carless-hiperflo-racing-fuels

My mk1 octavia VRS does say inside the fuel cap to run on 95/98ron. The car definately runs better on 98ron. Although it is mapped.

The Honda 2.2 ictdi runs just fine on supermarket diesel with no noticeable difference in tickover or power.  It could be argued that only higher performance vehicles need the good stuff.  However, even the humble Ignis needs 98ron stuff and the handbook says not to run it on 95ron. I guess it's so that I can extract all 107 of those wild horses!

To be truly scientific, how did you adjust for differences in air temp, tyre friction drive train friction, constant wind resistance or at least comparable to within under 1% in each test etc etc.

Interesting test, but perhaps still too variable to be meaningful? FWIW, I can't tell any difference in subjective bum gyro, nor the uncalibrated trip computer readout of average fuel economy between the various super unleaded brands.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

Edited 14 April, 201412 yr by stever750

To be truly scientific, how did you adjust for differences in air temp, tyre friction drive train friction, constant wind resistance or at least comparable to within under 1% in each test etc etc.

Interesting test, but perhaps still too variable to be meaningful? FWIW, I can't tell any difference in subjective bum gyro, nor the uncalibrated trip computer readout of average fuel economy between the various super unleaded brands.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

 

Short answer is I didn't - wasn't quite that scientific lol.

 

Journeys taken and conditions on those journeys (bar temperature) were broadly similar, that's about as close as it comes. On the computer MPG though it does seem pretty inaccurate. I've had tanks getting 32mpg that have shown 37+ on the readout and also had tanks at 34mpg that have shown 30 or less on the readout so I take it as an indicator rather than anything else.

 

Will need fuel next week and going for my first tank of the Tesco '99 so fingers crossed!

Temp, pressure and dissolved water content in air make a hell of a difference.

 

This difference best illustrated when  driving on the continent in summer with a tank full of UK petrol - I find that on the 10.1 compression ratio Fab engine, the performance is well down. Fill-up with the local stuff and performance goes back to normal.

 

Gulf stream contributes greatly to the  atmospherics differences betweeen UK and say France and the petrol sold in each country is differently formulated to reflect this.

 

I presume that you are not able to measure the principal selling points of the higher priced fuels - the reduced long-term engine wear. Using BP Ultimate or Shell V-power as opposed to ordinary 95 Octane on my Fab is the a sonic difference between a normal engine and a bucket of bolts.

 

Nick

Edited 16 April, 201412 yr by Clunkclick

Hello kiscix

 

Thanks for the useful info.

 

One factor that has not been discussed is the presence or absence of ethanol

 

A test report was published by Whatcar and another by Autobild, and both show a severe fuel consumption penalty for ethanol. Almost pro-rata with the proportion of ethanol.

 

To summarise what I have read in other forums:

 

All 95RON in the UK now seems to contain ethanol

 

Shell, Sainsbury and Tesco super unleaded contain ethanol

 

BP Ultimate and Esso Supreme do not currently contain ethanol. (ex Scotland & SW England)

 

The price premium for BP ultimate seems excessive, but Esso Supreme is less at 6p/litre extra: less than 5%. So you might get a better cost benefit tradeoff with that.

 

I have recently started using Esso Supreme. I don't do enough miles to produce any accurate results, so I am monitoring the trip mpg indication over standard routes that I do, to see if there is any significant difference.

Edited 18 May, 201412 yr by LateAdopter

Sainsbury Super Unleaded

& BP / Esso are Minimum 97 RON in the UK.

 

'Tesco Momentum 99'

& 'Shell V Power Nitro' are Minimum 99 RON.

 

Bring on the Methanol, Ethanol etc in fuel for engines with Components & MAPS that can achieve the best performance and economy from its use.

 

Also bring on all Fuel Producers Publishing the Spec of their UK fuel in easy to find ways.

Thats the Methanol & Ethanol contents and all the rest,

 and also what the actual Additives, Detergents & Cleaners are.

 

http://www.tescopfs.com/our-fuel/specifications

 

http://www.exxonmobil.co.uk/UK-English/about_what_refining_stations_energy.aspx

 

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/green-cars/methanol-round-two

My mk1 octavia VRS does say inside the fuel cap to run on 95/98ron. The car definately runs better on 98ron. Although it is mapped.

 

My E30 says 89RON on the filler cap. It must be loving life atm!

 

I've found that I did get better MPG with the premium fuels (and a more responsive/smoother engine), but the price gulf is big enough now that there's no saving to be made for the increase gained.

I would rather use the 'premium' fuels of various names from different garages just as a piece of mind that the engine will be running cleaner and there will be less crap left over at the end of each tank in the filters and injectors and what not.

JRJG

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wouldn't this test have been better if it had been done "blind", e.g getting wife/partner to fill car up without telling you what it had been filled with?

 

I'm sure there are plenty of people (not necessarily including any posters here) who would assume that consumption is better / performance is better / smoother, etc. just because they'd paid more.

Good shout that one jlwah

It would reduce any bias that is for sure.

JRJG

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk