Pros and Cons of Premium Fuel

[cheezemonkhai]

The best US fuel ie 91 Octane fuel, has a lower octane rating that the lowest fuel you can buy in the UK ie 95 octane.

 

The UK, and Europe in general, specifies not only high octane but lower sulfur fuel which costs a lot more.

 

Oddly the best engine I have had is the 1.8 TSI, supposedly a 160 hp but let better, I rated it higher than all the other VRS engines (180, and 200 hp)  I had and that 1.8 TSI could run on 91 octane fuel !

 

The older 1.8 TSI, in the Mk1 OCty VRS, and SEAT Cupra, reallly prefered 98 Octane but all other engines I have around 30 various ones, really could not tell the difference and certainly not worth the money, Fabia 2 VRS a part which was purely designed for 98 Octane.  

 

The US and Europe define the octane rating differently.

 

US is MON and RON averaged (Called AKI), EU is RON. This means a typical US figure will be about 4-6 lower for the same fuel.

So 91 Octane in the US could be 97 octane in the EU.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Motor_Octane_Number_.28MON.29

 

 

For Example:

 

Shell V-Power Nitro+ 99" "Tesco Momentum 99" In the United Kingdom 99 87 93 (RON:MON:AKI) Edited 8 July, 2016 by cheezemonkhai

[Ed2016]

My own test many years ago on Shell V-Power and normal 95RON unleaded petrol.

Car Vauxhall VX220 2.2 na, so nothing special engine wise.

 

Tested this for 1 year , 6 months 95RON and V-Power after. Driving 70% motorways and multilane carriageways and 30% town and country lanes.

 

Power no noticeable difference from this engine.

 

95RON 35mpg just over 10k miles

V-Power 38mpg just over 10k miles.

Take from this what you will

[Ryeman]

Out here the fuel 'enthusiasts' are more biased to BP ultimate and certainly not Shell V power.

It's one of the great mysteries of life that nobody on the inside of the industry can quantify exactly what is different even within one brand let alone others.........we need a 'fuel whisperer'

[Ootohere]

First you would need to look at what Super Unleaded is on different continents and then different countries. Shell V-Power Nitro+ plus in the UK is higher octane than it was and yet lower than in some other countries in Europe. Then additives and ochain boosters are different in different world markets.

[skinnyman]

Out here the fuel 'enthusiasts' are more biased to BP ultimate and certainly not Shell V power.

It's one of the great mysteries of life that nobody on the inside of the industry can quantify exactly what is different even within one brand let alone others.........we need a 'fuel whisperer'

 

I know someone from inside the industry that could tell you but you'd have to brace yourself for an unbelievably long, technical and detailed answer.  

[Auric Goldfinger]

I know someone from inside the industry that could tell you but you'd have to brace yourself for an unbelievably long, technical and detailed answer.  

 

Come on then Spill, please

[skinnyman]

Come on then Spill, please

 

It's the chap who set up this company.

http://www.sp3h.com/

They are based in the south of France and he used to be the person who set up refineries all over the world.  Whatever crude went in at the beginning of the refining process, the end result had to be the same so he created the software and control systems that ensured the refinery was reacting to the flow of crude in real time to make a constant product.  He worked for BP for years & then miniaturised the technology to go into cars. Quite interesting stuff.  

As I said, he could - and does - talk for hours about how fuels are made.

Edited 12 July, 2016 by skinnyman

[Ryeman]

The bottom lime is - is it worth chasing a particular brand and/or the version of the brand and paying extra for it.

DI petrol engines have issues around injector fouling so it's an increasingly relevant question to me.

[lol-lol]

The bottom lime is - is it worth chasing a particular brand and/or the version of the brand and paying extra for it.

DI petrol engines have issues around injector fouling so it's an increasingly relevant question to me.

 

For about 98% of cars it is not worth it.

 

For a few cars, the Fabia 2 VRS, the older 1.8TSIs ie even the 180 but especially th 225 version, it is needed if you want the 10% of the power you would not get if you use standard fuel and you do seem to be about 5% better fuel consumption with Shell Nitro or Supermarket Momentum which are 99 Octane on our UK/EU rating scale.

[Ryeman]

My concern relates to reliability from keeping the petrol DI system clean, or if there is genuinely a better diesel for keeping the EGR/DPF cleaner.

Edited 13 July, 2016 by Ryeman

[newtooctavia]

Always use the cheapest fuel, always been happy with it