Just read an article mentioned on radio 1 today. What car have had some independant research done on superfuels and found the claims to be questionable.

However the article seems to be geared more towards fuel economy rather than performance, it also doesnt mention the fact that some performance cars are tuned to run on premium fuels better (golf gti, mitsubishi evo spring to mind)

Anyway since its a topic often talked about here i thought id post it.

http://www.whatcar.com/news-article.aspx?NA=228257

You're going to make someone very happy indeed with this write-up about snake-oil

Their take does seem to be economy biased which no-one really cares about anyway and their definition of value seems to be cost per mpg.

Usual WhatCar conclusions then

Chris

If they are making claims about accurate testing then perhaps they should proof-read the data before publication.

Check out the "Out Test Results" chart.

http://tinyurl.com/2qnfcj

proof-read

Check out the "Out Test Results" chart.

http://tinyurl.com/2qnfcj

And, even the 'Our Test Results' chart :P

Which show us what ? :confused:

Which show us what ? :confused:

The figures for "Gentle" and "Urban" seem to be in the wrong columns?

Trees the couldn't wood for see the

Too busy looking at the minor differences - doh

perhaps its something we could all do one weekend?

perhaps its something we could all do one weekend?

Wot, misread charts ?

Their take does seem to be economy biased which no-one really cares about anyway

Speak for yourself! I like to drive quickly but also economically, the two aren't mutually exclusive, you know!

Speak for yourself! I like to drive quickly but also economically, the two aren't mutually exclusive, you know!

He had to forsake that line of thinking when he bought the Ford Montego, erm sorry, Mondrego

Speak for yourself! I like to drive quickly but also economically, the two aren't mutually exclusive, you know!

I can only speak for myself But I can't drive which might explain my shocking economy.....

Chris

Speak for yourself! I like to drive quickly but also economically, the two aren't mutually exclusive, you know!

Just go quite well together when rolling down that steep hill

The trick is not to brake for roundabouts, junctions, small children etc...

The trick is not to brake for roundabouts, junctions, small children etc...

Hey, c'mon now

If you'd have said nuns would be a different matter

The article show very little evidence of scentific process and tbh is wishy washy journalism at best. It was a bit like a Channel 5 documentery, sounded good till you realise that it didn't really do anything...

It did make one important statement however;

The fuels may offer some improvement over standard fuels but none of them can justify they extra cost.

I am off to Tescos to fill up.

On a similar topic: while most people won't notice the difference, there is *a* difference in quality between supermarket petrols and more favoured brands such as Shell; my father's boat is noticeably quieter and more responsive on the latter. On both tesco and morrisons unleaded, the engine is louder and less responsive. The difference is much more pronounced on a smaller engine. Shell are roughly the same price as most supermarkets at any one time so I tend to use Shell diesel in my fabia vRS.

i agree with decron tesco fuel will do the job just aswell as anything. there isnt really a quality thing either because tesco and others tend to get their fuel from such as bp,esso,texaco all those lot. so your getting the same thing just different appearance. like buying value bake beans same thing just different packaging and half the price not saying getting premium fuels dont have advantages but alot of the time driving around normally you dont get the benefit from them. i think i read around a few times these fuels only pay for themselves when at the track or long motorway driving but day to day stick with cheaper stuff. thats what i think anyway.

I recently started using Shell V-Power unleaded (I'm on my third tank of it now). I thought I'd give it a whirl and see of there was a difference, and in my experience so far, there is a marked difference.

It costs about £2.40 extra per tank to fill up with V-Power, but I am getting an extra 30 miles per tank compared to the Sainsbury's unleaded I was using previously. I think that's decent value.

The engine tone is also noticeably better - the 1.4 now sounds happy when I floor it accelerating onto the motorway, whereas before, it sounded like it was hurting. The car also respomds more quickly when I ask it to accelerate quickly.

I don't know if premium diesels are as good, but my experience of premium petrol is good.

I've just recently tried V Power diesel and have to say I'm pleased with it. The difference was definitely noticable, but I did also drop 4 shots of Millers Power Sport 4 into the tank before filling up... I do find it smokes loads still, but that's probably to do with my cetane rating now behing sky high. (Or something like that!)

my skoda won't run properly on 95ron stuff, screw what car they don't know anything.

Different cars, different engines, different people = different results. My old Rover 216 had a new lease of life on Shell Optimax. When I treated myself to some V-Power diesel in the Furby, consumption improved discernably by 2-3 mpg average (boring I know....but it did!)

Any car with the right technology seems to take advantage,

At work there is a fleet of golf MK5's all 1.4's, they all run great on High octane fuel because the FSI system can work properly,

Yet If I put it in my Getz it makes the engine rough and less economical, though I do get a slight increase in power,

So not useless in all applications, Just most IMHO:D

I have noticed a difference between the Supermarket stuff and Shell - I did 3 complete tank fulls of both over Dec/Jan last year and got 57 with Shell and 55 with Tesco, same weather, same journeys - roughly 1500 miles on each - it was noticablely less responsive with Tesco - so I stick with Shell, which as someone else pointed out is the same price as Supermarket stuff anyhow!

Most of my cars are old rear engined Skoda's. All of them pink noticably on Tesco fuel. If I use BP "normal" unleaded they all run fine, but when I use BP Ultimate they all run much smoother and are more responsive.

I tend to use BP Ultimate in my cars when ever I can.