Performance fuel

[Boulton]

Simple question, what's your opinion on performance fuel? Is it worth paying extra for?

From what some people have said it's not. But others have said to stay away from supermarket fuel and that performance fuel e.g. Shell V-Power would give me extra MPG and make the car run better once I've refilled a few times.

[Guzzle]

I think the second paragraph pretty much sums up the responses you're likely to get. Some are convinced it's worth it to pay extra for premium fuel, others less so.

Mine is only a diesel, but I fill up at Sainsburys usually and have no complaints.

[TonyJ]

Simple question, what's your opinion on performance fuel? Is it worth paying extra for?

From what some people have said it's not. But others have said to stay away from supermarket fuel and that performance fuel e.g. Shell V-Power would give me extra MPG and make the car run better once I've refilled a few times.

My view - complete waste of money .... and here's my theory why ...

People who buy performance fuel are obviously trying to get better performance (mostly in mpg). I think that, even only subconsciously, they will drive slightly differently to try and reinforce their view. They may drive slightly less aggressively etc., and, surprise, surprise, they get a few more mpg.
I think that any performance enhancement will be extremely minor, and much smaller than the natural variation that a driver will get in terms of mpg due to other factors (eg. temperature, traffic conditions, road conditions, rain, wind etc.)

So, my view  -  all fuels are basically the same ....

... and I'm sure that some people will disagree   

[Arnold_Lane]

I think tests have been done in the past that show fuels like Shell V Power, BP Ultimate and Tesco Momentum, etc, do have slightly superior properties, however the gains are too small to make any appreciable difference in everyday driving and most petrol cars are setup to run on the 95 octane regular unleaded anyway.

Personally I would always use Shell V Power, but when I see the price compared to supermarket fuel, the Scrooge in me takes over and I fill up with the cheap stuff instead!

[Watts]

After the last thread on this topic I was convinced enough to give it a go, the tipping point for me was thar VW do recommend premium fuel in the GTI, 95 is a minimum. I've now been using Tesco Momentum 99 for a few months, long enough to overcome any issues with altering driving behaviour as in TonyJ's post (which by the way I thought a good point) and I have noticed a general improvement in mpg. Not a lot and I haven't done a thorough analysis or anything, it just seems to be that bit ahead in most situations to what I recall last year. Plus, on a full fill up, it's only about £2.50 extra so imho, worthwhile.

[Jim_mk7.5]

When I collected mine last Monday I filled up with Sainsbury's Super Unleaded which was £1.08 p/l in Tamworth which I thought was a bargain as we are around £1.10 p/l in Sheffield for std unleaded. I normally use my local Tesco and was meaning to put in the 99 ron stuff which is pretty much the highest octane forecourt fuel but then picked up the normal stuff for my 2nd fill up at the weekend so will probably mix and match depending on how prices are as I don't think most people including me can tell the difference.

[LRWmotorsport]

This old chestnut.

My position is that I use it and have brain washed Mrs LRWmotorsport into using it from day 1 in her (our) CS.
Do I (we) notice any difference? Not in the slightest
Is the higher octane number piece of mind that #2 piston isnt going to melt? Not as much as the VW warranty but the plugs look nice and brown.
Have I been brainwashed by the Oil Company's marketing dept? Probably, but get an extra £1 on my Waitrose voucher every few months.

I know alot about making cars go round corners* and b*gger all about engines. Until our new team was formed and we now have our own engine boffin I used a well known engine builder who's products  often take up alot of air-time on ITV4 on Sundays. He said that higher octane pump fuel does make a difference IF: The engine was set up on that fuel eg. Dyno/Designed to run on it OR The engine is highly highly tuned and sensitive to hot spots in the cylinder. In which case refer to the previous statement.


* Typical keyboard warrior claim: Photos of trophy cabinet available up request.

[vidman2]

You can not go wrong following the Skoda recommended RON for your car, going lower or higher and the ECU should adapt to ensure no engine damage by altering the ignition advance. Lower RON will reduce advance and reduce performance, higher the opposite but the you may not notice the difference in normal driving conditions, but if you drive a little more spirited you probably will.

[Arnold_Lane]

After the last thread on this topic I was convinced enough to give it a go, the tipping point for me was thar VW do recommend premium fuel in the GTI, 95 is a minimum. I've now been using Tesco Momentum 99 for a few months, long enough to overcome any issues with altering driving behaviour as in TonyJ's post (which by the way I thought a good point) and I have noticed a general improvement in mpg. Not a lot and I haven't done a thorough analysis or anything, it just seems to be that bit ahead in most situations to what I recall last year. Plus, on a full fill up, it's only about £2.50 extra so imho, worthwhile.

I currently drive a Polo Blue GT and for the first 5 or 6K miles I only used Tesco Momentum. After this I switched to regular un-leaded and quite soon noticed a 1 or 1.5 mpg improvement (according to dash) in my average fuel consumption. The only thing I can think is that the engine loosened up a bit by this mileage and this was where the improvement came from.

[mariamartinez]

5th gear says maybe 2% power boost for about 6-10% more cost. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8L-X89duEs