Bioethanol fuel mix - high octane

[DanGB]

Tesco 99 has 5% bioethenol in it:

http://www.greenergy.com/tesco_99_octane/FAQs.html

[Micky 32]

I'm picking up my first GTI ('06 mkV) in the next week, and I'm wondering what fuel I'm going to feed it.  For the last number of years, high octane petrol (ie above 95RON) has not been available in Ireland, as it carries a heavy levy from the government.  However, since 2007, Maxol (a petrol station chain in Ireland) have introduced what they call E5 as their main "unleaded" fuel.  E5 is a mix of 95% petrol and 5% bioethanol.  It is suitable for all petrol engines.  Anyway, the octane for this fuel is apparently 99.2RON.  They get around the levy because of the green aspect.

So my question is, is this E5 my best bet if all else that's available is just regular 95RON?  Or should I be steering clear of the bioethanol mix for some reason?  Surely there is something similar available in the UK.  Does anybody have any experience of this?

Hi I'm from Ireland and have an vRS 2.0 TFSI. The E5 is good stuff. I use it all the time. I'm getting 280+bhp with all my bolt on mods which is the exact same power level as cars in the UK with same mods using the high octane v-power.

[Egbutt Wash]

I use higher octane stuff now and again.
Does it really make any difference?
I don't notice anything.

[bacillus]

98 octane = better mpg with more hp/torque

[JonnyG]

I use higher octane stuff now and again.
Does it really make any difference?
I don't notice anything.

According to the VW handbook it does.

[JonnyG]

Or should I be steering clear of the bioethanol mix for some reason?  Surely there is something similar available in the UK.  Does anybody have any experience of this?

As stated above, it sounds very similar to Tesco 99 ...and that is highly rated by many people (including me  )

Give it a try 

These guys rated it and noticed a difference in performance :

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=221733

[Teutonic_Tamer]

I'm picking up my first GTI ('06 mkV) in the next week, and I'm wondering what fuel I'm going to feed it.  For the last number of years, high octane petrol (ie above 95RON) has not been available in Ireland, as it carries a heavy levy from the government.  However, since 2007, Maxol (a petrol station chain in Ireland) have introduced what they call E5 as their main "unleaded" fuel.  E5 is a mix of 95% petrol and 5% bioethanol.  It is suitable for all petrol engines.  Anyway, the octane for this fuel is apparently 99.2RON.  They get around the levy because of the green aspect.

So my question is, is this E5 my best bet if all else that's available is just regular 95RON?  Or should I be steering clear of the bioethanol mix for some reason?  Surely there is something similar available in the UK.  Does anybody have any experience of this?

If you do a little research on unleaded fuels, you will actually find that it is now compulsory in the EU to have 5% 'renewable' content (which means any of the 'bio' content) in fuels.  For years, the UK had an option for 2½% bioethanol, but Greenergy, who make the Tesco 99 RON, also had 5% bioethanol for some years before the mandated legislation, and long before the other fuel companies - which is probably why Tesco 99 achieves more reliable and sustained tests compared to Shell V-Power 99.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

VW recommend you user "super" 98+ fuel (its also in the owners best interest to use it as the FSI engine works much better on the higher octane fuel).

Yup, the higher the octane rating, the longer the FSI engine is able to operate in 'stratified' mode.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Or should I be steering clear of the bioethanol mix for some reason?  Surely there is something similar available in the UK.  Does anybody have any experience of this?

As stated above, it sounds very similar to Tesco 99 ...and that is highly rated by many people (including me  )

Give it a try 

These guys rated it and noticed a difference in performance :

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=221733

It is a shame that PistonHeads was not able to correctly describe the actual status of Greenergy though.  They are far more than just a 'reseller' or 'blender'.  Greenergy are actualy Europes largest independent oil company which deals with road fuels.  They have their own refinery, are building a second refinery, and actually use their own sourced biomass - completely independent of the traditional oil companies.