Fuel for the R?

[monkeyhanger]

Its a 2 litre 4 cylinder? its not particularly high maintenance with slim operating margins, i highly doubt that it needs premium fuel. If porsche and aston martin tell you its a waste of time to do it why on earth would you put it into a vw. sounds very silly to spend the extra 15p per litre to me because you won't gain that back in mpg and also, you aren't pushing the car to its limits all day every day, if you were track driving you might find some small difference with the extra additives they have in them but town driving the car won't warrant any benefits IMO

It's how it is set up - if the car is optimised for RON98 (like the R is), it will not be running at its best on RON95. I can see the logic in not pumping in RON98 on a car that is not set up for it - that does seem a genuine waste of money.

Cheapest i've seen Shell Vpower is 11p a litre dearer than standard Asda unleaded (104p locally), it's 10.5% dearer. If the R is 10% more economical on 98 than 95 on a mpg basis (I don't know that it is 10% better, but i'm sure it will be better) then running it on 95 is a false economy.

If you want to run the R as per the manufacturer's guidelines and to get the best out of it, you won't be touching 95 when 98 is available (for a fair price).

[Greg_ED35]

I always run my ED35 on 98 RON, it is important for turbo engines to run on the octane it was designed for , 95 is a compromise it will still work but you will see less mpg and power. Engines are calibrated for the fuel in the country they will be sold in and the recommended fuel is going to get you the best performance and mpg (Average 3% gain over 95). The higher octane also reduces knock, when the ECU senses the fuel quality it will adjust the ignition timing to suit.

[charv94]

Ok, if they advise it then that makes a change, however i would be more interested in whether the increases do warrant the increase in price, i completely agree MonkeyHanger, if the fuel gives you a greater %increase in your desired trait, be it power or more fuel economy do it. But i seem to remember watch a video where the increases were small, and with one companies fuel, none. Im not saying i wouldn't adhere to the advise and put a higher octane in every so often, my dad does one tank premium for every 3 normal, i think id follow that sort of approach maybe. It pyschologically stings more when you break the £100 on a tank (80 litres in the cls63 and was 100 in the aston) it brings a tear to your eye. but with fuel cheaper at the moment this isn't such a problem

[ffrank]

Love the AMG 5.5 engine, what a beast. But I think I would be putting the ol' premium in that! Did your dad change from an AM, V8 as well? I just love V8's in general I guess 

[Poached]

Drives a CLS63/Aston Martin and complains about the difference in price between regular and super unleaded...

[itavaltalainen]

Drives a CLS63/Aston Martin and complains about the difference in price between regular and super unleaded...

my thought as well... 

[charv94]

Love the AMG 5.5 engine, what a beast. But I think I would be putting the ol' premium in that! Did your dad change from an AM, V8 as well? I just love V8's in general I guess 

Yeah its a monster, it quite happily spins its wheels up at 70 if you give it the beans, and yes changed from the Vantage S. Needed something more useable :')

Drives a CLS63/Aston Martin and complains about the difference in price between regular and super unleaded...

They drink fuel, he's not bothered about mpg and i challenge nearly everyone to try and beat it so the marginal power increase is irrelevant. It all comes down to how much value you put on the increases, clearly you place more on it than I or my father does

[Greg_ED35]

Its more than just performance and MPG , running 95 in a 98 calibrated engine will result in higher carbon build up and overall shorten the life of the engine,higher emissions,higher cylinder temps etc etc there is a whole host of reasons past power that you should run on what they tell you to. Also as harsh at it sounds if you get bad knocking resulting in bent rods etc dont go crying to VW as your warranty will be void (Email read from a master tech at VW)!

It is a performance car which arent cheap to buy, stop being tight and put the proper fuel in! 

[charv94]

Its more than just performance and MPG , running 95 in a 98 calibrated engine will result in higher carbon build up and overall shorten the life of the engine,higher emissions,higher cylinder temps etc etc there is a whole host of reasons past power that you should run on what they tell you to. Also as harsh at it sounds if you get bad knocking resulting in bent rods etc dont go crying to VW as your warranty will be void (Email read from a master tech at VW)!

It is a performance car which arent cheap to buy, stop being tight and put the proper fuel in! 

I don't even own an R, I'm getting a GTI. 

You seem well educated on the matter so ill believe you on the matter

[falconmick]

*I have previously carried out my own calculations regarding higher octane fuels and have achieved higher MPG, regularly driving the same route to compare.

*Some years ago owned a Ford and the engine would 'pink' (pre-ignition) under load when going uphill when using 95 RON, drove same route with 97 RON and no pinking.

*Get a Shell Drivers Club card and you get double points on V Power, the fuel vouchers that you  receive partially offset the higher cost.

*I emailed VW regarding fuel RON for my R and they replied saying that regular use of lower octane fuel could invalidate the warranty.

*If you're paying in the region of £30k for a car, why skimp on fuel?

*You don't buy an R if you want high MPG, 300 horses take a lot of feeding.