Whats the Best Fuel for my GTI?

[maxamus]

Well, normally i just put whatever is on offer at whatever fueling station i am near. The other day i put in ESSO Supreme Unleaded which was £1.04 a litre (10p more than the standard RON95). I didnt notice any real difference actually in driving.

So what should i be doing?

- Is RON95 ok to use?
- RON97 Better?
- What about the Supreme Unleaded?

BP, Shell, Total, Tesco...?

Help me out guys.....

[Rhyso]

GTI engine is configured to run on 98RON I believe therefore you need fuels such as Shell V-Power, Tesco 99RON or BP Ultimate.

your GTI will run fine on 95 RON but the engine will retard the ingnition to suit and thereofre you will not have full power at your disposal.

[maxamus]

Looks like im going to have to start going to Shell, BP and Tesco's to fuel up in future and only use RON99...

[Rhyso]

think on an earlier topic most people rate the Tesco and Shell stuff.

I know when EVO did a test they found both to outperform the BP stuff

[maxamus]

is there any noticeable difference though in performance/power and mpg when using the standard and the elite?

[wantmygti]

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=58279.0

try and read this, Sean did a fuel run down just the other day.

The thing i don't understand, is why my fuel cap, and the manual say use 95RON when 98RON is widely reagrded as the suitable juice?

[Teutonic_Tamer]

GTI engine is configured to run on 98RON I believe therefore you need fuels such as Shell V-Power, Tesco 99RON or BP Ultimate.

Not BP Ultimate, as it is only 97 RON! 

your GTI will run fine on 95 RON but the engine will retard the ingnition to suit and thereofre you will not have full power at your disposal.

And poorer fuel economy, due to the less efficient fuel burn.

[KittyMk1]

i'd go for shell, optimax is good for high performance cars. stops melting pistons (well on cossies anyway lol)

[Teutonic_Tamer]

is there any noticeable difference though in performance/power and mpg when using the standard and the elite?

Yes.  The GTI engine was desinged to "run" at its optimum (performance and efficiency) using 98 RON.  Using a fuel of less than 98 RON, be that 97 RON from BP Ultimate, Esso super unleaded, Sainsburys, Total etc, or the standard 95 RON unleaded, then the engine has to adjust it's operation - resulting in less power, and poorer fuel economy!  

[Teutonic_Tamer]

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=58279.0

try and read this, Sean did a fuel run down just the other day.

Thanks for the pointer. 

The thing i don't understand, is why my fuel cap, and the manual say use 95RON when 98RON is widely reagrded as the suitable juice?

I think you will find it states something like 98 is the "preferred" or "recommended", but it will happily run on 95 without causing any damage (but with less power), if 98 is unavailable.

In my RS4, you can even use 91 RON, but there are strict stipulations, about half throttle, low rpms, low vehicle loads, and no high altitudes - oh, bu&&er, that dashes my plans to scale the north face of the eiger <sp?> in my RS4 on cheap juice!!!