Unleaded v SuperUnleaded

shuaibf

Which is better ?

Of Course super unleaded costs more but does superunleaded really help with fuel economy

Hintza

Depends on the car you are driving and the size of engine. Personally I think it makes bigger cars a bit more responsive but you normally lose any economy by driving it bit more aggressively.

HonestJohn is quite keen on it for certain cars have a look on there.

drew2k9

i am also sceptical of the "super" unleaded petrol. i would be interested to hear if anyone has had good experiences. or bad for that matter!

shuaibf

drew2k9 wrote: »

i am also sceptical of the "super" unleaded petrol. i would be interested to hear if anyone has had good experiences. or bad for that matter!

Likewise !

anewman

Use what your car owner's manual specifies Surprisingly the car manufacturers know which fuel a car is set up for!

It won't do any damage in a car where it's not specified but there is highly unlikely to be any measurable increase in MPG or performance, so it just costs a bit more.

Hintza

I haven't read the thread at all but have a look.

http://www.www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=81292&m=944999&v=e

By the way some cars will only run properly on the stuff (but I assume you are driving a fairly standard car.

If your car requires 99 or 100 RON then you should use it.

michaelro

Depends on the car.

Low Powered - Don't bother
High Powered - I would (And have when I owned one)
Japanese Import - Definitely (+ have it mapped to UK Fuel)

Tests have been carried out in the past that show neglible difference for most cars, but high performance cars benefit from Super fuel.

You may see an improvement in MPG, but whether it would offset the extra cost is debatable.

Performance gains are usually why people use Super fuels and they definitely make a difference over 95/97 RON.

As mentioned before, a car manual will tell you what should use, not that it matters as most people ignore them anyway....;)

mackem86

I've either heard or read recently that unless the car is designed to run on the super its pointless buying in.

I'm sure whatcar has an article on this

DKLS

My car is designed to run on Superunleaded (Jap Import) I once made the error of putting in normal unleaded from Asda, the difference was startling, the engine was unresponsive, much slower to get the turbos spinning, and generally ran like a dogs dinner.

I didnt take any notice to see if there was an MPG difference.

iceblue24

drew2k9 wrote: »

i am also sceptical of the "super" unleaded petrol. i would be interested to hear if anyone has had good experiences. or bad for that matter!

ive experimented with Shell V-Power and BP Ultimate. This was in a Ford Mondeo 1.8. There was a small increase in performance from the sharper acceleration but not enough to justify the extra 7p or whatever it costs now. I didnt notice any drastic effects on the economy either. it all boils down to how you use your right foot.

AdrianHi

Most modern everyday petrol cars are design to self tune (advance the ignition) to take advantage of petrol in the circa 92 RON to 98 RON range. Some performance cars may be 100+.
In theory best performance and fuel consumption will come using a fuel that is 98+ RON but in practice I've never managed to measure or feel a difference on the 2 cars I've tried it on, both good for the range up to 98 RON. '53 plate Mazda 6 2.0TS, 1998 S reg Mitsubishi Galant V6, 2007 '57 plate BMW 318i.