Fuel Savings

rjneedham

Recently Martin wrote Only use ‘better fuel’ if your car can cope.

Many petrol stations sell ‘high performance fuels’, yet there’s little or no performance difference for most non-performance cars - so only fill up with the super-fuels if you've a sports car that you've been specifically advised will actually utilise the petrol correctly.

This is not correct. High octane additives for petrol and cetane additives for diesel will ultimately lead to fuel savings. Refer to the suppliers info. This is not bull. Fuel companies are bound by law to be correct in their literature.

I use the high performance fuels and have always returned higher mpg's. apart from that the engine will remain cleaner and a dirty engine will run less efficiently. Plus fuels are becoming lower quality as we import more from abroad. Don't bury your head.

santer_2

Mine runs on LPG so don't have much need for petrol, however, it didn't like super fuels

Hammyman

rjneedham wrote: »

Recently Martin wrote Only use ‘better fuel’ if your car can cope.

Many petrol stations sell ‘high performance fuels’, yet there’s little or no performance difference for most non-performance cars - so only fill up with the super-fuels if you've a sports car that you've been specifically advised will actually utilise the petrol correctly.

This is not correct. High octane additives for petrol and cetane additives for diesel will ultimately lead to fuel savings. Refer to the suppliers info. This is not bull. Fuel companies are bound by law to be correct in their literature.

I use the high performance fuels and have always returned higher mpg's. apart from that the engine will remain cleaner and a dirty engine will run less efficiently. Plus fuels are becoming lower quality as we import more from abroad. Don't bury your head.

WRONG. The advice is both correct and incorrect. If you have a car that automatically adjusts ignition timing to take advantage of the higher octane rating you will see improved performance and MPG. If you don't have a car that does that, you will see absolutely no difference whatsoever other than a faster emptying of your wallet.

And we don't import fuel from abroad. We import crude oil which is then refined in the UK to the same standard as crude that comes from anywhere else.

Oh, and in regards to the manufacturers advertising - the companies making those stupid magnet things you clip on your fuel line still reckon that putting magnets on fuel lines can improve MPG....

Sincerely yours, an apprentice trained and time served mechanic who has been involved in motorsport...

forgotmyname

If the so called super fuels are so much better why do they have to put little disclaimers at the bottom
of the adverts?

And why did the trading standards prosecute so many suppliers of snake oils for fuel.

Fifth gear (i think) tested different fuels and additives on a rolling road and found some actually produced less power.
Some highly tuned turbo cars can alter timing and fuelling for better quality fuel.

Ranger8

forgotmyname wrote: »

If the so called super fuels are so much better why do they have to put little disclaimers at the bottom
of the adverts?
Fifth gear (i think) tested different fuels and additives on a rolling road and found some actually produced less power.

Fifth Gear found `Premium` diesel gave 6bhp more :T
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezjknhwcQXU

vikingaero

Hammyman wrote: »

And we don't import fuel from abroad. We import crude oil which is then refined in the UK to the same standard as crude that comes from anywhere else.

Actually fuel is sometimes imported from neighbouring European countries.

Nearly_Old

It's always a good idea to check your handbook as mine shows that the engine is initially set up for 98RON petrol. The car has automatic valve timing on both the inlet and exhaust valves and an individual coil pack on each plug so the ECU can constantly vary the timing. Over time the ECU will adapt to different grades of petrol but 95RON gave less mpg and the engine just didn't "feel" as good. Tesco 99RON seems to be the best one for the car - been using it for over 6 months now and although I've not noticed any real gain in mpg from 97/98RON the performance is as good as its ever been.

King_Nothing

I run mine on V-Power 99 majority of the times, because my car benefits from running it over 95 or 99, because I run a 300BHP turbo'd car that is mapped for 100RON. But I doubt to Mr. Jones in his bog standard Focus or Astra, the 12p extra per litre it is for V-Power over regular 97 will be that beneficial to him on his 10 miles commute, or school run.

Wireless_2

I use the cheapest mickey mouse stuff available at ASDA, as long as the car gets from A to B it doesn't matter.

patman99

Petrol isn't much different, but with diesel, there is a marked drop in mpg when using supermarket fuel. I used to get 7 mpg less using supermarket diesel than I did using the likes of Shell, Texaco or Esso.

vikingaero

Wireless wrote: »

I use the cheapest mickey mouse stuff available at ASDA, as long as the car gets from A to B it doesn't matter.

To an extent this is true.

If you change your car every 3 years then who cares what goes in. With my company car I fuel it at Tesco for the points.

With our own cars which we plan to own for longer, we use only branded fuels.