Premium unleaded - worth it?

Mr_Thrifty

You know that unleaded petrol that costs an extra 8p or so... is it worth it? If not, why does anyone ever buy it?

I got a 1998 Saab 9-5 auto if that makes a difference.

Rory2000

Hi,

IMHO there is no use in this petrol unless you are using a car with a big engine i.e it uses a lot more fuel , i had a company car which i put 40,000kms on it from new toyota corolla 1.8 petrol and tracked all the fuel that went into it, the higher octain fuel does go further but when i workied back the cost it was still cheaper to use normal unleaded.

verityboo

Only of use if your car is speciifically designed to run on it - like a few high performance ones - or if your car engine/management system has a knock sensor so it can advance the ignition to take advantage of it

jaydeeuk1

No. Although it supposed to get higher MPG, I tend to accelerate more aggressively to 'get my monies worth'.

Only ever use it now if I can charge it to my clients

NeverEnough

Yes, it really makes a difference in cars with big, high performance petrol engines. I have a 4.8 V8 and always use it unless it isn't available, I also avoid supermarket petrol if possible for that car, sticking to BP or Shell if I can. So for a minority of high powered enthusiast cars, it is worth it. But for the vast majority I would think it really makes no difference, so not needed. and for all those who like to shout that the petrol "all comes from the same refineries" that may be so, but the additives are different and that is where the price difference comes in, and after issues across the country with cars being seriously damaged by supermarket petrol with odd contamination, I would rather avoid it for the sake of pennies in an expensive high performance car. The cost of the fuel is only a fraction of the total running costs of any car.

Mr_Thrifty

so in a 2.3 litre low pressure turbo Saab 9-5 "Ecopower" (1998 model) do you think it's worth paying the extra for the special petrol?

GolfBravo

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

so in a 2.3 litre low pressure turbo Saab 9-5 "Ecopower" (1998 model) do you think it's worth paying the extra for the special petrol?

Check the handbook - it should clearly specify the required fuel RON rating.

Some manufacturers specify the engine power output for both normal and premium fuel - usually the difference is only 2-3 bhp.

So unless the engine must have PULP, don't waste your money.

w211

Always use Shell V-Power diesel in mine.

200,000 miles and no problems whatsoever with the fuel system - turbo, injectors, DPFs, inlet manifolds etc. No black smoke comes from the exhausts under hard acceleration.

The extra is worth it in my opinion, double Avios points, and I use a cashback credit card, so the extra per litre isn't as much as it seems.

Mr_Thrifty

i don't have the handbook for the car any more and can't find one on the web

fivetide

verityboo wrote: »

Only of use if your car is speciifically designed to run on it - like a few high performance ones - or if your car engine/management system has a knock sensor so it can advance the ignition to take advantage of it

This. Very few cars, even big engined sporty ones like those mentioned will run on it. If it is a US car then 95 RON is about as good as it gets.

European cars will all slurp 95 too. the main difference is on the Japanese performance cars like Subaru which are meant to run on the 100 RON you can easily get in Japan.

Here, give them a dose of 95 and the engine will limit the timing to protect itself. It will also take a long time to advance the timing again and trust the fuel.

Anyone who moves from 95 to 99 RON and immediately declares they can feel or see a difference is gettign a placebo effect and nothing more.

If you have a car mapped to 99 RON then you need to run on it or the performance will be no differnet.

Notice none of the manufacuteres say it will increase mpg. they all say it can or may but not will. Shell had to pull their fuel save adverts because they couldn't prove it.

5t.

Paradigm

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

so in a 2.3 litre low pressure turbo Saab 9-5 "Ecopower" (1998 model) do you think it's worth paying the extra for the special petrol?

In a word...No!
It would be a different matter if you had the Aero HOT version.