Fuel money saving idea - use super unleaded?

xocbc

There was a test of normal vs super on 5th gear (or something similar) recently.

They tried norma, BP Ultimate and Optimax in 3 different cars.

1 was 100bhp ish normal car, 1 was 150bhp ish mid-range car and 1 was an Impreza or Evo (can't remember).

The result was that for the normal car, there was no difference in performance or mpg. For the mid-range car, there was a slight performace increase and very little mpg. The Impreza or Evo got a big performance boost but mpg was about the same.

It's probably on you-tube somewhere

paul_7_7_7

From my own evidence in a 2001 Vectra SRi 150 2.2litre I get the following

Normal 95 octane - 24mpg
General super 97 octane - 25-26 mpg
Tesco or Shell 99 octane - 30mpg

These are for a mix of driving short but mostly short trips (long journeys the number all increase but the differences remain)

To me this makes it an easy choice to use the 99 octane but less so on using the 97. Not only do I save money but I have to visit the pumps less often too.

Best thing I can recommend is give it a go - I used to think it was a myth but then used super on a trackday and for a while afterwards until it needed refueling - saw a difference and decided to do some more scientific testing.

thescouselander

paul_7_7_7 wrote: »

From my own evidence in a 2001 Vectra SRi 150 2.2litre I get the following

Normal 95 octane - 24mpg
General super 97 octane - 25-26 mpg
Tesco or Shell 99 octane - 30mpg

These are for a mix of driving short but mostly short trips (long journeys the number all increase but the differences remain)

To me this makes it an easy choice to use the 99 octane but less so on using the 97. Not only do I save money but I have to visit the pumps less often too.

Best thing I can recommend is give it a go - I used to think it was a myth but then used super on a trackday and for a while afterwards until it needed refueling - saw a difference and decided to do some more scientific testing.

I'm sorry but I just dont belive that such an improvement in MPG can be achived just by using higher octaine fuel. Exactly how did you conduct this scientific test?

tripledonkey

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Think you're wrong there. My TVR with a Rover V8 engine and distributor would grumble when fed on anything less than Shell 98.

I have a Japanese Import Efini RX7 FD3S - they are designed to run on the higher octane fuel they have in Japan. My RX7 runs like crud on 95, and only ever seems truly happy with Shell V-Power - which is a double blow considering she gets around 15-18mpg

forgotmyname

Is this Rob guy on commission from a fuel company to advertise for them?

As mentioned SUPER fuels wont get you more MPG, Taking your foot off the accelerator earlier will though.

If you have a car with a fuel computer use that and you can save loads of money, I was shocked to see how much
a difference it makes to lift the throttle pedal a bit yet keep the same speed.

I managed 62mpg in my mondeo TDCI.