hi

just been doing some research into high octane petrol...

I currently use the BP ultimate fuel and my car seems to be running smooth but am now thinking of maybe testing out shell v-power.

many people have been going on about this so called tesco 99 fuel which seems to have excellent reviews.

i have been told that supermarket fuels have a lot of harmful additives which in the long run can damage engine - is this true? my sister has an A3 and when she fills up at say sainsburys fuel all her warning lights go on and the car drives really rough!

so just want to ask what most of you use/prefer and what are the noticeable benefits/results that you have noticed?

mainly interested in what you all use in your polo's.

what would be your recommendations or views as to which petrol is best.

I personally use fuel from Asda as its the cheapest. Although i have also heard that fuel from supermarkets can be harmful for your engine but i dont believe in that. I know many people who use supermarket fuel regularly and their engines seem perfectly fine

I switched over to shell v power a little while ago. Probably just in my head but the car does to seem to run smoother, and it only costs about £1.50 extra to fill up so might as well! Got to be doing some good.

Tesco 99ron is the highest octane fuel that is readily available, then shell v power which is 97.

Morrisons is supposed to be the worst for additives which is probably why it's so cheap round here.

Iv had a few bad experiences of V power now, find BP ultimate more consistent

I use shell v power an occasionally tescos 99. I first noticed in my polo I'd get better mpg from the premium stuff an have noticed the same in my fiesta

Mostly Petrogas 95 unleaded.

Or whatever petrolprices.com says is cheapest.

Unless you've got a turbo and great engine management the high octane fuels give little benefits.

And it was Greenergy, suppliers of Tesco 99 that had the unlucky lambda destroying problem batch

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motoring...ights-thousands

But theiir Momentum99 is nice. I've used it for long motorway trips and get about 3% better economy than 95, but it costs 4% more. I guess my Dignition and MAP sensor help. Only makes sense when I've also got a Tesco voucher to do that.

Anyway here's Shell telling us how to drive with Shell v power nitro+. "3rd gear for 30mph" - they have got to be kidding.

I'll pulse and glide in fifth, unless there's an incline or a queue. Or turn on the cruise control. Or watch the road ahead and the speedo needle. Or have the SatNav make rude noises when speed goes above the zone limit. Anything to use less fuel than driving in 3rd.

http://www.shell.co.uk/gbr/products-servic...xtwithimage_8c6

Here's Fifth Gear report.

http://youtu.be/gQghB4asSnI

Some statistics.

All Polo drivers who have self-selected to record mileage om spritmonitor.de

Gasoline Premium 95

Sample size 430

Litres per 100km

• min 4,34
• average 6,98
• max 11,17

Gasoline Premium 100

Sample size 306

Litres per 100km

• min 4,33
• average 7,28
• max 13,18

Gasoline Normal 91

Sample size 801

Litres per 100km

• min 5,00
• average 7,01
• max 14,26

I'm currently getting 11 miles to the pound in my Cordoba, diesels ftw

11 miles per pound with diesel at 1.40?

approx 58.8 mpg - that's not bad but not fantastic.

I think diesel is 20% higher energy density than petrol.

You need to look on my avatar, I'm not getting as much as 58 out of my old smoker, but I'm not paying 1.40 per litre either :)

I've done 362 miles over the last 2 weeks and only used half a tank in my Tdi... Diesels definitely FTW

My sierra probably does mid 20's, over fuelling diesels FTL

Really should get around to fixing that one day.

my polo used to do a noticeable amount more mpg in everyday driving on tesco 99 than on just normal petrol. This may of had something to do with the management still thinking it was running a 1.4 tho? No idea but I would still have some left on the gauge after my weekly commute, where as on normal fuel I would be playing fuel gauge roulette on the way to work on pay day

My most recent findings..

Asda 95 - poor economy and performance, cheapest to buy but proves costy. False economy.

BP - I won't use it for political reasons. They're always the most expensive, they place that goalpost, they set the standard for others to meet or beat by a penny. I believe it is partially because of BP that fuel is the price it is.

Shell 95 - seems okay. Does the job. No adverse effects.

Shell 97 - car ran like shit on it recently.

Tesco 95 - again, it's fine, does the job.

Tesco 99 - car runs well on it, seems to give the best economy, just seems happiest on it.

Every time I go to get momentum it's no avail, but IIRC the best mpgz I got was on it

Noticed the esso stuff in the mini made it run alot smoother and quieter, MPG was shit anyway so probably didnt improve.

Used the premium esso fuel in the polo once, made it run like shit for a week!

Only heard good things about Tesco Momentum really still need to try it out tbf.

And BP is always 5p or so more than everywhere else just for 95.

People driving standard early Polos should realise their cars were running 91 octane when new. Their engines have low compression ratios and shouldn't see benefit in high octane fuel.

gt's are 95 minimum, says inside the fuel flap

People driving standard early Polos should realise their cars were running 91 octane when new. Their engines have low compression ratios and shouldn't see benefit in high octane fuel.

would probably help alot on a 16v hybrid though!

My Polo gets run on V-Power most of the time. It was mapped on V-Power, seems to like it best (feels torquier when it's using it), and the Shell points card means I get a few quid of free fuel every quarter which makes me happy.

I only ever used 95RON on my old Passat, it didn't seem to care for the high octane stuff. Put three consecutive tanks through to see, got no better fuel economy, switched back to the normal stuff. But that was always run on Shell fuel too, because that's what was local to the office in Peterborough when I was refuelling for a trip to Cardiff. It'd get there and back on one tank with enough to get me to work on the Monday morning.

Interesting one for you - that Ibiza 1.2 TSI I ran as a long termer specifically said in the manual that it wouldn't benefit from high octane fuel. However, I struggled to get over 40mpg on the motorway on 95RON, I could get 44mpg with V-Power. No extra power but tbh the extra economy paid for the extra cost per litre so that's what I used.

Given that I'm now easily getting 60mpg+ out of the Civic 1.6d I've got at the moment, I can't say I'm in a hurry to try the super diesels.

^^ Yeah, i think the choice of fuel used when tuning a car is a critical factor in getting it running right, and that fuel should ideally be used thereafter to maintain that state of tune.

Had loads of differnt brands of fuel in my polo's, but never put high octane in any of them, because as said, was designed to run on 91, so no point in it as it costs more and wont save you anything.

Always used to put Tesco 95 in as it was cheapest and nearest to my house, didnt seem too bad. Then i started using Tesco Express (which is ESSO) and that was noticably better. Car felt a bit smoother, so i stuck with that.

On my travels i have had Shell, BP, Total, sainsburys and Morrisons.

Shell and BP it seems to like, but no shell stations in my area so dont get it very often. BP has recently been cheapest so started filling up there.

Total was fine, as was Sainsburys (not as good as Shell, BP and Esso).

Morrisons on the other hand was awful, car ran noticably worse, rougher idle and felt a bit down on power. I only put it in once as was desperate for fuel and passing it. Never using it again. I'm not the only one that had a problem, i know a few people (both petrol and diesel cars) who said the car ran worse.

I am in the camp that believes supermarket fuels have more biofuel and additives in them. Modern engines are designed to run on fuels full of eco additives, older engines are not.

saying that - iv put esso petrol in my civic Few times and it ha run more smoother and quiter than the bp ultimate!

not tried it in the polo yet.

People driving standard early Polos should realise their cars were running 91 octane when new. Their engines have low compression ratios and shouldn't see benefit in high octane fuel.

92. Depends how you tune it though, Formel E's were set up for 4 star.

In my opinion, the best thing you can do with a carb'd engine is fill it with fuel from one supplier, set it up on that, and keep using the same stuff.

When I was running the mk2, I set it up on Shell. It was fine on Esso, dropped MPG's on Morrisons and Asda and didn't like Texaco at all.

The Skoda is lucky if the fuel it drinks was bought for it, it's currently running on the tank contents of a scrap car that was stood up for a fair few months.

I'm running tesco 99 as it's local and not badly priced... have had 50mpg out of my polo with it before, runs lovely with it. Put tesco 95 in it before, ran like shit, didn't pickup properly, misfired occasionally, just horrible.

You need to look on my avatar ...:)

Ah, I understand, now. I thought SVO was an engine code.

Straight Vegetable Oil - brilliant!

What's wrong with Gay Vegetable Oil anyway?