Which Fuel should I use?

[jetA1]

1 hour ago, Black Grouse said:

 

100 ml of Millers every 1,000 miles costs a fraction of the price differentioal for premium fuel

 

A few years ago while I was gainfully employed and driving a company car (funded by BP ) I did a long term comparison between supermarket, vs BP Ultimate vs supermarket plus Millers. I drove over 5k miles on each option. 

 

There was no doubt that BP Ultimate gave a better mpg than a supermarket fuel., however the improved mpg did not cover the additional cost of buying the premium fuel. Supermarket fuel plus 'Millers' came in between supermarket and premium fuel,  Supermarket fuel never caused a problem but mpg was slightly lower than either premium or fuel with additive.  

 

Having worked in the fuel distribution industry for 30 years my own results were exactly as I expected. 

 

Because of the funding mechanism of my company car I spent many years on the road in the employment of an major oil company but buying all my fuel from supermarket filling stations, the company did not offer an incentive to but their own products. My fuel buying choice was entirely driven by cost and the major oil co (my employer) lost out on my fuel purchase and didn't give a monkeys.....  

[Black Grouse]

16 minutes ago, PandR said:

I may have missed this in one of the replies but my understanding of the v-power type fuels is that they contain more "energy" per litre and that for performance cars, this is indeed noticeable.

 

I didn't think it was about mpg although if there's more energy per litre then that's going to result in an increase of mpg or more importantly the performance of your super-car...

 

 

 

Higher octane petrol "may" release more energy if the engine is tuned to take advantage - modern engines can adapt to some extent but having to cope with EU minimum octane is a disadvantage - raising the cetane rating for diesel doesn't have the same effect.

[PandR]

5 minutes ago, Black Grouse said:

 

Higher octane petrol "may" release more energy if the engine is tuned to take advantage - modern engines can adapt to some extent but having to cope with EU minimum octane is a disadvantage - raising the cetane rating for diesel doesn't have the same effect.

I think you mean "will" release more energy per unit of fuel.

 

It may be possible that some engines will reduce the flow of fuel into the engine although how it would ascertain its energy content I'm unsure. That would negate the extra energy emitted during the "explosion".

 

But still, I think the premium fuel is there for performance, not mpg.

[Black Grouse]

1 minute ago, PandR said:

I think you mean "will" release more energy per unit of fuel.

 

It may be possible that some engines will reduce the flow of fuel into the engine although how it would ascertain its energy content I'm unsure. That would negate the extra energy emitted during the "explosion".

 

But still, I think the premium fuel is there for performance, not mpg.

 

There's no "will" about it - if the engine isn't designed to operate on higher octane fuel, then no extra energy will be created

[xtrailman]

This is an interesting petrol power test.

 

 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, PandR said:

I may have missed this in one of the replies but my understanding of the v-power type fuels is that they contain more "energy" per litre and that for performance cars, this is indeed noticeable.

 

I didn't think it was about mpg although if there's more energy per litre then that's going to result in an increase of mpg or more importantly the performance of your super-car...

 

 

In my experience not the case.

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, xtrailman said:

This is an interesting petrol power test.

 

 

Thanks for that Xtrailman , kind of says it all really.

 

[Stevan]

1 hour ago, AJGalaxy2012 said:

Thanks for that Xtrailman , kind of says it all really.

 

Apart from the "cleans and protects" claim, which would have to be very substantial to be worth the money even over the whole life of the engine! And how many owners ever have a car for the whole life of the engine?

[Les Medes]

Tried a few tankfuls of the premium stuff and fund no difference whatsoever, so for me, a waste of money, 

[Durbanite]

13 hours ago, jetA1 said:

Because of the funding mechanism of my company car I spent many years on the road in the employment of an major oil company but buying all my fuel from supermarket filling stations, the company did not offer an incentive to but their own products. My fuel buying choice was entirely driven by cost and the major oil co (my employer) lost out on my fuel purchase and didn't give a monkeys.....  

Why should they as you were probably still buying their fuel but unbranded. 

3 hours ago, xtrailman said:

This is an interesting petrol power test.

 

 

interesting video however only related to performance.  I would be more interested in mpg and a clean engine.  I am using Esso Supreme and IMHO there is a difference.

[Stevan]

8 hours ago, Durbanite said:

I would be more interested in mpg and a clean engine.  I am using Esso Supreme and IMHO there is a difference.

mpg and performance are inextricably linked, if you get more power at full throttle, you need less throttle (and hence use less fuel) for the same power.

As to a cleaner engine, is this proven and  does this actually make any difference  for an ordinary owner?

[Durbanite]

15 hours ago, Stevan said:

mpg and performance are inextricably linked, if you get more power at full throttle, you need less throttle (and hence use less fuel) for the same power.

As to a cleaner engine, is this proven and  does this actually make any difference  for an ordinary owner?

Admit not sure on the cleaner engine but in our old Jeep there was less smoke on start up.  On the current Jeep it does seem to run quieter.

[Wellys and Mac]

Bought petrol.

Logic was I tow X miles, drive solo XXX miles.

The solo mpg difference between old and new cars, tho not being able to compare like for like is acceptable to me.

50/31 mpg old diesel car solo/tow. 41/24 mpg new petrol car.

 

Havnt done in depth maths, but considering diesel per litre is more than petrol, and if you consider government future green policies the price differential is set to rise even more so, plus  the shear pleasure of driving a sprightly petrol car, I thought sod it, why not. 

My last car was run 100% of its 4.5 years with me on supermarket diesel, no issues with the engine or any components at all, and at this time of year to defrost it I would leave the engine running, so the 42000 miles I put on the clock was only part of the engines story. 

My opinion of diesels now is they are far too complicated in exhaust gas handling, the original idea behind diesel was a simple safe engine was it not? This also influenced my choice to go petrol.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Wellys and Mac

[Wildwood]

I have used mostly supermarket fuels for many years and never had a problem. As Tesco had the nearest low cost petrol it has been mainly that. We do have a regular run with the caravan down to Whitewater parks to visit family and the Tesco gave me about 32 to the gallon, on one trip I used Esso and was surprised to only get 30. No two rips are exactly the same though so that might be part of the problem, but it did surprise me.