Unleaded: standard versus premium

[lacroupade]

Interesting report that suggests Tesco 99 octane beats BP and Shell...at least in modern cars that can advance timing against fuel performance.

[makeitfit]

Ah, shant bother in the daughter's Herald 13/60 then

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

does performance differ much in rioters' petrol bombs?

[lacroupade]

Originally Posted by makeitfit

Ah, shant bother in the daughter's Herald 13/60 then

yeah its a pisser isn't it...I'll be draining the Micra and going back for a refund LOL

[jw2106]

dont know if you will find this relavent but i drive a petrol tanker for a living and load at a few refinerys and oil terminals around the midlands mainly stanlow at ellsemere port... this is owned and operated by shell ,,but and big but here all other companys bp,chevron(texaco) etc as well as supermarkets and other smaller operators haul out of same so this is all shell's fuel....so think is it really true when one fuel is said to be better than another ...I now this happens alot around the country..

[lacroupade]

Originally Posted by jw2106

dont know if you will find this relavent but i drive a petrol tanker for a living and load at a few refinerys and oil terminals around the midlands mainly stanlow at ellsemere port... this is owned and operated by shell ,,but and big but here all other companys bp,chevron(texaco) etc as well as supermarkets and other smaller operators haul out of same so this is all shell's fuel....so think is it really true when one fuel is said to be better than another ...I now this happens alot around the country..

well one of the things I've heard is that most of the difference is down to the addition of additives by each company...but not sure when that would happen. I have to say theres enough evidence of both benefits and problems to say there must be a difference but what it is I'm buggered if I know!

[ClanWolf]

I've seen variations of this question & replies for a while now, and as a far from expert, the only opinion I have comes from running a 520bhp 2.6l twin turbo for a few years, plus a strange piece of advice I saw an Aussie 4x4 forum (which I promptly forgot to bookmark).

I did and do not use standard petrol. In the Skylines, it was just not a good idea. In the T2, aforementioned Aussie forum mentioned that the 2.4i ptrol engines 'seemed to prefer' premium fuel.

With empirical testing, hypersensitivity to engine noise/behaviour from driving a stupidly highly tuned car as a road car etc, here's the ClanWolf absolutely-not-guaranteed guide to premium fuels I have used.

Sainsburys' 97 - Mak's favourite fuel. Smooth running. And 'feels better'.

Esso 97 - If I cannot get Sainsbury's.

Shell V-Power (or whatever they're calling it these days) - Good stuff but price markup makes it poor against most 'usual' premium.

Tesco 99 - should be good stuff, but all my Nissans just seem to run 'rougher' - if I were characterising my cars, they "just did not like it".

Texaco 97 - On par with Esso if you can find the stuff.

BP - Bloody expensive and only acceptable if no better options available. Which means about anything except Tesco 99 or V-Power.

[Deleted account DD]

Originally Posted by lacroupade

well one of the things I've heard is that most of the difference is down to the addition of additives by each company...

Reliable sources tell me thats the case at the different etablishments near us, trust me we have a few