Unleaded Verses Super Unleaded

[ian rooke]

Hi just on a whim I have been running my Gen3 Prius on super unleaded, most of my journeys at the moment are 6/8 miles,

on unleaded I was getting 60.4 to the gallon on super unleaded this has increased to 65.6 so not a bad increase going on holiday soon

so will see if there is a improvement on my best motor-way fuel consumption of 65 mpg . Seems to have a little more pep as well

[acetip]

Hi just on a whim I have been running my Gen3 Prius on super unleaded, most of my journeys at the moment are 6/8 miles,

on unleaded I was getting 60.4 to the gallon on super unleaded this has increased to 65.6 so not a bad increase going on holiday soon

so will see if there is a improvement on my best motor-way fuel consumption of 65 mpg . Seems to have a little more pep as well

hi

no doubt you had some ordinary unleaded in your tank when you filled up so you were not getting the the full

benifit of the super.

after a few fills super you could improve your consumption evan further.

keep us posted on results.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

So does it work? Is it worth paying extra for the 98 octane stuff or does it make no difference?

I have used it on other cars in the past where they had knock sensors and adjusted to the higher octane. Does the Prius do this?

[timberwolf]

Yes, the Prius has a knock sensor.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I'll give it a go next time I'm able. I go through a tank in around 3 days so it shouldn't take long for me to work out if it's beneficial.

[Phoenix999]

mmmmm very interesting.... I wonder if my Avensis would benefit in the same way I have the 2000cc engine in mine

[Chris Dance]

Two different dealers have advised me that using super unleaded is unnecessary and has no significant benefits. This advice was given for my ex Toyota Avensis and my current Prius Gen 2. My son uses super unleaded in his RAV4 but not in his Prius.

[Jan&tone]

A couple of years ago Tesco's had a problem with their fuel so I used BP super for a month which was supposed to give greater mileage.... 3 tank fulls in my at the time 05 avensis 2.0 t-spirit and it made no difference at all - whether I hadn't got rid of all the Tesco's gogo juice I don't know, but for the extra cost it didn't seem worth the effort.

My Prius get's between 58 and 62 mpg from Tesco's cheap stuff so I'm content.

[timberwolf]

With my Honda Civic, I noticed an improvement with using regular Shell petrol, so when I got the Prius I carried on using it. Whether it is worth the extra money, I've no idea, but I don't like queuing for a pump, and most of the supermarket petrol stations around here seem to have longer queues.

[Ancient Nerd]

With my Honda Civic, I noticed an improvement with using regular Shell petrol, so when I got the Prius I carried on using it. Whether it is worth the extra money, I've no idea, but I don't like queuing for a pump, and most of the supermarket petrol stations around here seem to have longer queues.

I always use Shell if possible (just the basic stuff). In my experience, it gives the best economy and is usually as cheap as most supermarkets.

I tried the posh stuff for a few tanks with the previous Gen II, but it made no difference whatever compard with the regular.

[Fluffmeister]

I tried a couple of tanks of V-Power in the Prius and on the second tank there was a small improvement in MPG according to Fuelly. I could not "Feel" any difference though so not worth the extra imho. I only use Shell fuel as it's the same price as the supermarket's in Warrington. when I was a petrol head in a previous life there was a marked difference, my old Mk2 Octavia vRS for example felt like it was wading through treacle on 95 Octane unleaded, but it was mapped for V-Power and it ran very well on that.

Even with the knock sensor and VVT ICE on the Prius, I don't think you would see the advantage in super unleaded. If a car is mapped and setup for it, there is definately a marked improvement in performance.

[Trafficman]

I (by mistake - started and then thought sod it) put 38litres of tesco super in my Gen III a month ago. Slightly more pep but worse mpg.

Interesting posts about Shell - my other car Avensis 2.0L auto Tourer does 10% more miles on ordinary cooking Shell than on anything else.

[Doesn'tExist]

In my experience it works on certain type of cars, but on others where engine management is a bit clever it doesn't do much...Heck my former BMW 750 could easily on the dilluted eastern European stuff...It really didn't matter what you put into it, it just changed the engine management....Whilst on a highly tuned Golf 1.8T my wife had it made a huge difference in performance.....On my current diesel pickup truck it severly reduces soot, and I get about an 1.5mpg extra....So it all depends....Also the price varies enormously a few weeks ago my local Shell had a difference of 4p...Now it is 12p...At 12p I can't say I get an noteable advantage out of it.....At 4p definitely worth considering....

I did buy a quattro yesterday to replace my pickup, whilst still waiting for my wife's Prius to arrive on 1/9...nearly there finally never waited so long on what is quite a common car..., and as the tank was on reserve I did treat it to BP Ultimate and will do for the next few weeks as lets say the previous owner wasn't the most of spirited drives and I wonder what those poor little valves look like :-)

[ian rooke]

Hi back of holiday and the petrol situation is as follows

Super unleaded is 7% dearer than unleaded so

normal fuel consumption in town 60.4 +7% equals 64.6 achieved 65.6 so just worth it

best fuel consumption on run 65 +7% equals 69.55 achieved 69 (with 3 lardies(50 stone) in car plus luggage)so maybe worth it if on my own

so in my case just worth doing but is it worth the effort, don't think so, must try the new Shell petrol same price as unleaded but better consumption

according to the advert.

[kevin h]

Hi back of holiday and the petrol situation is as follows

Super unleaded is 7% dearer than unleaded so

normal fuel consumption in town 60.4 +7% equals 64.6 achieved 65.6 so just worth it

best fuel consumption on run 65 +7% equals 69.55 achieved 69 (with 3 lardies(50 stone) in car plus luggage)so maybe worth it if on my own

so in my case just worth doing but is it worth the effort, don't think so, must try the new Shell petrol same price as unleaded but better consumption

according to the advert.

You know, its not all down to fuel type, its also driving conditions.

On my commute to work I can get between 65 and 75 MPG depending on weather, traffic flow and charge in the Battery at the beginning of the journey.

I don't think you have proved anything.

[ian rooke]

Hi not trying to prove anything just giving out information which some may find informative , my journey to work can be timed to within a few minutes and its length is the same every time

so for me there is a improvement in fuel consumption which is just offset by the cost of the fuel some may find no improvement some may find a larger improvement, this information is to help people

make a decision on what fuel to use.