What fuel do we all use?

[Stivino]

There's nothing wrong with the fuel, it's the bools in his heid rattlin'.

[AndrueC]

49 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I do wonder if there is something up with your engine Tony; The hybrid engines should not need E5 to avoid knocking!

I don't think there's any uncertainty about it. I've been filling up with Tesco's cheapest fuel since I bought the car and it's always run sweet as a nut. I'll repeat what I posted previously:

This is not a fickle, high-performance sports car that we're discussing. Toyota's Corolla is just a typical personal vehicle. It is designed and tested to run on whatever comes out of a petrol pump. Any Corolla that is sensitive to the brand or type of petrol put into it has something wrong with it.

[Cyker]

Not necessarily - It might just be that Tony's more sensitive to his vehicle than most - I got a lot of doubt on here back in the day when I was telling people that there was a was a noticeable difference between normal diesel and Shell V-Power diesel on my old Mk1 D4D (It ran noticeably smoother, but lost a bit of low-down torque), and initially just put it down to most people just not having the same levels of mechanical sympathy. In that case it was very engine specific, as I tried some in my dad's 1CD-FTV-equipped Corolla Verso and it made no noticeable difference  

 

It could also be he doesn't mean actual knocking, but the same sort of difference my Mk4's very dakka-y 3-pot makes between Esso E0 Super and pretty much anything else (Even Shell V-Power, which is just as dakky as the usual supermarket fuel I use!). It's only a small difference but it's enough for me to notice, esp. when the car is charging the batter when I'm not moving. (I still need to try Esso's super again to see if it makes any difference now they've started putting ethanol in it, and I still haven't tried BP anything - I figure there must be a reason people use them despite them being way more expensive than any one else, but I'm too tight to bring myself to pay so much extra  ).

 

But I do think it might be something worth checking - I think that's the highest mileage car out of any of the regulars on here!

[TonyHSD]

I think there is some sort of misunderstanding here.
I am not talking about power, high performance, bhp increase, turbo engines etc. I am only after smooth, quiet and efficient drive, and when I push to accelerate to be alive and not a dead horse. 
 I know my car better than anyone else. I have it long time and I know the behaviour well.,mit has been the same for years. 
The knocking can be indeed as a result of carbon buildup on top of pistons as the car burns oil and it’s old and high mileage. However this what I am experiencing with engine knocking on cold starts is not just with Tesco e5 but also with Tesco e10 from the same garage and it was happening  from time to time long ago 2016-2018 with other garages, even before the e10 standard and when the car was newer., so no carbon buildup. The same site I noted back in 2012-2014 when u was driving Priuses, same drive trains. 
Some petrol may not content the right amount of additives that helps prevent engine knocking and on those certain conditions cold starts for example the engine is idling at higher rpm and I sense misfire and following knocking, similar to when egr is blocked, but not as pronounced or loud, just slightly less obvious and is only within first 15-20 seconds. 
Using local bp or Tesco potters bar either e5 or e10 from these two garages does not cause these events and engine starts and shuts smoother, which means there is a difference between the different fuels. I know one place in north London that the petrol is cheap and every time I filled up there there were nasty knockings so I have stopped and I will stop going to my Tesco too. 
My point is that the cheap petrol is cheap for a reason. 👍

[Stivino]

The old adage, "when you are in a hole, stop digging" keeps springing to mind when I read this thread.

[Roker]

On 10/14/2023 at 7:54 PM, Bernard Foy said:

Well guys lucky are you lot, I don’t have a choice it’s E10 or nothing. I’ve tried all different sellers of petrol and in Ireland as far as I know it’s Hobson’s choice. Maybe other members in other parts of Ireland can chime in if different.

I'm in Ireland also and don't have a choice e10 only, we also have different brand names to UK, I tend to stick to the well know brands like Texaco, circle K, Total. I thought the ECU adapted to the fuel but apparently not

I have notice my mpg has gone down from 63 to 53 mpg unfortunately I cannot remember where I filled up last

[TonyHSD]

Another week of using e5 from bp and no knocking noises at cold. One morning stopped at my local cheap Tesco to top up from half to full and the evening cold start knocking again, slightly less as it was only half tank Tesco e5. Then bp e5 next day half tank to full and no issues. Nothing wrong with the car but definitely there is something going on with cheap supermarket fuels. Last night half tank e10 from Shell and no trouble. We will see later tonight and from now on will be doing mixture of e5 and e10 from bp and sometime Shell, esso, texaco. 

[Cyker]

On 11/4/2023 at 7:49 PM, Roker said:

I have notice my mpg has gone down from 63 to 53 mpg unfortunately I cannot remember where I filled up last

That might just be the cold; Mine's dropped a 4-5mpg since it started getting colder.

I had the car serviced a bit ago and my mpg absolutely tanked again, but I think it's because they just leave the car on and running for the entire time it's in the service bay...!

 

[Bozz]

I've run mine on Jet E10 from new with no issues mainly because the filling station is within 10 miles of where I live and its cheap. Currently 146p ish per litre. However decided to push the boat out at the weekend and filled it with Tesco 99 E5 before a long run and I'd like to say that it runs smoother and quieter but I can't honestly tell the difference apart from in my wallet of course.

[dannyboy413]

I am like @Roker - no choice but to use E10. 95% of the petrol I put in is a brand called 'Circle K', (used to be called 'Topaz' until they sold out about 7 years ago), and I have noticed that my mpg has fallen by about 10% lately, (69ish down to about 63 mpg), but I have put that down to the drop in temperature over the last month or so. 

[TonyHSD]

Now second tank on Shell 95 e10 and the car drives better than my local cheap Tesco any fuel from there. No engine knocking at cold starts and all is good plus not much noise from e10 alike before, performance is also great if not even better than e5 99 Tesco. It seems like cheap fuels aren’t any good plus fuel quality varies between different garages different fill ups. I am not going to my local cheap Tesco anymore just because of these cold start knocking which actually only happens when I have petrol from this particular garage. Most others no issues. 

[Eddiefh]

I know this tread isn’t about this but I find branded fuel cheaper than supermarkets at the minute , got some bp 10 p cheaper yesterday than local supermarket garages 10 miles apart , for e10 

Edited November 14, 2023 by Eddiefh

[Cyker]

Funny you should mention that; I went past a Texaco that was 1p cheaper than my usual supermarket lot on the way to work; Ducked in on the way home to fill up  

 

[bazza121]

On 11/4/2023 at 4:39 PM, TonyHSD said:

I think there is some sort of misunderstanding here.
I am not talking about power, high performance, bhp increase, turbo engines etc. I am only after smooth, quiet and efficient drive, and when I push to accelerate to be alive and not a dead horse. 
 I know my car better than anyone else. I have it long time and I know the behaviour well.,mit has been the same for years. 
The knocking can be indeed as a result of carbon buildup on top of pistons as the car burns oil and it’s old and high mileage. However this what I am experiencing with engine knocking on cold starts is not just with Tesco e5 but also with Tesco e10 from the same garage and it was happening  from time to time long ago 2016-2018 with other garages, even before the e10 standard and when the car was newer., so no carbon buildup. The same site I noted back in 2012-2014 when u was driving Priuses, same drive trains. 
Some petrol may not content the right amount of additives that helps prevent engine knocking and on those certain conditions cold starts for example the engine is idling at higher rpm and I sense misfire and following knocking, similar to when egr is blocked, but not as pronounced or loud, just slightly less obvious and is only within first 15-20 seconds. 
Using local bp or Tesco potters bar either e5 or e10 from these two garages does not cause these events and engine starts and shuts smoother, which means there is a difference between the different fuels. I know one place in north London that the petrol is cheap and every time I filled up there there were nasty knockings so I have stopped and I will stop going to my Tesco too. 
My point is that the cheap petrol is cheap for a reason. 👍

All the petrol comes from the same refinary and storage tanks its just that some retailers have higher profit margins for the same product, its just mind over matter people think that the petrol is different because u pay more at a different petrol station, you could not be further from the truth.

[Cyker]

The base stock is, but the extra you're paying for is for the additive packages and branding basically. I don't know if the more expensive stations pay better wages to their staff tho'.

I will say Shell, BP and Esso tend to have better maintained equipment and cleaner shops generally. Texaco seem to suffer on the equipment side; The one I went to still had mechanical counters on the pumps and the one I used also had a big dent in it  

[Mushu84]

For myself I use Jet or Esso E5, good fuel economy, and especially at Jet the price difference is so small is not worth buying the cheap one. Good fuel economy for both cars, I can feel the quality in the fuel on the old one especially as the E10 is not her friend.

In the old one I can fell when is on the e10 as in the mornings is very sluggish when cold that doesn't happen on the e5 

I believe the engine probably are not affected that much from the e10 as I had a Rav4 Hybrid at work that was filled only with e10 for 3 years and no issues for 50k but as I can fell a slight in how the car runs and a little better economy difference that for me will do so I will stick with e5 

[TonyHSD]

16 hours ago, bazza121 said:

All the petrol comes from the same refinary and storage tanks its just that some retailers have higher profit margins for the same product, its just mind over matter people think that the petrol is different because u pay more at a different petrol station, you could not be further from the truth.

I don’t think so. It’s not about money or mindset, it’s all about how the car drives. 
Majority of drivers can’t feel any difference between any petrol, even between different cars. For them it’s a just a car and just a petrol. For me it’s not.
Any car that I know we’ll I can sense difference in driving performance, engine noises and acceleration. And in some cases it’s not the more expensive petrol better one, it’s actually the opposite. And there are differences between same petrol type, same garage, same price , just different deliveries. 
People says - “ I have been using cheap petrol for many years and no issues at all” , I also been using cheap petrol for many years too, not always but sometimes when no other option and this is how I know there is a difference. I also never had any further problems except cold start knocking and lack of acceleration plus buzzing noise from the engine, enough reasons to avoid this cheap or e10 fuels. 

[Oscarmax]

The only time I have noticed a real difference is when towing our 1500 kg caravan E10 10% worse fuel consumption.

[Rhymes with Paris]

I get that Tony, the "feel" of a car or bike that you are used to tells you if it's happy.

I well remember the days of carburettors and pre electronic ignition,by that I mean points and plugs and one coil, as no doubt many on here do too.

I noticed even back then, the difference when driving in cool humid weather ie " heavy" oxygen rich air, and thin hot weather air.

Although we don't have many mountains here in Lincolnshire 😉 , which would make a big difference to air density.

But yes, I nowadays do notice the difference in my ridiculously powerful Yaris using the e5 best petrol I can find.

 

 

[tfc]

Cheapest I can find, usually Costco .

[Rhymes with Paris]

There used to be a petrol station attached to a cash and carry round here.

Which indeed was the cheapest at the time.

30 odd pence a gallon, not a litre, cost around £3 to fill the Anglia.

There however was a choice of 2,3 or 4 star leaded , which if I remember related to the price.

5 star, which was if you had an e type,or interceptor was the reserve of Esso or Shell.

But it didn't stop young, idiots like me buying it, employing magical thinking , that high octane petrol would result in a Morris minor or an Anglia performing like an expensive car.

Modern petrol however does make a difference IMO,as always buy the best you can.

[Bper]

19 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

There used to be a petrol station attached to a cash and carry round here.

Which indeed was the cheapest at the time.

30 odd pence a gallon, not a litre, cost around £3 to fill the Anglia.

There however was a choice of 2,3 or 4 star leaded , which if I remember related to the price.

5 star, which was if you had an e type,or interceptor was the reserve of Esso or Shell.

But it didn't stop young, idiots like me buying it, employing magical thinking , that high octane petrol would result in a Morris minor or an Anglia performing like an expensive car.

Modern petrol however does make a difference IMO,as always buy the best you can.

Paul, my old Anglia was even cheaper, you could fill it up to the brim for nothing when it rained.