Standard Or Super Unleaded ?

[chenks]

i've been running my t-sport on BP super unleaded since day 1 (occasionally Shell v-power when no other option).

with the price going too silly these days, will i notice any difference by just using standard unleaded BP or Shell? (i know tesco is a bit cheaper but i've never really trusted supermarket petrol).

[lethal89]

Why would you take BP over V-Power when V-Power is 99RON and BP Super Unleaded is 97RON.

The whole point of using the super unleaded is its more refined and has a higher RON rating so with normal unleaded on 95RON i'm sure you'd notice a big difference.

I noticed on the fuel cap of my compressor there is a sticker which says 98RON only hence why i've only used BP super once

[chenks]

mines is not a compressor, just a t-sport.

reason why BP is that there are 2 BP's within stones throw away from my house. Shell is 6 miles away.

at 7p a litre cheaper, is it a big enough difference to justify 7p extra per litre ?

[-T- Sport]

I've always found mine to be a lot more sluggish with normal unleaded.

I suppose your only real way of finding out is filling up with standard when empty :P You could always spend a few extra pennies at a local accessory store and buy a can of Octone Booster.

I myself am sticking with V-Power, I know the price is rediculous but hey-ho.

[chenks]

does it not take a few tanks before the engine re-calibrates itself?

just wondering if 1 tank of normal unleaded would actually generate any results ?

ironically, the v-power 6 miles away is 120.9p and the BP right next to me is 125.9p

[-T- Sport]

Possibly, But a lot of people syat hey feel it going sluggish right away.

Mine felt crap after I just put £15 of normal in it once when the light was on. Felt so much smoother and responsive when I went back to V-Power. The V-Power here is currently 120.9p too. Which is supprising as the further south you go, the dearer it tends to get!

[butterman]

i've been running my t-sport on BP super unleaded since day 1 (occasionally shell v-power when no other option).

with the price going too silly these days, will i notice any difference by just using standard unleaded BP or Shell? (i know tesco is a bit cheaper but i've never really trusted supermarket petrol).

I used Shell V power for about a month and could certainly tell the difference. Accelaration seem to be just that bit more smoother. But the most noticeable difference was when hitting lift - you could really feel the kick :)

I have now gone back to Sainsbury's super-unleaded (rumoured to be the same as BP Unleaded) and while I can't really tell the difference in normal driving, Lift seems to be smoother and seemless than before.

[orcrist_1986]

Why would you take BP over V-Power when V-Power is 99RON and BP Super Unleaded is 97RON.

The whole point of using the super unleaded is its more refined and has a higher RON rating so with normal unleaded on 95RON i'm sure you'd notice a big difference.

I noticed on the fuel cap of my compressor there is a sticker which says 98RON only hence why i've only used BP super once

Both BP and Shell are 97RON, the only supplier of 99RON is Tesco :P

I have run my car on 95RON, 97RON and 99RON and found no noticable difference, the only way your going to tell a difference is if your car is mapped to a higher RON rating (e.g. JDM Spec, or remapped)

Hope this helps

[cayman]

Why would you take BP over V-Power when V-Power is 99RON and BP Super Unleaded is 97RON.

The whole point of using the super unleaded is its more refined and has a higher RON rating so with normal unleaded on 95RON i'm sure you'd notice a big difference.

I noticed on the fuel cap of my compressor there is a sticker which says 98RON only hence why i've only used BP super once

Both BP and Shell are 97RON, the only supplier of 99RON is Tesco :P

I have run my car on 95RON, 97RON and 99RON and found no noticable difference, the only way your going to tell a difference is if your car is mapped to a higher RON rating (e.g. JDM Spec, or remapped)

Hope this helps

No! Shell V-power is definitely 99RON. Check their website. I sometimes use 102RON from BP when I go tracking!

Depends on how long you wish to keep the car. The more expensive petrol contain addictives that help to get rid of rubbish inside your engine. So even if you are not aftering power gain, the odd tankful or so every month is going to do your car some good!

Its a bit like waxing your car every month!

[skipper215]

cayman,

Where do you get the 102RON from?

[cayman]

cayman,

Where do you get the 102RON from?

There aren't any in the NW.

BP 102 is only available down South---usually near a racing circuit like Silverstone

[nrgizerbunny]

just to put a few things to rest.

if you buy regular unleaded from ANY petrol station, it will almost certianly come from the nearest refinery. if you are down south its fawley (Esso), Pembroke (Total), Coryton (PetroPlus). If you are in the north or Scotland it'll come from Stanlow (Shell), Humber/lindsay (Conoco/Total) or Grangemouth (probably on strike).

Regular unleaded no matter where you buy it, is just base stock with the manufacturer's additive in it. ie if you go to my local Shell station, it is conoco/total fuel with shells proprietry additive package in it to give you the cleaners etc.

The ONLY exception to this is, V Power. This comes from Stanlow and it is distributed all over the country direct from Shell. If you really need 100RON then get this, its regularly over 100+ RON. The BP stuff isn't quite as good.

[bigfiiish]

Hey Guys,

You probably will recognise the difference in petrol straight away when filling, or very shortly after. I can tell which petrol is in my CTS (non compressor) by driving it every time. Its a bit of a running joke in my family, dad takes the car down to the garage and fills it - and im able to tell him every time whether hes used normal or super unleaded. So apart from that joke fill every now and again i run on super without fail. Have been for well over a year now.

The RON - research octane number is is the classification of the octane content of the fuel, using super over normal (97 over 95) gives you those 2 extra RON points. However what you dont see is that because the Super unleaded has been more precisely and completely refined it has a higher MON -motor octane number. This MON number is the octane content of the fuel which is actually used during the combustion process in your engine. The Super unleaded will have a much higher MON rating than the standard petrol, so its a greater increase in MON than there is in RON. Which is why the Super will always have a noticable increase in performance. So where super only has 2 RON points over standard, the MON may be several points higher.

Its definately noticable in our cars, but it will be much more pronounced in a turbo charged car.

Out local Mr T garage said that they even had a few people having pinking problems with their compressors using 97 RON super - so if you can get decent juice boys and girls id definately use it.

[OldSkoO1]

fuel is defiantly a very important part of engine health.

you will notice a difference - the fuel burns cleaner, has additives to reduce particles and improves lubrication. It will help but i doubt the performance will be night and day in a t-sport.

The injection will be cleaner and more distributed so pickup maybe slightly improved but straight line performance is probably minimal.

Performance from higher RON is more noticeable in something like a scoobey or m3.

Fuel companies NEVER let out what goes in fuel, tests are subjective. But once a Shell employee who wouldn't say what the differences where in fuels admitted that he only ever fuelled up with vpower.

[nrgizerbunny]

The RON - research octane number is is the classification of the octane content of the fuel, using super over normal (97 over 95) gives you those 2 extra RON points. However what you dont see is that because the Super unleaded has been more precisely and completely refined it has a higher MON -motor octane number. This MON number is the octane content of the fuel which is actually used during the combustion process in your engine. The Super unleaded will have a much higher MON rating than the standard petrol, so its a greater increase in MON than there is in RON. Which is why the Super will always have a noticable increase in performance. So where super only has 2 RON points over standard, the MON may be several points higher.

this is ballcocks. the "octane content" is nothing more than a measure.

Higher octane number means more resistance to self ignition, it will take a higher temperature (Pressure) to ignite the fuel air mixture, more compression = more power.

you can get the same effect by adding 30ml acetone to yr fuel, the octane number will go up.

[SCOOB_81]

The RON - research octane number is is the classification of the octane content of the fuel, using super over normal (97 over 95) gives you those 2 extra RON points. However what you dont see is that because the Super unleaded has been more precisely and completely refined it has a higher MON -motor octane number. This MON number is the octane content of the fuel which is actually used during the combustion process in your engine. The Super unleaded will have a much higher MON rating than the standard petrol, so its a greater increase in MON than there is in RON. Which is why the Super will always have a noticable increase in performance. So where super only has 2 RON points over standard, the MON may be several points higher.

this is ballcocks. the "octane content" is nothing more than a measure.

Higher octane number means more resistance to self ignition, it will take a higher temperature (Pressure) to ignite the fuel air mixture, more compression = more power.

you can get the same effect by adding 30ml acetone to yr fuel, the octane number will go up.

I looked into adding acetone myself mate, but tried to convince my mam to use it in her Micra rather than mine! :D I work in a lab, so there's gallons of the stuff about.

I have always found that I get almost the exact same milage with super as with regular 95 ron, on say £20 of petrol. You obviously get a bit more petrol with the price of 95 ron, but on a full tank I'd expect to get far further on super, so the cost per mile averages out in my experience. So I always use V-Power for a weeny bit more umph! :D

[caen fred]

I put E85 and it's driving fine, thank you...

[bigfiiish]

The RON - research octane number is is the classification of the octane content of the fuel, using super over normal (97 over 95) gives you those 2 extra RON points. However what you dont see is that because the Super unleaded has been more precisely and completely refined it has a higher MON -motor octane number. This MON number is the octane content of the fuel which is actually used during the combustion process in your engine. The Super unleaded will have a much higher MON rating than the standard petrol, so its a greater increase in MON than there is in RON. Which is why the Super will always have a noticable increase in performance. So where super only has 2 RON points over standard, the MON may be several points higher.

this is ballcocks. the "octane content" is nothing more than a measure.

Higher octane number means more resistance to self ignition, it will take a higher temperature (Pressure) to ignite the fuel air mixture, more compression = more power.

you can get the same effect by adding 30ml acetone to yr fuel, the octane number will go up.

Ok calm down..

Im not a chemist, but my uncle was for BP for about 30 years. So I may not know the correct terminology for discussing the make up of petro-chemicals but the facts are the same. Yes, the Research octane number is just a measure - no one's disputing that- thats true, but thats why the MON exists. What ever way you want to say it the Motor Octane Number is the "real world" "useable" whatever you want to call it, figure that will effect your the combustion of the fuel in your engine. And there is a much large MON in Super unleaded fuel than in Standard unleaded.

[Hogie]

I been running my car on 95 since i got it cause that's all i can normally get in Ireland, but since iv been in the UK iv been putting in v power first and then tried a tank of bp ultimate. Things iv noticed with the ultimate is the idle is better, smoother. It more responsive low down in the rev range but havnt noticed an difference in the lift but round London its hard enough to find a spot to test it properly. Only really the motorway.

In response to the original question on normal fuel there is a small difference but not much, its not like you will damage the car by putting it in. If i was doing lots of motorway miles i wouldnt bother with the fancy stuff but when im driving round town i like having the extra little bit.

[bigfiiish]

I been running my car on 95 since i got it cause that's all i can normally get in Ireland, but since iv been in the UK iv been putting in v power first and then tried a tank of bp ultimate. Things iv noticed with the ultimate is the idle is better, smoother. It more responsive low down in the rev range but havnt noticed an difference in the lift but round London its hard enough to find a spot to test it properly. Only really the motorway.

In response to the original question on normal fuel there is a small difference but not much, its not like you will damage the car by putting it in. If i was doing lots of motorway miles i wouldnt bother with the fancy stuff but when im driving round town i like having the extra little bit.

Hey Hogie,

Thats exactly the same improvement i feel in mine. Smoother idle and general engine feel, bit sharper on the gas, especially low down, dont really feel much difference in the upper RPM range but thats probably because im having too much fun (or am hanging to the wheel) and have forgot to look for it :D

If the prices keep skyrocketing may have to change back to "Semi Skimmed" petrol again, but for mow going to stick with "Full Fat" BP Ultimate.

G