Esso's new fuel

[Jasonn]

I've seen that Esso have now released a 99 RON fuel to compete with v-power and momentum - it's supposed to be 'ethanol free' in some locations.

Has anybody tried it yet? I've just filled up with sainsbury's 97 RON as I ran way too low and couldn't get to my local Shell (spoiler alert - its crap)

 

[Danglesberries]

At 27p per litre more than their standard unleaded fuel at my local Esso station, it needs to be good

 

[Mr Tidy]

Ouch - that sort of premium is why I don't use V-Power very often!

Luckily I'm only a mile from a Tesco and their Momentum is only a few pence dearer than regular unleaded so my car usually drinks that.

 

[Busterboo]

At 27p per litre more than their standard unleaded fuel at my local Esso station, it needs to be good

27p a litre? :dizzy:

 

[enuff_zed]

At 27p per litre more than their standard unleaded fuel at my local Esso station, it needs to be good

27p a litre? :dizzy:

Are you needing that in gallons old-timer oke:

 

[Jasonn]

I am a little wary about using Tesco fuel after the time that they had that contaminated batch (I had a colleague who's car ended up requiring repairs as a result).

I know that momentum is 99 RON, but does anyone know if it has detergents in it? I noticed that after a few tanks of shell v-power the car seems much more responsive (a one off fill doesn't do anything).

Esso's 97 RON seems OK (definitely better than sainsbury's 97 RON).

Worst I've ever used was Morrison's 95 RON (BP's 95 RON was way better).

Anybody else noticed the same? I thought that the RON is supposed to be consistent across the brands

 

[Smartbear]

I am a little wary about using Tesco fuel after the time that they had that contaminated batch (I had a colleague who's car ended up requiring repairs as a result).

I know that momentum is 99 RON, but does anyone know if it has detergents in it? I noticed that after a few tanks of shell v-power the car seems much more responsive (a one off fill doesn't do anything).

Esso's 97 RON seems OK (definitely better than sainsbury's 97 RON).

Worst I've ever used was Morrison's 95 RON (BP's 95 RON was way better).

Anybody else noticed the same? I thought that the RON is supposed to be consistent across the brands

Tesco momentum does have detergents along with all other super unleaded fuels to my knowledge, different fuels behave in different ways according to how the RON is obtained - if there’s a high ethanol content it’s not as good for economy for example.
Rob

 

[Busterboo]

BMW and I recommend 95 RON.

:worshipbmw:

 

[jabber]

I have used Tesco fuel for my cars for at least 6 years and have never had any problems

 

[Argyll Andy]

I have used Tesco fuel for my cars for at least 6 years and have never had any problems

Me too for 15 yrs + as it’s the only option and I’ve never had any issues either. They don’t sell anything other than standard 95 RON unleaded and diesel. Nearest premium fuel is probably 70 miles, nearest Shell 85 miles. (Each way)

 

[Chris_D]

No benefits to be gained whatsoever with anything higher than 95RON, especially if you don’t have a high compression engine.

 

[buzyg]

No benefits to be gained whatsoever with anything higher than 95RON, especially if you don’t have a high compression engine.

Indeed, do the E89 engines improve their performance on higher Octane petrol? I have know idea just asking..

Certainly the S54 needs it in the E85 M's but what other Z4 engines are designed specifically to run better on the higher Octane fuels?

 

[montymoore]

If the fuel has a higher octane you WILL get more MPG the question is really how much and is it worth it. When I had a Cayenne S with 4.5l V8 higher octane fuel 99Ron gave me 5% better MPG but cost more than 5% more but i still bought it as I liked the idea of higher octane and some cleaning agents. But TBH probably not really worth it. I do put premium petrol in my z4 now but that is me just being "nice" to the car!!

 

[Smartbear]

No benefits to be gained whatsoever with anything higher than 95RON, especially if you don’t have a high compression engine.

Indeed, do the E89 engines improve their performance on higher Octane petrol? I have know idea just asking..

Certainly the S54 needs it in the E85 M's but what other Z4 engines are designed specifically to run better on the higher Octane fuels?

Forced induction engines will benefit from super unleaded, especially remapped cars that sail closer to the edge.
So n20 & n54 engined e89’s, the n52 versions won’t really gain.
Rob

 

[Danglesberries]

At 27p per litre more than their standard unleaded fuel at my local Esso station, it needs to be good

27p a litre? :dizzy:

Are you needing that in gallons old-timer oke:

Absolutely no idea what you're talking about 'old-timer'? Oddball.

 

[enuff_zed]

27p a litre? :dizzy:

Are you needing that in gallons old-timer oke:

Absolutely no idea what you're talking about 'old-timer'? Oddball.

Obviously, as my comment was addressed to Buster. Oddball 2.

 

[R.E92]

It's nice to have another option aside from just VPower and Momentum but the price makes it useful only as a last resort.

There's no benefit in using higher octane fuel unless tuned though. Both the N20 and N54 engines in their standard state will operate at maximum output on any standard petrol. There's no method by which the engine can produce more power with the increase octane, it can only reduce output when the fuel quality is bad.

 

[Conrod]

I see that this is an E89 board thread, and I'm curious as to whether there's a difference in BMW's fuel recommendations between the M54 and N52/N54 engines. I say this because my E85 2.5i/3.0i driver's handbook states the following:

"The engine of your BMW is designed to run on Super Plus/premium plus petrol - octane number 98 RON. Run the engine on this petrol by preference, in order to achieve rated performance and fuel consumption. You can also run the engine on premium grade unleaded petrol - octane number 95 RON. The minimum permissible grade is regular-grade unleaded petrol - octane number 91 RON."

I'm by no means an expert on BMW ECUs, but my general take on higher octane fuels is this.

The ECU for a normally aspirated engine equipped with knock sensors can handle fuels with lower octane levels by retarding the ignition timing - so if the engine starts to pink/knock, the sensors pick this up and the ECU retards the ignition. Many petrol cars stipulate 95 octane fuel, in which case it's possible that the ECU map limits ignition advance to that appropriate that octane level, and thus won't gain any advantage from 98/99 octane fuel over 95. That would explain why many people report no perceptible performance improvement with 98/99 octane fuel.

However, from the above handbook reference I deduce that the E85/M54 ECU will indeed advance the ignition timing to take full advantage of 98/99 octane fuel. It's also conceivable that it can take further advantage of higher octane fuel by using the VANOS system to make adjustments to the valve timing.

Again, I'm no expert - just my 2p's worth!

It's nice to have another option aside from just VPower and Momentum but the price makes it useful only as a last resort.

There's no benefit in using higher octane fuel unless tuned though. Both the N20 and N54 engines in their standard state will operate at maximum output on any standard petrol. There's no method by which the engine can produce more power with the increase octane, it can only reduce output when the fuel quality is bad.

 

[Danglesberries]

Exactly, and at 20% more than standard fuel, waste of money!!

 

[john-e89]

It's nice to have another option aside from just VPower and Momentum but the price makes it useful only as a last resort.

There's no benefit in using higher octane fuel unless tuned though. Both the N20 and N54 engines in their standard state will operate at maximum output on any standard petrol. There's no method by which the engine can produce more power with the increase octane, it can only reduce output when the fuel quality is bad.

Point taken. So what in your opinion or professional opinion is the point of higher octane fuel...? Genuine question, not a sarcastic post as it may seem to be given it’s through a keyboard and not face to face.