Premium fuel - Yay or Nay?

Poll Poll Do you use premium fuel?

  • Yes

    Votes: 94 77.0%

  • No

    Votes: 28 23.0%
  • Total voters
    122
F

Felixlamb

Member
Hi all,

How many of you guys use premium fuel (e.g. Shell V-Power etc.)? Do you think it's worth the extra cost?

Used to use the bogstandard Sainsbury's stuff in mine, then talked to a few guys at work who convinced me to go to the expensive fuel. Winced when I saw how much more it was! Anyway... I've been using Shell V-Power for the past 2ish months and I can't say I've really felt any improvements. Maybe I get an extra few miles per tank, but that could just be confirmation bias.

Obviously appreciate that there may be benefits if you remap, which I'm looking to do in the future, but is it really worth it on a stock car?

Need to fill up tonight on my way home from work, and considering moving back to the normal fuel because of this. So... Convince me either way! :fuelfire:

Cheers
 
Hi felixlamb
I was under the same conclusion, I’d had the car for a few months, tried the premium stuff , didn’t really think it made much difference, recently had it re mapped , the guy that did it asked what I run it on . Told him I’d tried both but couldn’t tell the difference, it was HIM that said definitely run it on premium....
been a couple of weeks now, I don’t know what it would have gone like with normal petrol, just went with he’s recommendation
 
Depends if turbo or non turbo.
Higher octane is a slower burning fuel so probably not much benefit in non turbo cars, although i do get more predictable pops in the exhaust in my 23i. Everything is a slight difference, cheap unleaded, branded then super all yield slightly better results, but 10p a litre extra on a regular basis not sure.
 
It is difficult to prove one way or the other. Being retired and not doing a big mileage I use the premium on both cars. What I have noticed is that the exhaust pipes seems cleaner. Were I doing bigger mileages and changing the cars regularly I don’t think I would pay the extra price of the premium fuel.
 
Imran from Evolve told me to use super unleaded, as well as giving a bit more mumbo it’s supposed to clean the combustion chamber/valves etc as an added incentive :driving:
Rob
 
Nay.
My 35is I use standard unleaded. No remamps or anything like that. It runs lovely, no pinking and purrs along perfectly. I get the cheapest I can, normally Morrison's. Been doing this for two years. She runs a beaut, no issues whatsoever. Goes like s**t off a shovel from low down. I *did* run it on premium for first few - ten or so - tankfuls. But then went on to standard and I can tell no difference to warrant £7 per tankful more.

Premium fuel is a placebo effect and BS in my opinion, certainly for cars in this class. No offence. I am not trying to convince anyone to change their habits and if you prefer premium then go for it. But that's my opinion based on my objective experiences and the OP asked for peoples opinions. That's mine.
 
To some extent I think we are all conditioned to think if we pay more we will get something better and it isn’t always the case that we do! :|
 
I have started using Shell V Power but after a 3 or 4 tankfuls I can't see any difference but I'd like to think it's doing the engine internals some good. Honest John always recommends premium fuel, it must be for a reason other then visible performance. I don't know maybe I will change my mind and go back to normal :?
 
Its all the Placebo effect .....ran one of my other cars on Shell Premium for a solid 15 months then for a 12 month on any old fuel .............cant say i noticed a difference .
 
im sure premium is better for the car, but its not better for the wallet, the old chestnut says you get more to the gallon with better fuel which MIGHT be true on a journey, but here in traffic light /road hump city it still get zero to the gallon at the lights
myth busting below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8L-X89duEs
 
I generally use branded standard fuel.
Occasionally treating my car to a tank of ‘Super’.
Afraid I can’t tell any difference and prefer to spend my saving on some fuel system cleaner.
 
If i run super unleaded in the motorbike, it seems a tad more powerful but feels rougher, but cleaned all the crap out and blocked some jets in the carb. If i run unleaded it runs smoother and less vibration. Once ran some Esso unleaded, it ran like a dog.
 
As I only do a a few thousand miles a year in the Zed I always use V Power. For 90% of the time there probably isn't any difference but it's a fact that higher octane will allow more ignition advance under load without tinkly pinky pre-ignition noises, particularly in hot weather. But If I did more miles I couldn't justify it.
 
Premium fuels i.e. higher octane are actually less flammable than low octane fuels and this gives them a distinct advantage.
When the air in the cylinder is compressed it gets hot, very hot. A low octane fuel in a high compression engine is more likely to start 'burning' before the spark plug ignites it, this is called pre-ignition or knocking/pinking.
When you use a higher octane fuel the ECU starts to learn over the course of a few tanks full that it can advance the ignition timing slightly as the fuel will not prematurely ignite. If the fuel is ignited earlier it is giving more power as it is inside the cylinder longer. This will give a tiny increase in power on its own. It also makes the combustion chamber run hotter and therefore cleaner.
Probably more importantly premium fuels have better and more detergent additives that are of great benefit and worth the money.
My 35i is exclusively run on high octane, every last 25% of a tank has a shot of injector cleaner added and every month I run two tins of petrol EGR cleaner through it to try to keep the inlet valves as clean as possible..
 
I have always used the best fuel I could get for my good engines. And the N52 qualifies without question.
PS; don't take your best girl to a cheap restaurant. :P
 
It only gets low mileage so I put V power in. I’m considering changing to tesco’s Momentum for the clubcard points though :)
 
Momentum or V Power only for me. Used to be Costco until they dropped it from 99 to 97 Octane
 
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