What fuel do you use?

Was just looking into what it'd take to run the car on homebrew bioethanol blend (E85) for a year. Something like:

£750 flexfuel kit
£1000 additional "peace of mind" upgrades - uprated injectors, SS lines etc
Approx 16 tons of decaying fruit & veg OR an 1/2 acre of corn
£500 worth of fermentation vessels, plumbing, still, storage vessels etc
£? to get the required waste disposal licences
2 x Big Balls

Could also be good for an additional 15-20whp, although range will be reduced to pathetic levels. Hmm...
 
Bog standard unleaded here in my 2003 3.0; same as I used in my old 640i and 645ci. The only car where high octane fuel made a noticable difference was my old 9-3 Aero which I think was down to it being a) turbo and b) chipped. I've never noticed a difference in n/a engined cars other than maybe a 2-3mpg increase.
 
V power or bp ultimate for me. Whenever I have attempted to work out the difference in cost v mpg it’s always worked out pretty level. It’s mainly the cleaning agents in premium that make me buy it.

There is also a tunnel near the local shell petrol station - maybe that has something to do with it :driving:
 
regular supermarket 95 in my 3.0i. previous owner said to only run it on super - I filled it with Vpower on the way home, then switched to regular 95, with no discernible difference.

recently for a trackday I treated it to some sainsburys super 97, but again, no difference felt.
 
V Power in the Zed and V Power diesel in the daily driver - mainly for the reported cleaning properties and better quality.
 
All petrol has to meet a standard but I always regard that standard as the lowest possible. Premium petrol contains additional additives and cleaning agents than Supermarket petrol so take your choice. You probably wont notice much difference but premium petrol will help engines run cleaner and performance will not dip as much ie carbon build up will be less. Avoid supermarket petrol but use premium standard with the odd tank of super is my motto.
 
Yes, V Power for me too. The local Shell is very convenient for me and I just get a warm fuzzy feeling from treating the old girl to the best :)

I try to justify it by believing the blarb about the cleaning properties and increased power/mpg. Plus I don't do many miles, so it doesn't make much of a difference to me.
 
Chris_D said:
I always us ethe 'marginal gain' argument when this comes up.
i.e. if you're looking for a few extra 10ths at the Ring then maybe 98/super is the way to go.
Otherwise, save your pennies.

A relevant anaelogy; I always laugh at the cyclists here in Holland with the expensive carbon wheels on their €4k+ Pinarello Dogma bikes. They always blast away from me at the lights/bridge/whatever, but I always end up passing them 10km further up the road. Go figure.
:lol:
Click to expand...

Better legs beat better kit every day!
 
As others have said this has been done to death on here and other forums over the years.
As a general rule run I run the highest octane the cars mapped to handle, whether that's from the factory or a remap etc. That gives best fuel economy, performance and smoothness.
In the case of my M54 3.0 both the handbook and fuel filler flap list 91-98 Octane so I always run 99 Octane Tescos Momentum or Shell V Power.
If I had a car mapped to handle no more than 95 Octane then there's no point running super as the extra octane is wasted, you won't get any performance benefit.
I used to run Costco Super Unleaded for a few reasons, 1 it was 99 Octane, 2 Costco fuels are the most additized fuels (cleaners etc) on sale in the UK and 3 it was a great price. Unfortunately a while back they changed suppliers and dropped the Octane to 97, but for anyone interested its still the most additized product on sale in the country, as Costco actually additize their fuels on site which is highly unusual.
I still fill up any diesel cars we own at Costco as their super diesel (they only do super) is the most additized diesel out there and it costs the same as supermarket ordinary derv.
 
Usually Tesco 99 as it’s nearest and the car seems to perform well on it. Last fill up was shell v power nitro and the engine cut out 50 yards from the forecourt when slowing for a crossing.... bad batch of fuel or fussy s54. Has been fine since :?
 
Tesco momentum, shell normal and v-power, BP normal (the ultimate is SO expensive) and also Asda.
Always use my own additives (archoil and millers).
Personally I think the car favours BP. Never really noticed a difference with v-power and only ever had a problem with Tesco normal (used to misfire once in a while).
 
I have a local esso garage and use their high octane and for good reason.

This makes very interesting reading (if you have the time) and explains why esso high octane is a good choice if you intend to keep your zed for years.

https://armchairbiker.com/ethanol-in-petrol-what-classic-bikers-need-to-know/
 
Davz said:
I have a local esso garage and use their high octane and for good reason.

This makes very interesting reading (if you have the time) and explains why esso high octane is a good choice if you intend to keep your zed for years.

https://armchairbiker.com/ethanol-in-petrol-what-classic-bikers-need-to-know/
Click to expand...
It's interesting...if you have one of the non-compliant makes (which were all bike manufacturers). The only thing I'd be a little worried about from that link is older cars/bikes with carb engines, or cars left standing for long periods (my dad's got a few 50s/60s Triumphs & BSAs).

BMW have stated that all their vehicles are compatible with E5/E10 blends (and EU law states that all cars manufactured after 2011 must be able to run on E10). Germany has had E5/E10 for a lot longer than the UK, so I assume the German manufacturers were ahead of the regs anyway.

BMW said:
All petrol engine BMW models are cleared for the use of E10 petrol regardless of their year of manufacture but the minimum octane required should be observed according to the owner’s manual.
Click to expand...

However BMW do not recommend E15 fuels for cars at all, and says not to use it at all in pre-2012 vehicles.
 
Davz said:
I have a local esso garage and use their high octane and for good reason.

This makes very interesting reading (if you have the time) and explains why esso high octane is a good choice if you intend to keep your zed for years.

https://armchairbiker.com/ethanol-in-petrol-what-classic-bikers-need-to-know/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, I also run a classic car from the 80's so Ethanol is a big problems for the jets etc. I'll continue to fill it with Esso Supreme then :D
 
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