More Fuel You (N/A Rev 5)

[Shifty6Speed]

Hi all... Firstly, i know this has probably been done to death over the years and yes I HAVE used the search function but to little gain...

Basically, to my understanding 98+ron (or any super unleaded) will have no gains or benefits in an N/A. Am i correct?

Is there absolutely no point putting super unleaded in an N/A, even for keeping the engine cleaner and burning more efficiently or is that all down to the way the ECU is mapped too?

Will the performance be exactly the same with standard supermarket crap in it?

Will it not thank me for driving it hard with cheap fuel or am i better sticking to "super" if i have a heavy foot?

I'm sure there will be varied opinions but thanks in advance for any sensible answers

[Nick]

I watched an episode of fifth gear where that annoying woman did a side by side test of loads of fuels and the out come was the gains were so small it wasn`t worth the extra £`s paying for premium petrol but if you did v power was best .

Cant do links yet so add the 3 x w to the front

.youtube.com/watch?v=WTaBngvsPrc

[Shifty6Speed]

I watched an episode of fifth gear where that annoying woman did a side by side test of loads of fuels and the out come was the gains were so small it wasn`t worth the extra £`s paying for premium petrol but if you did v power was best .

Cant do links yet so add the 3 x w to the front

.youtube.com/watch?v=WTaBngvsPrc

Cheers bud! Yeah, i remember seeing that vaguely... The thing is i hear so many horror stories about morrisons and asda's fuel economy and performance that i just detest putting it in my tank...

[danjama]

Personally i don't use tesco or asda unleaded, unless i absolutely have to, but i do use normal unleaded from shell/bp. I have absolutely nothing scientific to base this on though. My reasoning is flawed, but i just don't trust the supermarkets to fuel my car.

[bri0905]

You know they don't refine their own fuel don't you???

They just bulk buy it from the big companies such as BP, Shell, etc.

Tesco fuel is just as good as any other, but cheaper.

[Tsia]

Personally i don't use tesco or asda unleaded, unless i absolutely have to, but i do use normal unleaded from shell/bp. I have absolutely nothing scientific to base this on though. My reasoning is flawed, but i just don't trust the supermarkets to fuel my car.

The guys over at GT4OC did a rolling road test a while ago with the different fuels, Tesco Momentum came out on top. I use it all the time as it's cheap enough to cope with and seems to run nice and smoothly for me.

Edit : With a turbo, not an NA

[Shifty6Speed]

You know they don't refine their own fuel don't you???

They just bulk buy it from the big companies such as BP, Shell, etc.

Tesco fuel is just as good as any other, but cheaper.

Yeah, i know the fuels come from the same refineries, a family friend of ours worked for a major uk refinery for nearly 20 years! He saw the introduction of supermarkets with garages and the grade of additive they used in many cases met BS standards but as far as the engine was concerned protection wise, was far from acceptable... The core fuel is exactly the same stuff, but the additive packages they use (Morrisons being the worst and Asda close 2nd) is far from being as good as the brand names. He only retired earlier this year and from what he's said after chatting to him this morning, i wouldn't touch it with a barge pole... He did make mention of Tesco coming out on top of all the supermarkets using much better additives than the others, probably hence why they're usually a penny or two dearer than the others where i live...

[John145]

From my experience...

Shell > Tesco > BP > Local garages/other supermarkets

I am, tbh, genuinely happy to use Tesco 98 ron fuel, find the MR2 (NA) loves it!

[Loque]

No matter how many times people tell me it's the same stuff going into the supermarket fuel pumps as it is to the 'proper' fuel pumps, one simple fact remains.

My car occasionally refuses to start on Asda fuel. It doesn't do this on Shell/Texaco/DP/Esso etc.

[Charged]

I put V Power in my NA Corolla for the first time last night and it is a little smoother to drive, dont know or care about extra power. I'd usually only use Super in my Turbo but I thought I'd run a tank and see if I get any better MPG.

[Draven]

Never put anything other than 98 Tesco fuel in my Tubby.

[Charged]

Never put anything other than 98 Tesco fuel in my Tubby.

99?

[Rogue]

We've done some fuel testing with an MR2 Championship car (particular car had a revision 3 normally aspirated engine and UK ECU) - including fuel additives that are illegal in the racing series such as Millers CVL. In each case, in order to take advantage of the increased resistance to knock afforded by the higher octane rating we had to advance the base ignition timing.

The short answer is that yes, there is more power to be had out of a higher octane fuel with the standard ECU, but you have to increase the base ignition timing in order to get it.

We race on Tesco Momentum or Shell V-Power.

[synXero]

What was involved with changing the timing; could it theoretically be done for a road-car if you limited yourself to only ever using V-Power?

[danjama]

How much more on average is the Tesco Momentum stuff?

Might have to give it a try then if it's so good!

Interesting that the markets buy from the same refineries. Did not expect that.

[asdrewq]

I thought Tesco 99 had a higher % of ethanol in its composition, which can cause problems in certain older cars.

[Shifty6Speed]

I've used 1 full tank of tesco momentum so far and i've not found it as good as esso for miles to a tank etc... Then again, i've been doing different journeys on different roads and different amounts of "around town" so i can't fairly judge that one yet...

[madbasshunter]

What was involved with changing the timing; could it theoretically be done for a road-car if you limited yourself to only ever using V-Power?

My rev3 came with the timing advanced 10 deg I have only ever run it on vpower.

[cosmos]

A friend told me the Nissan 3000zx fraternity avoid Tesco Momentum so perhaps it does'nt suit all !!

[Magic Beans]

I've primarily used Momentum since I got my '2, mainly due to availability of V Power local to where I live. I've not had anything but positive results from it, including over two engine stages and mapping sessions.

To be honest I've never noticed a difference when using one premium fuel over another, after trying them all. I'd personally never use anything less than 97 octane on an MR2.