Posh Petrol - Is it worth it?
Discussion
I am sure this has been debated before but I have done a search and nothing obvious came out.
Posh petrol such as BP Ultimate in a 3 litre engine. Does it make *any* difference for day to day driving?
Personally I suspect it makes no difference but I have been filling up with premium for years now based on the £5 a tank difference being beer money and that it won't do any harm. I am now considering spending it on beer.
Thoughts?
Posh petrol such as BP Ultimate in a 3 litre engine. Does it make *any* difference for day to day driving?
Personally I suspect it makes no difference but I have been filling up with premium for years now based on the £5 a tank difference being beer money and that it won't do any harm. I am now considering spending it on beer.
Thoughts?
I've been using these fuels for years in various modern cars, they work full stop. I can tell within a mile if my wife fills her car with the low octane cheap stuff.
Spend the extra and take no notice of the penny pinching mithers that tell you otherwise.
100% it makes a difference.
And you'll get some/all of the extra money back in improved economy.
Spend the extra and take no notice of the penny pinching mithers that tell you otherwise.
100% it makes a difference.
And you'll get some/all of the extra money back in improved economy.
I've used it in various different cars noticing a difference each time. I have a BMW m5 and it simply will not run on ordinary unleaded so i tend to put full tanks of optimax in all the time or if i cant then super unleaded. Wait until the car is nearly out of fuel, then fill it up with a full tank of super, disconnect the battery for a couple of minutes and reconnect. This will usually reset your ecu and and will adapt to the new higher octane fuel i think then you'll notice the difference. This is especially apparent with import cars from Japan where their typical octane rating for fuel over there is 110 RON compared with our 95 cheapo fuel here.
andy3781 said:
I've used it in various different cars noticing a difference each time. I have a BMW m5 and it simply will not run on ordinary unleaded so i tend to put full tanks of optimax in all the time or if i cant then super unleaded. Wait until the car is nearly out of fuel, then fill it up with a full tank of super, disconnect the battery for a couple of minutes and reconnect. This will usually reset your ecu and and will adapt to the new higher octane fuel i think then you'll notice the difference. This is especially apparent with import cars from Japan where their typical octane rating for fuel over there is 110 RON compared with our 95 cheapo fuel here.
If only.It's 100 octane.
Still, even that makes enough of a difference to warrant engine compression changes from JDM to UKDM vehicles.
Don't some UK garages sell 102 octane?
M engines*: designed to run on 97/98 octane and will operate with reduced economy and performance if run on 95
All other BMW engines: designed to run on 95 octane and probably get a very marginal increase using 97/98, but IMO this will not represent good value for money
* maybe Alpinas too?
All other BMW engines: designed to run on 95 octane and probably get a very marginal increase using 97/98, but IMO this will not represent good value for money
* maybe Alpinas too?
Edited by john_p on Thursday 20th January 10:45
I have a 2.2i Z4 and it definitely makes a difference with the super-unleaded stuff. It revs smoother, feels a little faster (not much) and sounds a lot better.
I had been running only super-unleaded for the past six months, then for the past three weeks I went back to the normal stuff. Car doesn't feel or sound as nice, and there does not seem to be any difference in cost per mile as the super-unleaded always gives me more the tank (upto 2-3 mpg more, pretty much whatever driving style is used).
On a longer dual carriage way type trip, with some city driving, a full tank of the normal stuff gives me 320 miles max, whereas the other gives me 350-360 miles.
Even on B-road thrashes, the consumption is better.
I am definitely going back to the super unleaded after this tank. I wanted to switch back to make sure that I wasn't imagining it being better.
I keep track of all the expenses using the RoadTrip app.
I had been running only super-unleaded for the past six months, then for the past three weeks I went back to the normal stuff. Car doesn't feel or sound as nice, and there does not seem to be any difference in cost per mile as the super-unleaded always gives me more the tank (upto 2-3 mpg more, pretty much whatever driving style is used).
On a longer dual carriage way type trip, with some city driving, a full tank of the normal stuff gives me 320 miles max, whereas the other gives me 350-360 miles.
Even on B-road thrashes, the consumption is better.
I am definitely going back to the super unleaded after this tank. I wanted to switch back to make sure that I wasn't imagining it being better.
I keep track of all the expenses using the RoadTrip app.
sinizter said:
I have a 2.2i Z4 and it definitely makes a difference with the super-unleaded stuff. It revs smoother, feels a little faster (not much) and sounds a lot better.
I had been running only super-unleaded for the past six months, then for the past three weeks I went back to the normal stuff. Car doesn't feel or sound as nice, and there does not seem to be any difference in cost per mile as the super-unleaded always gives me more the tank (upto 2-3 mpg more, pretty much whatever driving style is used).
On a longer dual carriage way type trip, with some city driving, a full tank of the normal stuff gives me 320 miles max, whereas the other gives me 350-360 miles.
Even on B-road thrashes, the consumption is better.
I am definitely going back to the super unleaded after this tank. I wanted to switch back to make sure that I wasn't imagining it being better.
I keep track of all the expenses using the RoadTrip app.
Bear in mind when going back "up the way" it will take a few tanks for the ECU to relearn for the higher octane fuel. Alternatively (as suggested above) disconnect battery and ECU will be reset to standard (assuming set to 97/98 originally).I had been running only super-unleaded for the past six months, then for the past three weeks I went back to the normal stuff. Car doesn't feel or sound as nice, and there does not seem to be any difference in cost per mile as the super-unleaded always gives me more the tank (upto 2-3 mpg more, pretty much whatever driving style is used).
On a longer dual carriage way type trip, with some city driving, a full tank of the normal stuff gives me 320 miles max, whereas the other gives me 350-360 miles.
Even on B-road thrashes, the consumption is better.
I am definitely going back to the super unleaded after this tank. I wanted to switch back to make sure that I wasn't imagining it being better.
I keep track of all the expenses using the RoadTrip app.
Maybe my senses aren't as fine tuned as some on here.
As a rule I run my M5 on Shell V Power, but on occasions when I haven't been able to get V Power or other super unleaded, I've filled it up with normal 95 RON and to be honest, I haven't noticed the slightest bit of difference.
It doesn't feel any slower, seems to run just as smoothly, and the MPG isn't affected enough that I've noticed.
As a rule I run my M5 on Shell V Power, but on occasions when I haven't been able to get V Power or other super unleaded, I've filled it up with normal 95 RON and to be honest, I haven't noticed the slightest bit of difference.
It doesn't feel any slower, seems to run just as smoothly, and the MPG isn't affected enough that I've noticed.
md23 said:
sinizter said:
I have a 2.2i Z4 and it definitely makes a difference with the super-unleaded stuff. It revs smoother, feels a little faster (not much) and sounds a lot better.
I had been running only super-unleaded for the past six months, then for the past three weeks I went back to the normal stuff. Car doesn't feel or sound as nice, and there does not seem to be any difference in cost per mile as the super-unleaded always gives me more the tank (upto 2-3 mpg more, pretty much whatever driving style is used).
On a longer dual carriage way type trip, with some city driving, a full tank of the normal stuff gives me 320 miles max, whereas the other gives me 350-360 miles.
Even on B-road thrashes, the consumption is better.
I am definitely going back to the super unleaded after this tank. I wanted to switch back to make sure that I wasn't imagining it being better.
I keep track of all the expenses using the RoadTrip app.
Bear in mind when going back "up the way" it will take a few tanks for the ECU to relearn for the higher octane fuel. Alternatively (as suggested above) disconnect battery and ECU will be reset to standard (assuming set to 97/98 originally).I had been running only super-unleaded for the past six months, then for the past three weeks I went back to the normal stuff. Car doesn't feel or sound as nice, and there does not seem to be any difference in cost per mile as the super-unleaded always gives me more the tank (upto 2-3 mpg more, pretty much whatever driving style is used).
On a longer dual carriage way type trip, with some city driving, a full tank of the normal stuff gives me 320 miles max, whereas the other gives me 350-360 miles.
Even on B-road thrashes, the consumption is better.
I am definitely going back to the super unleaded after this tank. I wanted to switch back to make sure that I wasn't imagining it being better.
I keep track of all the expenses using the RoadTrip app.
.I use BP Ultimate diesel .... more because it apparently has 5 times the cleaning agents of normal diesel than for any power increase ... though BP do make claims it increases power.
FWIW I always used V Power of Tesco 99 in my petrol cars - and noticed the car ran smoother and I got 20-30 extra miles out of each tank.
FWIW I always used V Power of Tesco 99 in my petrol cars - and noticed the car ran smoother and I got 20-30 extra miles out of each tank.
cheddar said:
Those contributors achieving '20 - 30 miles' more per tank on premium fuel are getting nearly 10% improvement. That offsets the outlay and then some.
The rate of return seems to improve as prices go up - as the price differential remains the same [ 3p (Sainsburys) to 6p (Shell) ] over standard, the percentage of price increase decreases.Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff