Esso Super Unleaded change.

Esso Super Unleaded change.

Author
Discussion

courty

402 posts

78 months

Friday 31st July 2020
quotequote all
It will be a shame if Esso add ethanol to their premium unleaded. Some classics need 97ron fuel or higher and presently Esso are the only provider to guarantee 0% ethanol in their e5 97ron fuel. The less ethanol the better for carburettered engines...

TheAngryDog

12,409 posts

210 months

Friday 31st July 2020
quotequote all
jamoor said:
Is there any production cars sold here that need such petrol? The only car I've ever had was a swift sport that recommended 97 all the others have been 95.
My car recommends 98, but runs on 95. I fail to see the benefits however of running my car on 95 when it will lose power, so it gets Momentum.

courty

402 posts

78 months

Friday 31st July 2020
quotequote all
What is the ethanol content of your fuels?
The majority of unleaded 95 Octane petrol sold in the UK contains up to 5% ethanol as required under the Government’s Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO).

There is currently no requirement for renewable fuel (such as ethanol) to be present in super unleaded (97 grade petrol).

Esso super unleaded petrol (Synergy Supreme+ Unleaded 97) is ethanol free (except in Devon, Cornwall, the Teesside area and Scotland). We would therefore advise anyone who has concerns about the presence of ethanol in petrol to use Synergy Supreme+ – providing they do not fill up in Devon or Cornwall, the Teesside area or Scotland.

Our Synergy Fuels:

Diesel
Supreme+ Diesel
Unleaded
Supreme+ Unleaded

Rojibo

1,730 posts

78 months

Friday 31st July 2020
quotequote all
Great news! Switched to Esso since vpower started adding ethanol, I think it's the last super unleaded in the UK to have no ethanol? It's good stuff.

Happy Jim

970 posts

240 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
courty said:
It will be a shame if Esso add ethanol to their premium unleaded. Some classics need 97ron fuel or higher and presently Esso are the only provider to guarantee 0% ethanol in their e5 97ron fuel. The less ethanol the better for carburettered engines...
? The “e” in e5 97 Ron is a good clue that a 0% Ethanol guarantee isn’t correct ;-)

Jimmy Recard

17,540 posts

180 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
Happy Jim said:
? The “e” in e5 97 Ron is a good clue that a 0% Ethanol guarantee isn’t correct ;-)
The Esso website says that it depends on area. In Scotland, Teesside, Devon and Cornwall there will be ethanol in Esso 97 RON, elsewhere there will be none

Matthen

1,295 posts

152 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
Jimmy Recard said:
Happy Jim said:
? The “e” in e5 97 Ron is a good clue that a 0% Ethanol guarantee isn’t correct ;-)
The Esso website says that it depends on area. In Scotland, Teesside, Devon and Cornwall there will be ethanol in Esso 97 RON, elsewhere there will be none
If it's marked as E5, it has ethanol in it.

Jimmy Recard

17,540 posts

180 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
Matthen said:
If it's marked as E5, it has ethanol in it.
I don’t know if it is, just what the Esso website says

Ron99

1,985 posts

82 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
donkmeister said:
Oddly, the 98-RON map came in with the 280bhp Vectra VXR
That's 100hp/litre where 98 octane began to be recommended.

Most turbo-petrol engines now make at least 100hp/L but manufacturers recommend 95.
That puzzles me.
It also makes me wonder whether a lot of the modern downsized turbos would run better on 98+.

If the 'performance' Vectra's 2.8 with 100hp/L has to hold back when using 95, what has changed so much that means mainstream engines such as the Ecoboost can now run 140hp/L on 95?

Evanivitch

20,126 posts

123 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all

Matthen said:
If it's marked as E5, it has ethanol in it.
That's not true. It can contain upto 5% (in certain regions, as per their website). It could contain none. For the sake of national labelling consistency, it's all E5 even though some doesn't contain any.

ging84

8,916 posts

147 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
Jimmy Recard said:
Matthen said:
If it's marked as E5, it has ethanol in it.
I don’t know if it is, just what the Esso website says
Don't think E5 is strictly 5% ethanol, but rather 5% biofuel which is usually ethanol.
This maybe has bio methanol instead, which is slightly better but still not ideal.

Evanivitch

20,126 posts

123 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
ging84 said:
Don't think E5 is strictly 5% ethanol, but rather 5% biofuel which is usually ethanol.
This maybe has bio methanol instead, which is slightly better but still not ideal.
No, it's defined as Ethanol. The diesel B7 is a more generic "bio diesel" label.

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

225 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
jamoor said:
Is there any production cars sold here that need such petrol? The only car I've ever had was a swift sport that recommended 97 all the others have been 95.
Most have knock sensors and will only perform to bhp and mpg specs if running 98 or higher, they will take 95 but they retard the timing.


jamoor

14,506 posts

216 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
Most have knock sensors and will only perform to bhp and mpg specs if running 98 or higher, they will take 95 but they retard the timing.
But only the cars that have been specified to 98 surely?

Falconer

299 posts

51 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
Jimmy Recard said:
Matthen said:
If it's marked as E5, it has ethanol in it.
I don’t know if it is, just what the Esso website says
E5 means MAXIMUM 5% ethanol.

donkmeister

8,203 posts

101 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
jamoor said:
gizlaroc said:
Most have knock sensors and will only perform to bhp and mpg specs if running 98 or higher, they will take 95 but they retard the timing.
But only the cars that have been specified to 98 surely?
Exactly this. If the timing isn't going to be advanced beyond the point where 95-ron is suitable, you won't see any more power from using 98-ron.

98-ron has a lower energy density, so the "more mpg" trope doesn't make sense to me when people talk about using super in a car mapped for 95-ron.

Edited by donkmeister on Saturday 1st August 11:43

Falconer

299 posts

51 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
I’ve always avoided Esso 97 (and BP) in my Subaru , it never seems to run as good as Momentum 99, which I would say is as good as V power.
Most the time I use Sainsbury’s 97 which seems fine but at odds with the experience of Esso and BP.
(Someone is going to tell me Sainsbury’s is Esso or BP).

aeropilot

34,666 posts

228 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
jamoor said:
Is there any production cars sold here that need such petrol?
Loads.


aeropilot

34,666 posts

228 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
courty said:
It will be a shame if Esso add ethanol to their premium unleaded. Some classics need 97ron fuel or higher and presently Esso are the only provider to guarantee 0% ethanol in their e5 97ron fuel. The less ethanol the better for carburettered engines...
Yes, this is the worry that this increase is the result of them moving their SUL to 10% ethanol.


gizlaroc

17,251 posts

225 months

Saturday 1st August 2020
quotequote all
donkmeister said:
Exactly this. If the timing isn't going to be advanced beyond the point where 95-ron is suitable, you won't see any more power from using 98-ron.

98-ron has a lower energy density, so the "more mpg" trope doesn't make sense to me when people talk about using super in a car mapped for 95-ron.
List some cars manufactured after 1996 that don't have knock sensors and don't benefit from 98ron?