Best Petrol To Use

[Sian]

Hi all,

I was at the petrol station this weekend to fill the MR2 myself for the first time.  I'd gone to Tesco on autopilot as I used bog standard cheap unleaded for my Punto.  Stood at the pump I then realised it would probably be wiser to use better fuel.  It had the option of unleaded or something called Momentum 99.  I wasn't entirely sure what this is (is it unleaded petrol?!) and didn't want to put the wrong stuff in so just went with basic unleaded as I needed something to keep it going.

That then got me thinking even further, should I be going to a branded petrol station like Shell or Esso rather than a supermarket?

Money is not an issue as I'd rather look after the car, and if certain fuels can improve performance then that's a bonus!

What petrol would you recommend to keep the car happy?

[onion86]

Tesco Momentum is 99 RON unleaded as apposed to 95 RON regular unleaded fuel - V-Power is 98 RON and BP Ultimate is 97 RON. In a standard car you can pretty much use anything, you 'might' find you get better MPG with the premium fuels, but you most likely won't. They are also supposed to be a bit cleaner and/or have more beneficial additives for your engine, so that's got to be a good thing. Unless you've got a piggyback / standalone ECU that's mapped specifically to a higher octane fuel there's no real reason to use anything specific though.

I've been using Momentum recently to flush out the old stuff for my upcoming turbo conversion (which benefits from the higher octane) and I'll be using that going forward as I did in my old turbo.

Some people say fuel from a specific supermarket has messed up their car, over the years I've used it from everywhere and can't really see any differences. Personally 90% of the time I use Tesco bog standard 95 RON, with the other 10% being Asda/Morrisons or whatever is at a service station.

My best MPG this year (41) was with Asda bog standard, my last fuel up was Momentum (5p more per litre) and only got 32.8.

[Ardent]

Shell v power here.
I've always found any car i have runs better on it.
Not saying faster. Just smoother and a few more mpg.

[Essex2Visuvesi]

My old RX8 would run badly on Morrisons fuel. Was fine on pretty much anything else.
I usually put run a tank of the "good stuff" every 4th fill up. When the turbo is completed I will run exclusively on BP Ultimate/V-power

[lgriffiths]

I thought the 2 with standard ECU was mapped for RON95, making the other stuff a bit pointless?

http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=42806

I might be wrong, its not my area of expertise.

[m1tch]

Use the fuel the car is mapped for, currently using standard Esso 95 at the moment, when I go the turbo route I will probably go Shell V power but have used the Tesco 99 RON in the past - but that's only as the car would be mapped for it.

[shnazzle]

Ron won't make a lick of difference on the stock car.
It's the cleaning additives which make it worthwhile to me.

On a mapped car, definitely makes a difference. I had the advance a bit high once and put in some fuel from a dodgy station somewhere in Yorkshire. It did not end well.
Had to add a massive amount of additive to get it to run properly.
Then I turned down the advance  s:) s:)

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

[keljon]

always used tesco 99 on all my performance cars

[Bossworld]

Got 48MPG on ding day using bog standard Morrisons fuel.

[keljon]

yeah no point on a standard car

[Sian]

I have no idea what an ECU is, let alone what it's mapped to. The car is standard so I'm guessing normal unleaded is fine for it then. I will probably give it Tesco Momentum just because I hear it's better quality. Although it's probably some marketing lie! At least I know I don't need to worry if I put normal stuff in it. Thank you all

[Ardent]

Tiff
Ecu electronic control unit. The management system for the cars functions.
Tesco 99. Has a higher ron rating, but that is not the same as better quality.
If quality of fuel is the primary goal. I still say shell.
The best thing is to try for yourself and make your own judgement.

[Essex2Visuvesi]

Tiff
The best thing is to try for yourself and make your own judgement.

In that case Pepsi max is probably better for you  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Topdownman]

The 5th gear video clip on youtube tests about 6 different fuels in the lab and on the track. An interesting watch.

(I use ordinary unleaded myself).

[Ardent]

As the saying goes.
You pays your money and takes your choice.

[2 of the left]

When the Super markets' petrol stations fouled up a few a few years back - Supplying dodgy fuel - I changed to Shell !! and went for V Power - I found I was getting a sweeter sounding engine - So I stayed with Shell, the higher grade - Now getting 39-40 mpg out of both my 2's - My Blue is 15 years old - My Sable is 13 years!!

[2 of the left]

But there is nothing wrong - should there be no choice, at a filling station, to take the lower grade!!

[1979scotte]

Stock car I would use cheapest but maybe once a month go for Shell Vpower Nitro which has the best cleaning properties and is now 99 RON I believe.

[Sian]

Maybe I will go with Shell v power then, at least give it a try. I don't have a long commute or anything so the price difference will be negligible.  I will just try things then now I'm confident putting 'normal' stuff in it won't do any harm.

[nimrod]

I use Redex more frequently now, as it seems to run that much better with it.

[rich_p]

There was a similar thread over on Celica club debating the pros cons and placebo effects of premium fuels. There wasn't a great deal of evidence to back up any improved  performance or mpgs in the 1zz or 2zz engines in standard form, it's all subjective and variable on driving style.
 However there was evidence of better engine protection coming from the supercharged owners with much lower levels of engine knock detected with high octane fuels. For long while I'd already been using V-power (and collecting points!) but I do feel a lot better using it knowing there's a clear benefit in engine protection, more so as these cars love revs.
 An average full up is probably £5 more expensive, which is something I can live with.