99 RON fuel

[Idlewild]

I'll repeat, it's all the same stuff, tested to the same standards. If you wanted to keep fooling yourself that you're doing the right thing, feel free. BP's marketing team thanks you.

 

FYI, most Bosch wiper blades are made in China

Edited June 3, 2017 by Idlewild

[DJMC]

My wife's 9 month old BMW X1 threw an alert today "Drivetrain warning - power may be reduced - contact service partner". She returned home and I called BMW emergency services. 30 minutes later a mature technician arrived. He'd been with BMW for 17 years and they also held contracts previously for Porsche, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin. He'd worked on a lot of exotica, not least his own series one E-Type with it's own octane issues and solutions.

 

The problem was the BMW's EGR valve. Carbon deposits most likely. He ran a cleaning program but that didn't solve it so removed the EGR on my drive and cleaned it. "Are you using supermarket fuel?" Yes, I said. "Well, the supermarkets add sulphur to boost the octane rating and this assists the build up of carbon deposits. Shell, Texaco, and BP don't do this but instead double refine their fuels. If you switch to one of these you'll find you'll not have an issue with this type of problem."

 

I could judge that this chap wasn't spouting forth crap and so I shall respect his lengthy experience and seek out "proper" diesel in future. "No need for Nitro+ diesel in this, just the regular will be fine, but do always put Nitro+ UL in your Porsche" he added.

 

Those of you who feel all fuel is identical please carry on... until you're stuck with reduced power, or worse, due to it.

Edited June 3, 2017 by DJMC

[beeby11]

i have to agree here, i have a modified mk5 golf gti mapped on Nitro V. On standard supermarket fuel i can feel the loss of power and it runs terrible, on BP ultimate it still feels lethargic i have had it on a rolling road (the same on it was mapped on) with BP ultimate in and it made less power.

 

I know this to a point where the mrs borrowed the car for work and put BP ultimate in as it was "cheaper" and hoped i "wouldn't notice" so it's not a placebo either

 

if you want to keep putting tesco in then it's your call your call.

 

It may be tested to the same standards but it certainly isn't the same stuff.

[Porker]

4 hours ago, beeby11 said:

i have to agree here, i have a modified mk5 golf gti mapped on Nitro V. On standard supermarket fuel i can feel the loss of power and it runs terrible, on BP ultimate it still feels lethargic i have had it on a rolling road (the same on it was mapped on) with BP ultimate in and it made less power.

 

I know this to a point where the mrs borrowed the car for work and put BP ultimate in as it was "cheaper" and hoped i "wouldn't notice" so it's not a placebo either

 

if you want to keep putting tesco in then it's your call your call.

 

It may be tested to the same standards but it certainly isn't the same stuff.

Two arguments, all the supposed special additives (detergents, lubricants etc) that are claimed in different fuels and the RON rating which is a measuarable thing specifically labelled and independently tested. I'm reasonably confident that a 98RON branded fuel has the same octane value as 98RON supermarket fuel. I don't trust the seat of the pants to decrern between two 98 rated fuels. Unless your arse is calibrated.

 

as for the other additives, I have no strong view. 

[Porker]

14 hours ago, eponymoose said:

It's hard to get definitive info on the quality of various fuels and their sources. I used  to think Shell V Power was the only fuel that was custom refined, so to speak, but not even sure about that now.

 

However, I think the odds are higher of supermarkets fuels being problematic - even if the fuel comes from the same depot. For starters, the supermarkets may be more lax re how they store the fuel, clean their tanks and equipment and so on. They compete entirely on price, not quality, so at most they will do the absolute minimum to comply with the relevant regs and in my view are more likely to cut corners.

 

They may also use additives that help achieve the headline high octane but are not necessarily great for our engines. Again, I don't claim to have facts on any of this. But given the price margin isn't going to worry me when I'm dead and it's very hard to judge the various risks, using cheap supermarket fuel makes no sense. if it was half the price, fair enough. But it ain't and it's impossible to properly judge the risks. So don't use cheap supermarket fuel. It's a no brainer.

 

I'd prefer to use Shell, but that happens to be inconvenient locally so I mainly use Esso purely due to local convenience. I very, very rarely use supermarket fuel. Only as a last resort and then I only put in a little to keep me going.

 

Of course, I plan to keep my car long term. If I was running a newer Porsche under warranty and wasn't planning to keep it for many years, I'd probably sling any old crap in it. Not my problem!

you may be correct, I'm slinging anything in frankly. One point though, they all use 'additives' to adjust the Octane rating. Petrol is a mixture of things that go bang.

[Windymiller]

Who would have guessed that my original post on this would have raised such an emotive subject. 

 

I can report that since running 2/3 tanks of Shells V power nitro through my car the early morning / low revs 'lumpiness' (totally subjective description) has disappeared and she runs far more smoothly than on the Tesco 99ron stuff. 

 

Whether tescos fuel is 'lesser quality' than shells even though the RON is the same and the Euro standards of production etc are the same, or maybe I just had a bad batch, from a dirty pump, through a filthy hose etc... I cannot comment. 

 

But it I do know she's running sweet now and I for one shall not be returning to Tesco for 'premium' fuel in my prestige Porsche...

 

best regards all

[Idlewild]

On 6/10/2017 at 20:34, eponymoose said:

What I'm saying is that the supermarkets are more likely to use the cheapest and easiest additives to fluff up the octane rating, 

 

Utter nonsense.

 

But if you want to spend the extra on placebo effect, feel free.

 

I certainly wouldn't recommend it when there are much better things to spend money on; like car trips and tyres for example.