after my MCS developed an engine management alarm due to fuel causing pinking in cylibder 3 the Dealer has recommended that I don't use Supermarket (Tesco) unleaded because it is of poor quality.
Can anyone give me opinions on the fuel they use and if they have different performances between Companies (BP,Shell, Morrison's etc)? and obviously the variation of drive between Unleaded and Super Unleaded?
Absolutely laughable - a lot of supermarket fuel is actually supplied by the oil majors (BP,Shell, etc) For example Sainsburys fuel is supplied by BP. Tesco sell three different types of unleaded . Super 99 produced by Greenenergy which is widely acknowledged to be one of the best fuels available. It has a rating of at least 99 and in some tests has performed better than race fuel. They also sell a 97 rated octane where they do not sell the Super 99. Anecdotal evidence would suggest this is equivalent to BP Ultimate. Their normal unleaded is supplied by a variety of sources such as Harvest energy who also supply Asda and Morrisons.
All supermarket fuel has additives in much the same way that oil major fuel does. The MCS probably runs better on 97/98/99 fuel so I would have thought your fuel choices should be
Tesco Super 99
Tesco Super 97
Shell V Power
BP Ultimate
Sainsbury's 97
If these are not available then use 95 - you will get slightly less power but the car will still run fine. If your dealer persists with this rubbish then ask him to put it in writing.
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to scillyisles For This Useful Post:
As scillyisles said, supermarket fuel is supplied by major companies, yes something may be added to the major companies fuel, but take this into consideration;
- Sainsbury's offers Nectar points for their fuel and BP fuel.
- BP tankers fill up Sainsbury's forecourts with petrol!
- Some Tesco supermarkets have Esso petrol stations attached to them.
I've used Sainsbury's standard unleaded, Asda standard, Tesco standard, Shell V-power, BP standard, BP Ultimate, Morrison standard and Tesco Super unleaded, and I've found little or no difference between any of them - either in performance or mpg (except for Tesco Super unleaded (97), which I did found gave me a little more mpg...however, this could have been due to a change in driving, weather etc).
I prefer Total 98 rather than V Power, cos it is real 98 RON. I suspect that V Power no longer is (Shell no longer advertises the "98" number on their fuel dispensers...). The real deal is always better than additives.
I run BP 97 in mine and nothing else. I'd like a higher octane fuel but like others have said I'm not sure that V-Power is 100 anymore. I'm not bothered by supermarket fuels either.
Unless you have a modified ecu for example jcw or other tuning brands that specify 97 octane or higher. You should be able to run your car on 95 and a minimum of 91 octane. Mini's also have an engine knock sensor for pinking and retards the timing if needed.
Familiar debate this one. My opinion? Don't waste your money - oil companies are making enough money without opting to pay them more for their 'premium' brands, especially when their performance-enhancing qualities are questionable ... have a read of this.
The cars they used where hardly "performance" cars though, and my r56 s used to run awful on 95 ron. Golf Gti's tested by magazines papers on the other hand did have a more significant increase on power and mgp. I have just bought a r56 mcs so cant comment on that yet
Prior to getting an R56 'S' July last year I owned a Civic Type-R, I found using 98/99 octane fuel improved the performance and MPG. I used high octane fuel in the 'S' for months but when petrol prices peaked I changed to standard un-leaded and noticed no difference in performance or MPG
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Which Fuel is best??? 
