Super Unleaded - i cant see the point - who runs it?

OllyM · 24 Jul 2009 at 13:21

Wish my E39 had a bigger fuel tank, 70 litres isn't enough really - I hate visiting petrol stations

Moeks · 24 Jul 2009 at 13:21

It's quite a large car though

...it's a fairly standard sized tank for this type of car, the E65/66 BMW 7 series has an 88 litre tank, as does a W220 Mercedes S-Class. Driven sensibly though, it doesn't mean it really uses anymore fuel than say my old ST220 did (actually slightly less on a good run it seems), it just means I'm in the fuel station a whole lot less, as that only had a 58 litre tank, which is fine for the typical 2.0 Mondeo, but the 3.0 V6 ST220 could empty it mighty fast.

Defcon5 · 24 Jul 2009 at 13:24

OllyM said:
Wish my E39 had a bigger fuel tank, 70 litres isn't enough really - I hate visiting petrol stations

I have a 30l tank, so think yourself lucky!

Firestar_3x · 24 Jul 2009 at 13:29

Moeks said:
It's quite a large car though ...it's a fairly standard sized tank for this type of car, the E65/66 BMW 7 series has an 88 litre tank, as does a W220 Mercedes S-Class. Driven sensibly though, it doesn't mean it really uses anymore fuel than say my old ST220 did (actually slightly less on a good run it seems), it just means I'm in the fuel station a whole lot less, as that only had a 58 litre tank, which is fine for the typical 2.0 Mondeo, but the 3.0 V6 ST220 could empty it mighty fast.

True that, i was thinking more along the lines of the E39 fuel tank size which is around 65ltrs, but again not the same class of car

OllyM · 24 Jul 2009 at 13:31

70 litres!

Janesy B · 24 Jul 2009 at 13:32

Firestar_3x · 24 Jul 2009 at 13:33

But you must get around 40mpg all the time?

Was like my POS 53 plate clio 1.2 16v's of epicness, couldn't get it to drop to less than 32mpg no matter how much i mashed the "Slow" pedal.

Dup · 24 Jul 2009 at 13:34

My tank is supposed to be 50L but I hit the red light after 40 litres giving the car a 10L reserve. I daren't test that much though, but I've done 30 miles after the light when I was miles away from a fill up.

Janesy B · 24 Jul 2009 at 13:36

Firestar_3x said:
But you must get around 40mpg all the time?

My gauge hits empty after 280/300 miles, but when I fill up, I can barely get 30/35 litres in. Ford gauges for the fail. I get pretty good economy considering I have a heavy foot.

Firestar_3x · 24 Jul 2009 at 13:37

Not bad that 39mpg average over 280miles based on 32.5 ltr fillup.

Freefaller · 24 Jul 2009 at 14:01

In the turbo MX5 it made a noticeable difference. Other than that nope.

GinG · 24 Jul 2009 at 14:13

Firestar_3x said:
That could be other things though and car age / wear related, more oil being burnt than last year, cat not doing as good a job, sensors letting it run slightly rich.

I see your point, car is de-catted so no worries on that side. Never noticed any increase in Oil consumption and have been doing much more miles this time around.

Will post the results and see what you think.

bledd · 24 Jul 2009 at 15:22

Dup said:
My tank is supposed to be 50L but I hit the red light after 40 litres giving the car a 10L reserve. I daren't test that much though, but I've done 30 miles after the light when I was miles away from a fill up.

Snap

even 'far' into the red, and I could still only put 43L in, but wouldn't like to test it

mjt · 24 Jul 2009 at 15:32

Firestar_3x said:
Shocked, thats quite a large tank by anyones standards!

that's how clarkson managed to do that stupid eco run in a jag last top gear season, it's a massive tank.

my leon has 62l which is nice and big, i think the 4wd has 5 or 6 litres over the 2wd for some reason..

sorry to sully the thread with the fuel of satan, but has anyone done any tests between normal diesel and vpower diesel?

Fr0dders · 24 Jul 2009 at 15:46

Matt82 said:
no in my experience.

about a quarter of a tank before the car is back to normal after using 95 ron

ive been told the vectra's ECU is similarly quick to adapat

it may vary from car to car though.

*edit*

wish i had an 85 litre tank.

with a bit of "enthusiastic" driving, i struggle to see more than 250 miles to a tank.

Matt82 · 24 Jul 2009 at 15:57

with regard to adaptation, any ecu with knock control is always looking to advance ignition (within preset parameters), for economy reasons etc

with RON too low, it has to retard if it detects knock. when you put better fuel in, it will continue to try and advance upto the preset limit (hence you have to have the higher limit to benefit from higher RON) and then you start to feel the difference in response

with mine you dont feel it putting the timing back once youve gone though about a quarter tank, maybe a touch less, of the higher octane stuff

Simon · 24 Jul 2009 at 16:00

Matt82 said:
with regard to adaptation, any ecu with knock control is always looking to advance ignition (within preset parameters), for economy reasons etc

Most ECUs will have passive knock monitoring.

They will run the preset ignition advance unless they detect knock, if knock is detected they will back the ignition timing off.

Kinf of similar to what you said, however they aren't really looking to advance ignition. Unless we are talking about the BMW M5 V10 engine which uses spark ionization to detect the knock threshold and actually run at the maximum possible ignition advance :cool:

Matt82 · 24 Jul 2009 at 16:32

ive watched it and logged it on vagcom before, at the time it was to see why a remapped 20vt was under power, compared the advance on 95 and then 99 ron to see whether that was causing the power issue. infact, we did it once to compare a customcode remap to another brand to see who put the timing furthest forward

probedb · 24 Jul 2009 at 16:37

When your car is mapped to run on it you'd notice a difference.

Avalon · 24 Jul 2009 at 18:27

It's all down to what you're running. My neighbours certainly knew if I hadn't filled up with premium during the winter when I used the Hornet, the backfire in a deathly quiet built up area was enough to wake the dead at 7am. However the majority of 'average' cars i've driven showed no noticeable performance gain. Those that were mapped for it did.

Like most things in life it's personal choice