Why do people buy high octane petrol?

NathWraith said:
Manual quotes run on 98 RON, if you use 95 RON you get a slight power loss, i.e. not full engine power.

I would like to use my car with full engine power please.

That is why I use V power.
Click to expand...

So your always on the correct power band in every gear? I mean if you want full engine power and all that.

So what does V Power give you in a 1.4 seat engine? Is it the same power upgrade as those Halfords exhaust tips???
 
PiKe said:
Nobody needs to, but if you get slightly better fuel economy, more power and the car is mapped for higher octane, then why not?
Click to expand...

More power in a high performance car YES...
Car is mapped for higher octance YES....

Because you have a 1.4 Seat NO...

That car doesn't need V Power, it will happily run on normal shell fuel. There is simply a desire/want for the stuff by the user.
 
rossk26 said:
More power in a high performance car YES...
Car is mapped for higher octance YES....

Because you have a 1.4 Seat NO...

That car doesn't need V Power, it will happily run on normal shell fuel. There is simply a desire/want for the stuff by the user.
Click to expand...

Who has a 1.4 Seat? :confused:
 
[TW]Fox;20861918 said:
You realise his 1.4 Seat is the 180bhp TSI, yes?
Click to expand...

Yes, what difference does that make? Will his car burst into flames if he uses normal shell fuel all the time? Or will he pay 6-7p extra per litre for what is most probably a placebo affect on what HE thinks is more power.
 
rossk26 said:
So your always on the correct power band in every gear? I mean if you want full engine power and all that.

So what does V Power give you in a 1.4 seat engine? Is it the same power upgrade as those Halfords exhaust tips???
Click to expand...

Slightly confused about the halfords exhaust tips post. Seems like a silly thing to post.

The 1.4TSI engine is a very complex and highly tuned engine.

Combining both a supercharger and a turbocharger to produce 180PS.

So yeah I think that warrants 99RON fuel.

Also equipped with a 7 speed DSG so it's not hard to keep the car in the optimum powerband when gear shifts take, 0.2 of a second.

Any more questions?
 
rossk26 said:
More power in a high performance car YES...
Car is mapped for higher octance YES....

Because you have a 1.4 Seat NO...

That car doesn't need V Power, it will happily run on normal shell fuel. There is simply a desire/want for the stuff by the user.
Click to expand...

Completely incorrect, as fox says, it's a proper hot hatch which will have been designed with high octane petrol in mind.

Yes, my Focus ST seems to run fine on normal petrol, but only because the ECU has calmed things down a bit. Why buy a hot hatch and then run it at reduced power?

I've seen people filling up M3's with normal petrol, i'll just sit there and shake my head, surely they'll be losing somewhere near 5% of their power just to save £5-£10 over an entire tank!?
 
rossk26 said:
Yes, what difference does that make? Will his car burst into flames if he uses normal shell fuel all the time? Or will he pay 6-7p extra per litre for what is most probably a placebo affect on what HE thinks is more power.
Click to expand...

It's a forced induction engine, these typically benefit from higher RON fuel.
 
rossk26 said:
More power in a high performance car YES...
Car is mapped for higher octance YES....

Because you have a 1.4 Seat NO...

That car doesn't need V Power, it will happily run on normal shell fuel. There is simply a desire/want for the stuff by the user.
Click to expand...

BRB whilst I got take a pic of the user manual to prove your misinformed post wrong.
 
Liquidfox said:
Completely incorrect, as fox says, it's a proper hot hatch which will have been designed with high octane petrol in mind.

Yes, my Focus ST seems to run fine on normal petrol, but only because the ECU has calmed things down a bit. Why buy a hot hatch and then run it at reduced power?

I've seen people filling up M3's with normal petrol, i'll just sit there and shake my head, surely they'll be losing somewhere near 5% of their power just to save £5-£10 over an entire tank!?
Click to expand...

I also fill my Focus ST with normal shell petrol. Because I personally see no need to use V Power. What exactly am I loosing in power by using normal fuel may I ask? Also the fact I don't race my ST every time I drive it, I don't think I'm going to miss the "extra power" in the rev range of 1-3 on a normal drive am I??
 
I've heard it takes a few tanks of high octane before your car feels the benefits, something to do the with the ecu learning?
 
Last edited:
rossk26 said:
I also fill my Focus ST with normal shell petrol. Because I personally see no need to use V Power. What exactly am I loosing in power by using normal fuel may I ask? Also the fact I don't race my ST every time I drive it, I don't think I'm going to miss the "extra power" in the rev range of 1-3 on a normal drive am I??
Click to expand...

It's not just power, it will give you better economy too.

For your purpose, in layman's terms - being higher octane means less fuel gets squirted in for the same power.
 
First time I've seen this report and as I use Momentum, it's reassuring, but is the report truly independent and trustworthy, or could be something commissioned by Tesco (the bottom left footer does have the momentum logo).
 
[TW]Fox;20861988 said:
Are you suggesting they put false information in the user guide for a laugh?

Mine also says use 98 RON fuel, btw.
Click to expand...

On your BMW 535i or 335i, can't remember which one you have. Then yes I would agree go ahead use high octane fuel. I'm sure my manual probably suggests using a minimum of 98RON, but there's no evidence out there for me to warrant paying the extra premium of those fuels.



In a 1.4 Ibiza.........why???? Other than driver preference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom