Lyonspride Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 ^^ Well, as with many things, there's a lot of heresay and speculation. Which is where this idea that octane rating equates to power originates from. When people don't/can't understand, they just make stuff up and it spreads by word of mouth. The problem with petrol is that people don't really need to think about it these days, rare that many cars are kept more than a few years, so the next owner gets to deal with the issues the previous owner created with their "it's always been fine" attitude. Unless something goes wrong immediately, people don't really see the problem. You don't get fat over night, but all those donuts were ok last year. It's also true that "all fuel is the same", it is same.................. Until it reaches the forecourt, which is where the additives are mixed in, including (AFAIK) the bio-ethanol (otherwise it'd start to go off in transit). Most new cars can cope with the cheap additives used by supermarkets, at least for the duration of ownership, 2 - 3 years. At which point the gummed up fuel injectors just look like an age related failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2rrr Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 This is a bit of an old chestnut. Whatever fuel your engine has been tuned to is the fuel to use. There is no magic fuel about but some are higher octane ratings than others. If your engine isn't tuned for the higher octane you may be wasting money but higher octane fuel will deal with higher compression ratings before problems arise. Fuel is supplied to the UK generally from the major refineries around the UK. Scotland and Northern England by Ineos at Grangemouth. North West England and Midlands by Essar Stanlow, Southern England by Exxon Mobile at Fawley, East side of England Lindsey refinery Total, and Wales by Milford Haven Murco and Pembroke Valero. Murco may have been sold or closed though. So you will see that if you live in a specific area as we all do you will get fuel from those refineries badged as Shell, BP etc who no longer exist in the UK. The higher octane fuels are available and I use Shell V Power something I would never do when I worked for them for 28 years but appreciate that the fuel is ok, that fuel is made in my case at Essars refinery at Stanlow who I also worked for. Additives are or may be added during distribution. No magic fuel just horses for courses and when there are shortages it may be imported. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Pete Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I get my car mapped for regular supermarket fuel, as it surprisingly difficult sometimes to find any petrol station when you're hooning through darkest North Wales or the North Yorkshire Mores, let alone one that sells super unleaded. Although my TomTom is very useful at telling me where there used to be a petrol station Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAFKARM Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Lyonspride - FAME (Fatty acid methyl ester) which is diesels equivalent of bio ethanol and Ethanol are blended at a refinery / terminal level. Additives injected at loading rack, nothing is delivered to a forecourt except finished product. Bob - bit of an oversimplification I think - a lot of finished product (most?) imported from overseas these days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2rrr Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Russ As you will know FAME is also very difficult to store/inject control, used to have issues with that stuff in the blending section, probably operator error. Yes it was an oversimplification but after 48 years in petrochems ( Shell Stanlow, AGECO Libya, Shell Offshore, SSPD Syria, BP Grangemouth, Essar Stanlow) its easy to make it complicated. Don't agree with most finished products being imported depends on the refinery capacities and the profit margins of wherever it was refined or just purchased on the high seas like a lot was. Every couple of years when there are massive plant or refinery shutdowns for maintenance the companies tend to import more and indeed when the kit breaks as it sometimes does. Maybe with Murco going that has created a shortage as well. I know the place I was at was running at no where near maximum throughput, haven't been near the place since October though. haha.. Its a bit like fracking, that's been going on for at least 20 years offshore and all of a sudden its a big deal. We announce 150 billion barrels of oil under the UK and immediately some numpty is on the TV saying that because its deep it must be fracked. A qualified rock doctor eh don't think so. It really boils my p*ss to think that we are coming out of the greatest recession this country has seen, we announce something which could if spent correctly be an absolute boon for the country and the do gooders are slagging it off, please get a life these people. If people have access to this months IMechE journal there is a very good article on fracking and it could turn this country into energy sufficient for many years. Once the greens are pacified adequately by the monitoring and H&SE safety precautions. Anyway back to petrol for our toys, V Power, Momemtum and the other higher octane fuels will give better burning at higher compression ratios therefore smoother and possibly more power. Lower compression engines money wasted IMHO. The Shell Research Establishment at Thornton was also sold off a couple of years ago, their were some very clever people there once. Bob bit of a rant that wasn't it, better now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Everall Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 If SBD recommend Tesco 99 then that's good enough for me and I have a really high compression fire blade engine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete g Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 99 Tesco for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Car Electronics Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawrie Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 If SBD recommend Tesco 99 then that's good enough for me and I have a really high compression fire blade engine When was that? I thought Tesco changed supplier a couple of years ago and its now sh1t. Have they gone back, as that Shell cr@p is expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dombanks Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 It's total non scientific testing but on my pretty much the same everyday journey I have found the tesco momentum dropped my mpg by ~3 - 5 mpg in my Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigals Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Working in the petrochemical industry we take road tankers in from some of the large refinerys and specialist distribution companies and we always get a bit of time to chat to the driver's and the general opinion is that the cheaper fuel has less of the important/expensive additives and a good glug of redistilled solvents to lower the cost. Personally I stick to shell or BP unless it's around ten pence per ltr cheaper, in which case I fill up and with the cheap stuff and bung in some additive. I always find that I get more mpg from branded fuel, so cheap fuel really has to be cheap, no hard evidence but with the mileage I do on a modern engine the car becomes uneconomical to run long before the engine dies, still in a Westfield I would run it on what it had been mapped on, but even then cracking crude oil and refining is a science that can never be 100% free from variance simply because the raw material will change as will the refining process Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenh Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 If SBD recommend Tesco 99 then that's good enough for me and I have a really high compression fire blade engineYes but you're a tight ,,,, Yorkshireman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Everall Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Nowt wrong with short arms and deep pockets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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