Which petrols best out of.........

When I first got my '91 16V, I used normal 95 ron unleaded, but changed to Super unleaded, as I read that using the lower ron fuel, can lead to head gasket failure. I noticed the other day that my local Sainsbury's also has 4 star LRP at 97 ron as well as the Super unleaded at 97 ron. They are both 94.9p a litre as well, so which is best for my car?! Will one give better performance or fuel economy?
Edited by: Aquablue

 

Optimax.

 

Haven't really got Optimax kinda money! Wish I could use it, but I do about 16,000 miles a year, am paid peanuts and am skint!

 

Definately Optimax, the 16v's run so much better on it and mine is certainly a fair bit more economical with that than 95 ron anyway so don't think you save much with cheaper fuel.

 

Ok, I'll have to give it a go! Find it scarey paying over a 1 per litre though!

But which would be better out of the LRP and the Super unleaded, as mentioned above?

 

what does it say on your filler cap? on my 91 8v it says minimum 98 RON, so i imagine your valver is the same.i'd forget about both of the above- they're only 97RON


ps i say bring on V-Power from Shell- 100RON now we're talkin!

 

V-POWRE all the way!

 

Yeah, the filler cap says the same, but I don't know of any garages in my area that sell any petrol that's over 97 ron though! What ron is Optimax? Any more details on this Shell V-Power? Bet it will cost an arm & a leg though!!

 

Optimax is 98RON, its available at most Shell stations (though not in N Ireland as I was horrified to discover whilst home over the summer!)


V-Power is 100 RON but is only available in mainland Europe, I saw it in Crete during the summer but unfortunately didn't have my car with me!

 

i use optimax, doesn't cost any more than before, i still put 20 in at a time

 

Tescos Super unleaded is meant to be 99ron, but only some of them have it. The one near me only has unleaded & diesel and that's it!! Another one a bit further away has it, but I'll have to do a special trip there! Would have gone there yesterday if I'd known that they did it!

 

Optimax near me is now only 95.9p so that's only a penny more a litre than the Sainsbury's stuff. I wouldn't dream of putting anything other than Optimax in, maybe BP Ultima if I can't find a Shell but hardly ever! Where do you live for Optimax to cost over 1 a litre??

 

Well, I don't know that it is actually over a 1, but it's normally several pence more than the normal unleaded and Shell normal unleaded around where I live is 95.9/96.9! If it was as cheap as where you live, I'd definately put it in! Where do you live then? I live near Chatham in Kent and drive 25 miles to Tunbridge Wells and then back again.
Edited by: Aquablue

 

1.03 for a while around Loughborough - unless someone wants to tell me I'm wrong and save me money!

PS. And I have to drive a 20 mile round trip to get it.
Edited by: RichS

 

INspired by this discussion i decided to go on the shell website and was horrifird to find out the nearest Optimax to me is about 20 miles away.I live in Eastbourne and have to go to Brighton or Hadtings for it.


Looks like ill have to do with BP Ultimate. Whats it like?

 

http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=400556 5&contentId=7009016


Watch the video showing the difference in acceleration between BP Ultimate and ordinary fuel.


I can't honestly believe it makes that much difference.

 

We're in Eastbourne too and ours runs just fine on Tesco's (Lottbridge Drove) finest!!

Gaz

 

I'll give it a go and see how she goes!


Dave

 

So, doesn't anyone know te answer to the original question?

 

All VWs from 1973 were designed to run on Unleaded because of Germany's move to leadfree fuel in that year.

Therefore run it on unleaded - there will be no benefit to using the LRP fuel in the valver.

Something to bear in mind when considering the price of Optimax is that is does cost a few pence per litre more - but I and apparently others on here have better economy than using 95RON or 97RON. A full tank fillup is probably around 50 litres or so, which gives a price difference of a couple to a few quid per tank. When you consider that a tank is probably going to cost in the region of 45-50 anyway, a couple of quid isn't that much of a difference.

Plus, my 16V drives a lot better with Optimax than even using BP Ultimate (which I have used in both my 8V GTIs as it is only a couple of minutes down the road) never mind Premium Unleaded (I had to use 95RON once and it didn't like it at all.)

Hope this helps!