Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms High Octane Fuel

Correction!
Millers increases the cetane level of the diesel. Theory is it is a combustion aid improving the burning.
Not strictly octane boost but it did give positive results.

I used super unleaded in my 4/4 for the last two years. It certainly felt more lively to me and seemed to make it pop and bang more with the side exit. To me seemed the best value pay as you go engine upgrade.

One thing to note is that a good quality fuel such as V Power will benefit the engine and injection system, it has additives that reduce carbon build up and help longevity.

I only ever run my cars on V-Power, knock sensors or not.

One of my mates owned a fuel injection business, and higher octane fuels have a cleaner in them that keeps injectors healthier. if you feel standard unleaded and High Octane (98)in Australia, the High Octane will feel "soapier" or smoother.

I have always used 95+ in my Morgans.

He also commented that "Green" diesel was a fuel injection companies best friend as it stuffed up fuel systems far faster than standard diesel.

Me too, in the Morgan anyway

Also Lord Sward who is in car insurance told me that only Shell have tanks in all their garages that are completely sealed to moisture

Plus if you do an accurate mileage to fuel use comparison as I did on several cars you will find around a 5% fuel efficiency improvement using 98 as apposed to low octane.

I've used & measured high octane fuels on several cars over the years.
& it's definitely a "horses for courses" experience.

Most of my car journeys are 15-20 miles. So the one time I do use high octane fuel is when I go on a long trip, even in a car that normally doesn't benefit from high octane fuel. It gives the cleaners time to do their work, and the payback lasts for months.

For example, I can't imagine what the previous owner of my Saab was doing to get 33mpg... in my normal driving that figure rose to 37mpg: high octane fuels don't seem to make a difference in my normal motoring.
And after 2 seven hour runs to & from Scotland on high octane fuel, that number's now 'cleaned up' to over 41mpg.

The message here would seem to be to go for a good long (very long) drive every so often - you'll save fuel in the long run!

Will

- me too

Somewhat bizarrely, the little Smart car (3 cylinder,700cc and a turbo) runs like a pig on anything less than V-power

I also agree that an occasional good long run/thrash is one of the best tune ups for the engine ;'blow out the cobwebs...'

James

I believe super unleaded fuels have less/no ethanol whereas all regular unleaded fuels have it. Ethanol damages alloy carb parts and alloy fuel tanks etc. Also it deteriorates more quickly over time so our cars left over the winter with little or no use are better off with super unleaded in the tank and maybe some fuel conditioner in there too. Also, it is better to leave the fuel tank full for storage since this reduces the danger of condensation on the interior walls of the tank.

My Ford Duratec knocks on the lower octane. So whenever I can I use high octane but the local garages have dropped it, so Tesco is the only local supplier.
It is interesting that the ignition advances on the better fuel perhaps that's why it knocks when I fill it with the ordinary stuff.