High Octane Fuel... Is It Worth It?

[Ashley_E]

i know in some cars it is neccesary and others a waste of time.

I drive a 2008 petrol 1.6 TR. Is it worth buying high octane fuel? will i notice a change in performance/economy? the handook only says 95 octane or higher..

has anyone else experienced improvements?

cheers

ash

[Crasstoe]

Higher octane fuel only gives noticeable performance gains when in high revving engines, which use a steep compression ratio, for example the Honda S2000. In the Auris you "may" get 0.x mpg increase in efficiency but not noticeable in my experience.

It may help the car run smoother, but I fear that may be about it.

[kayngo87]

I put fuel injectors into my car every month to clean out the injectors and its noticeable. I think its familiar to the higher octane fuel, its meant to clean your engine as well as give you that slight increase in MPG and horsepower.

[Ashley_E]

thanks guys.

not sure if the increased cost wil benefit me but i do a lot of miles in her so might be good for the engine if i do pay that little bit more. had it 4 months and done 5000 miles in her so maybe it will prolong the life of the engine and cut down on maint costs etc in the future???

[Uncle Buck]

This subject was covered more extensively & quite recently Ashley - have a look for it in the search engine. There's more debate about it there .....

To be honest, I wouldn't bother with a 'normal' car - any minimal gain is offset by the extra cost, which these days is quite high.

[Cyker]

Yeah; You could try the Shell FuelSave petrol as that supposedly has extra cleaning agents, or just add some yourself every now and then, but the high octane stuff is wasted unless the engine is designed to take advantage of it (All high octane does is allow the car to run at higher compression ratios; Pretty much no petrol car needs this unless it has knock sensors or a turbo charger)

[Ashley_E]

awesome, thanks guys. i have found in the past that different fuels have performed better than others. i often find supermarket petrol performs badly compared with Shell or esso fuel often does. has anyone else noticed this? My dad sides with me on this one. maybe more ethanol etc in supermarket petrol???