Cupra 290 Fuel type

Adambomb100

Active Member
Sep 9, 2020
23
5
43
Harwich, Essex
All normal cars sold into EU have for years needed to comply or designed to run on 94/95RON petrol, so SEAT must have allowed these 290s to run on 94/95 without any chance of incurring any engine damage, though there will be a slight loss of top end power.
I'd always plan, when using one of these cars in town diving, just to fill up with 95RON and use 98RON in every 5th tank fill to keep things clean.
I would agree with this,
 

Butty

Active Member
Sep 7, 2018
156
46
V Power or Tescos on all modded car I've had for 20 years. I also used to keep a bottle of NF Octane Booster in the boot when I worked in more rural areas just in case.
 
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RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
Except for the pinging on the engine.


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The OP is running a car as it came out of the box, so the only way that he would suffer "pinging" would be if the ECU programming was wrong or the ping detector was faulty.
All these cars are set up to advance to pinging then back off > advance to pinging then back off - ect - ect, so essentially, in theory, the only way that you could stop pinging is if you used a fuel that exceeded that engine's requirement to the extent that advancing to pinging was not possible.
 

Sparkie

Angling Adict.
Sep 25, 2009
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@RUM4MO In reality my best buddy didn’t buy one car he test drove because of the noise it was making.
Then using 95 Ron the car he bought 300st un modified.
His started pinging.
Only thing needed to stop it was octane booster. Cured the problem in minutes.
So why did this happen?


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RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
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South Scotland
300ST fuel requirements I do not know about - though I would expect that it should be happy with 95 - but if not the fuel cover label would say so, which would put it into the "not standard" section of cars that were allowed to come to market needing 98 or better.

If that was a new car, SEAT should have been told/asked about it, or if it was a used car, then it sounds like it has been remapped and not disclosed as being not standard.
 

KXL

KXL
Dec 15, 2016
1,581
197
London, UK
I drive a non-seat Car that states in the manual / fuel flap to use 95-98 RON petrol. However it was more specific in saying that (in the manual):
  • RON 95 can be used for normal driving.
  • RON 98 is recommended for optimum performance and minimum fuel consumption.
When driving in temperatures above +38 °C, fuel with the highest possible octane rating is recommended for optimum performance and fuel economy.

I'm guessing this i what the Cupra similarly states by the flap showing 98RON / (95RON).

Although as the Cupra is a performance car, you would probably also feel the extra bhp that the higher RON can unleash...Economy...well I guess for Cupra owners that's not high on the list...but...I have seen owners being able to do average mpg in their 40s on a steady run, and even 50+ once...which is really good.
 

Sparkie

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Sep 25, 2009
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Middlesex
300ST fuel requirements I do not know about - though I would expect that it should be happy with 95 - but if not the fuel cover label would say so, which would put it into the "not standard" section of cars that were allowed to come to market needing 98 or better.

If that was a new car, SEAT should have been told/asked about it, or if it was a used car, then it sounds like it has been remapped and not disclosed as being not standard.

Cars were standard.


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Butty

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Sep 7, 2018
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Cars were standard.


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So yer mate continues to run the car with octane booster rather than find out why it detonates on fuel perfectly OK for a std 300?
 

jdubya

Active Member
May 30, 2017
53
19
South West
I’ve had my Cupra 300 since end of June and have been using Momentum - so far (and with fingers crossed) I’m more than happy with the drive, performance and fuel economy (not that economy was a consideration when I was looking for a Cupra) with no “strange” noises or flat spots from the engine - so all good. What fuel you put in your Cupra is down to you as Seat will cover all bases as best as they can for different markets and as such will only be a recommendation.
 

Sparkie

Angling Adict.
Sep 25, 2009
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So yer mate continues to run the car with octane booster rather than find out why it detonates on fuel perfectly OK for a std 300?

Nope he now uses V max.
He’s not daft.
Clearly the fuel. As said was doing it in another he test drive.
Don’t know about the 290 but his states 98 Ron.
Keep having to say the same thing.
Not here for contention.
You guys can put what ever you like in your cars. 98 is advised. You will most likely get pinging with crap fuel but most wont even know it’s there
and if that’s all they’ve ever used then they wouldn’t know their car is doing it.
As said Couldn’t care less what you do, not my car.
People asked for an opinion on fuel and I gave mine.
Ignore it if you know better.


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Sparkie

Angling Adict.
Sep 25, 2009
2,541
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Middlesex
I’ve had my Cupra 300 since end of June and have been using Momentum - so far (and with fingers crossed) I’m more than happy with the drive, performance and fuel economy (not that economy was a consideration when I was looking for a Cupra) with no “strange” noises or flat spots from the engine - so all good. What fuel you put in your Cupra is down to you as Seat will cover all bases as best as they can for different markets and as such will only be a recommendation.

Momentum is good fuel too. Agree.
Slightly cheaper than V power too but none near me so have to buy the expensive stuff.


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Zer0

Active Member
Jun 22, 2019
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242
Less than ideal fuel will give you less timing advance on the same boost levels as good fuel does, so you get less power. You will want you timing to climb nicely under load, like a climbing a step of stairs until you reach top rpm. In fact, good timing advance will often give you as good power as cranking up the boost a little (if you're tuned and are able to adjust this) because when you do, timing will not be as good if you don't have good fuel.

In some cases you can even get timing retardation (knock) with poor fuel so the ECU must do corrections, especially at higher boost levels and that is not good for the engine. Too big corrections and too many of them is not safe.

If you have a device able to do logging (like a JB4) you can take out the guesswork and see what happens to your car under load and you will know if the fuel is good enough. Of course, if you don't push your car you will probably be fine with most 95 fuel on stock boost levels but obviously not all cars like all 95 fuel (see above).
 

beasty54

Active Member
Jul 23, 2020
48
27
My friends 300 doesn’t mention 95 I don’t think.


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Mines not an ST but it's a 300 and definitely mentions 95RON.

I picked my 300 up second hand about 6 weeks ago and at 20K miles, i don't know what the previous owner used in it obviously but i only use momentum. I top mine up every week, maybe £40-£45 and at around £4 or so extra per tank, i just wouldn't bother with anything but premium. I'd probably never notice any difference if i used 95 but if the 99 is a little better for the engine, it works for me.
 

Adambomb100

Active Member
Sep 9, 2020
23
5
43
Harwich, Essex
Nope he now uses V max.
He’s not daft.
Clearly the fuel. As said was doing it in another he test drive.
Don’t know about the 290 but his states 98 Ron.
Keep having to say the same thing.
Not here for contention.
You guys can put what ever you like in your cars. 98 is advised. You will most likely get pinging with crap fuel but most wont even know it’s there
and if that’s all they’ve ever used then they wouldn’t know their car is doing it.
As said Couldn’t care less what you do, not my car.
People asked for an opinion on fuel and I gave mine.
Ignore it if you know better.


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I appreciate what your saying, I asked the question and will listen to all the answers, I was merely asking what people do, as my new cupra says 98 but 95 is acceptable, I dint know if I ran it on 95 whether I’d see any difference?
I’ve only had the car a couple of weeks and only done 350 miles!!
 

FOX1429

Active Member
Aug 6, 2012
103
15
Wales
My pennies worth:

Bought my 300 used with 2000 miles only.

Ran it on 95 for 3 tanks averaged 33.5mpg
Ran it on 99 for 3 tanks averaged 34.5mpg
Same journeys give or take so no real marked difference in mpg and to my mind felt no difference at all in regards to performance.

£4/5 extra a tank for 1mpg gain and ‘peace of mind’ if you believe the hype about the less knocking and added benefits for longevity of engine.

Personally it says the car can run on 95 on the cap and I never abuse the car or drive in a spirited way unless warmed up so that’ll do for me and my £10 a month extra can but some sweets for the kids!

There will be people who put 99 in but rag it from cold so it’s all swings and roundabouts.

There are a lot of variables but it wouldn’t say the car can run on 95 if that was going to cause any real issues.

your money your choice.
 

Adambomb100

Active Member
Sep 9, 2020
23
5
43
Harwich, Essex
My pennies worth:

Bought my 300 used with 2000 miles only.

Ran it on 95 for 3 tanks averaged 33.5mpg
Ran it on 99 for 3 tanks averaged 34.5mpg
Same journeys give or take so no real marked difference in mpg and to my mind felt no difference at all in regards to performance.

£4/5 extra a tank for 1mpg gain and ‘peace of mind’ if you believe the hype about the less knocking and added benefits for longevity of engine.

Personally it says the car can run on 95 on the cap and I never abuse the car or drive in a spirited way unless warmed up so that’ll do for me and my £10 a month extra can but some sweets for the kids!

There will be people who put 99 in but rag it from cold so it’s all swings and roundabouts.

There are a lot of variables but it wouldn’t say the car can run on 95 if that was going to cause any real issues.

your money your choice.
I agree with you 100% on that, ????
 

beasty54

Active Member
Jul 23, 2020
48
27
My pennies worth:

Bought my 300 used with 2000 miles only.

Ran it on 95 for 3 tanks averaged 33.5mpg
Ran it on 99 for 3 tanks averaged 34.5mpg
Same journeys give or take so no real marked difference in mpg and to my mind felt no difference at all in regards to performance.

£4/5 extra a tank for 1mpg gain and ‘peace of mind’ if you believe the hype about the less knocking and added benefits for longevity of engine.

Personally it says the car can run on 95 on the cap and I never abuse the car or drive in a spirited way unless warmed up so that’ll do for me and my £10 a month extra can but some sweets for the kids!

There will be people who put 99 in but rag it from cold so it’s all swings and roundabouts.

There are a lot of variables but it wouldn’t say the car can run on 95 if that was going to cause any real issues.

your money your choice.

Can't argue with that, the extra on fuel is peace of mind for me as i do like to put my foot down :D, i don't necessarily believe it makes much difference though. It's also one less take away a month (in theory) and that's certainly something i need after spending half of this year sat on my a**e working from home!
 
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