Would you change fuel?

[York]

Hi guys,

I bought my LCR last month with 30k on the cloak. The previous owner bought the car new and apparently was told normal fuel would be ok to run on. He said he started putting the "good stuff" in but didn't notice any difference what so ever.

The question is: do I change the fuel to the more expensive stuff or do I keep putting normal fuel in "what the car has been use to". I didnt know if it would start causing problems with the running of the car? The car is standard also.

Would you change?

 

[Henjo24]

It would be better for the car if you used V Power, but ive heard some bad storys with people who have used Tesco's super unleaded 99. I use the normal jungle juice at the moment because petrol prices are insane. So ill change back to V Power when Mr Cameron decides to stop ripping people off.

 

[gb]

been running tesco ron 99 for nearly 4 years now with no problems

 

[SalSheikh]

been running tesco ron 99 for nearly 4 years now with no problems

i also use this and have had no issues. tired cheaper/normal fuel and the car ran poorly.

 

[Andy.Jeffries]

I'm on V-power - I believe in the added goodness that it gives my engine!

Also, possibly totally unrelated but when I picked it up it had been run on normal 95 ron stuff and was lumpy, hesitated and generally didn't run well, but, the petrol in it was rather old and possibly stale!

 

[Mike Green]

It's always an on going debate this one - I asked the same question many years ago.

Everyone has their own opionions on this and they all vary.

My personal view and experience is that on my old LCR I used Vpower and Tesco 99 for 6 months or so when I bought the car, then as prices were rising steeply I moved over to the normal 95 stuff and I didn't notice any difference atall to the drive or the mpg.

But then I never drove the car hard very often so it may be if you do you may notice the difference - but for usual driving and booting now and again I would say there is no problem using normal fuel unless you are a car critique and can feel the difference in an extra 4 RON, which I don't.

 

[CJRamze]

I resonate Mikes post except I drove my Ibiza Cupra quite hard through the mountains of brecon and on the isle of man (Where fuel is SUPER expensive)

I've run both My Ibiza Cupra 1.8T 180BHP mapped to 230BHP +
and my LCR 225bhp mapped to 275bhp on both

VPower, Tesco 99 and Morrisons fuel (along with other low ron ratings)
Honestly, 0 difference.
If you can feel your car running "Rough" with 95 ron fuels then there is something wrong with your car as its designed to run on 95Ron.

The fuel is purer I suppose with less contaminants but the extra you spunk on the fuel doesn't add up to any damage it "May" cause in the future. Just run some cleaner through the car once every 6 months and you'll be fine.

 

[GREY 225]

If its mapped then use higher octane fuel

 

[Willie]

The only way to tell if your car is running well on said fuel is to log it and check for CF's.
The Octane rating reduces very quickly in petrol.
I've used Shell Optimax and Shell V Power since mile 20 in my LCR, now on 114,000 miles.
Mines is now mapped and logged regularly.
Even when mine is showing up 6's in CF its impossible to tell when driving.
At 6's you need to be doing something to resolve the situation, higher your getting into big trouble.

Mine with Shell V Power was showing up 5-6's on CF, a bottle of Octane Booster sorted it out.

So believe what you want to believe, a mapped car will be mapped for Super Unleaded.

 

[CJRamze]

The only way to tell if your car is running well on said fuel is to log it and check for CF's.
The Octane rating reduces very quickly in petrol.
I've used Shell Optimax and Shell V Power since mile 20 in my LCR, now on 114,000 miles.
Mines is now mapped and logged regularly.
Even when mine is showing up 6's in CF its impossible to tell when driving.
At 6's you need to be doing something to resolve the situation, higher your getting into big trouble.

Mine with Shell V Power was showing up 5-6's on CF, a bottle of Octane Booster sorted it out.

So believe what you want to believe, a mapped car will be mapped for Super Unleaded.

So why would a remapper inform you that they can but generally dont map for higher octane fuel and 95 Ron is fine...

 

[kriso]

If you can feel your car running "Rough" with 95 ron fuels then there is something wrong with your car as its designed to run on 95Ron.

The LCR is intended to be run on 98 RON as it states in the manual. 95 will be fine but you will probably lose some power and maybe efficiency if driving hard since the engine timing won't run as agressive.

If re-mapped and timing/fueling have been adjusted then even more worth using higher RON (depending on your map of course).

 

[CJRamze]

My manual states 95-98 as does the inside of the fuel cap... Do you think it matters between the 210 and 225's?

 

[t0m]

Tried regular shell unleaded but the car didn't feel as smooth or responsive.

Only use v-power now but have run tesco 99 before and it felt just as good. Don't use BP Ultimate, it's meant to be rubbish.

V-Power or Tesco Momentum 99 for me if I'm not close to a v-power garage and am in need.

 

[kriso]

My manual states 95-98 as does the inside of the fuel cap... Do you think it matters between the 210 and 225's?

It says in the Cupra R Appendix to use 98 ROZ but then says if 98 is not available, use 95 ROZ. But it sounds like they are recommending 98 over 95, otherwise they would just say to use 95.

I suppose it could matter between 210 and 225 since the 225 map is pushing the engine a bit harder.

I have been using Tesco 99 'Momentum' for the past month, since it is about 1p a litre cheaper than V-Power which I always used in the past. I haven't really noticed much of a difference between those 2.

 

[t0m]

Tesco 99 is a bit sooty compared to v-power which I find is very clean out the back of the zorst.

But it's a good fuel for sure.

 

[hara]

the octane rating of fuel is not its 'purity' but its resistance to detonation (engine knocking/misfiring), as long as you're not buying petrol from some dodgy backstreet station you'll be fine.

Anyway you'll probably notice the difference when accelarating and pushing the car.
The LCR is designed to be pushed harder than your typical Leon - that's why it's rated for 98 petrol.

 

[Willie]

So why would a remapper inform you that they can but generally dont map for higher octane fuel and 95 Ron is fine...

A mapper that actually know what there talking about and cares as much as you do for your car would make things very clear to you and would be checking the car prior to you paying and being happy with the car.
My car is a Custom stage 2 car.
What's the point of getting a car mapped but not using the best fuel possible.
It's like Usan Bolt, instead of eating a very healthy and protein filled diet to get the best out of his body he can he sits and eats McDonalds and tins of Irn Bru.

Mapping a car for 95 ron fuel makes no sense to me. Paying £500 for a map, might aswell get the best one possible.

Like I said, believe what you want to believe

 

[t0m]

A mapper that actually know what there talking about and cares as much as you do for your car would make things very clear to you and would be checking the car prior to you paying and being happy with the car.
My car is a Custom stage 2 car.
What's the point of getting a car mapped but not using the best fuel possible.
It's like Usan Bolt, instead of eating a very healthy and protein filled diet to get the best out of his body he can he sits and eats McDonalds and tins of Irn Bru.

Mapping a car for 95 ron fuel makes no sense to me. Paying £500 for a map, might aswell get the best one possible.

Like I said, believe what you want to believe

Wise words!

That is the reason I had mine mapped on v-power, to run like a rocket!

 

[CupraRmark]

un mapped cars is fine on normal 95 ron unleaded, mapped cars if it was running 97/98/99 super unleadeds when mapped it needs to be kept on supers imo

 

[York]

Thanks everyone for your input.