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[joshwyatt]

I've been intrigued by one of the vehicles I have atm and which fuel to use in it.
It seems very sensitive to the fuel used in it.
It's a 6.0 W12 Bentley.
Originally I would use 95 ron but this would cause the emissions light to come on, then used Sainsbury's 97 ron which wasn't any better. More often than not the light would come on aswell.
I find now it uses Shell optimax or 97 ron petrol from another local fuel station that's not a supermarket the emissions light is never on.
I remember Entwood mentioning when he goes to France the emissions light on his 3.2 comes on, but I was suprised that in this car, using UK petrol of 95 ron standard the emissions light comes on.

It means I can only use Shell optimax or be very picky in which fuel it uses...clearly there is a difference in quality, but why is it so vast?
I've done a quick google search, but nothing obvious has hit me yet.

[Lazydocker]

The only real difference is the additives if comparing fuel of the same RON so I don't really know :-/ :-/

[albitz]

The Bentley engine is quite snobbish dont you know. It feels positively queasy when it has some of that peasant juice from one of those frightful supermarkets pumped into its inner workings. If only Fortnum & Mason sold petroleum.

[TheBoy]

Its possible it can only run on 98ron or higher.

My bro's Alpina needed a ron slightly higher than the supermarket 'premium' options.

I remember, my Mum's old Fiat needed 5 star...

[ninjapirate]

pretty sure that should only run on super unleaded, but any super should be ok. shell always seems the best in cars ive owned that have been a bit sensitive.
tesco momentum seems pretty good.

[aaronjb]

I thought EU rules meant all new cars 'had' to run on a minimum of 95RON and nothing new could 'require' higher? 'course I could very well be mistaken

Some cars are certainly originally mapped assuming 97/98RON and simply back off the timing on 95RON (others aren't, there was a test a while back in one of the magazines - supermarket shopping trolleys like the clit gained nothing, VWAG cars gained some bhp and a Subaru gained the most power).

Mind, Bentley are VWAG now so perhaps it's one of those mapped to 'prefer' 97/98..

[the alarming man]

I've been intrigued by one of the vehicles I have atm and which fuel to use in it.
It seems very sensitive to the fuel used in it.
It's a 6.0 W12 Bentley.
Originally I would use 95 ron but this would cause the emissions light to come on, then used Sainsbury's 97 ron which wasn't any better. More often than not the light would come on aswell.
I find now it uses Shell optimax or 97 ron petrol from another local fuel station that's not a supermarket the emissions light is never on.
I remember Entwood mentioning when he goes to France the emissions light on his 3.2 comes on, but I was suprised that in this car, using UK petrol of 95 ron standard the emissions light comes on.

It means I can only use Shell optimax or be very picky in which fuel it uses...clearly there is a difference in quality, but why is it so vast?
I've done a quick google search, but nothing obvious has hit me yet.

Josh i had an old volvo before the omega and that would really misbehave if it wasnt fed shell..as supermarket fuel is cheaper (although not that much these days) it hasnt the additives shell put into their fuel (as there as to be a sort of pay off)and you will find it is the crappiest of the lot supermarket fuel

[the alarming man]

Its possible it can only run on 98ron or higher.

My bro's Alpina needed a ron slightly higher than the supermarket 'premium' options.

I remember, my Mum's old Fiat needed 5 star...

LOL i remeber 2 and 4 star

[tonyyeb]

95 RON has double the ethanol content of 97 RON, but although high ethanol content can herald quick and noticable damage to older engines, I'd be surprised if it had much impact on modern metals in a Bentley W12.

I like Esso Supreme, and use it more often than not in the Omega. Small pay-off in MPG and power, greater benefit in smoothness (tho I accept that might be a subjective view) and piece of mind.

Regarding those above who seem convinced that supermarket petrols are of an inferior quality to Esso / Shell etc - you may all be right, and I'm prepared to be swayed, but the chemical composition of the fuels is determined at the refinery, and then purchased on the wholesale market by the independent (i.e non-refining) retailers. For the propounded argument to hold true, all petrol purchased from any other independent non-refining retailer must also be inferior. Anybody have any anecdotal evidence to support that?

Supermarkets are uber-competitive on price through massive economies of scale, not by specifying and selling engine-damaging, insurance claim inducing inferior petrol.

[Lazydocker]

All petrol comes from the same refineries, be it supermarket or Shell/Esso/BP. The only difference between supermarket 95 RON and Shell/BP 95 RON are the additives

[Radar]

My friend who used to work for BP says that supermarket petrol has more ethanol in it compared to shell, esso, bp. Not exactly hard facts but adds to the debate!

[albitz]

Remember a few years ago the big problem of lamdas and cats being ruined by supermarket petrol. It didnt happen to cars which used Shell/BP etc.
Having said that, when I had a Petrol powered Omega, I tried all the different brands and didnt notice any difference in performance or economy between any of them.

[Jimbob]

Theres deffo differences.

Her car runs like a bag of spanners on supermarket fuel, perfect on shell / esso / bp etc.

Mine runs fine on any of them, but is noticably down on power and economy on the cheaper brands.

[hercules]

Theres deffo differences.

Her car runs like a bag of spanners on supermarket fuel, perfect on shell / esso / bp etc.

Mine runs fine on any of them, but is noticably down on power and economy on the cheaper brands.

i started using total instead of asda,cost is 2-3 pence more per litre,3 more mpg

[Vamps]

Its possible it can only run on 98ron or higher.

My bro's Alpina needed a ron slightly higher than the supermarket 'premium' options.

I remember, my Mum's old Fiat needed 5 star...

LOL i remeber 2 and 4 star

What about 3 and 5, or am I showing my age?...