Hey all, for those of you running a 5.0l SC what fuel type do you run?

Wondering if I need to run 99 RON in the SC or whether I can get away with 97 RON with an odd cycling of 99 in a 1:4 fill up.

I ask because I own a 2012 Aston that I always run at 99 and she purrs but it can get quite expensive to keep filling up on 99 every 340 miles.

I want to ensure I run whats best for the car (whenever she actually arrives).

Mine gets Shell V Power or BP Ultimate. Runs like a dream

Mine is a 4.4 TDV8 but I have 4 petrol cars and all only ever get premium fuel. 2012 4.4 TDV8 Vogue Santorini black ivory leather

The only petrol I have had recently is the BM 335i coupe. I spent quite a bit of time on fuels when I first got that car as I really wanted to win that argument and beat the book 0 to 60 times.

In the end I used Sainsbury's standard unleaded as my regular tipple, most of the super's used to cause hesitation on gear change at high revs due to the way the vanos works, Shell V power was actually quite lurchy as the cams came on song and inspection of the plugs after a hard drive on that purposfully showed some very light oiling and signs of over fueling at the exhaust (smell).

There was no advantage in 0 -70 (ish) accelleration times at all, but 50 - 70 was not good for that engine using supers and especially V power with pinking and Vanos hunting.

I used Sainsbury's near me as they have a huge turnover, so there is no risk of stale fuel and as none of the branded forecourt fuels offered anything at all over standard unleaded, (except a lot of hype and unsubstantiated claims).

Worst fuel in my area, ASDA, caused pinking and local Tesco had a few reports of water, but didn't affect me.

I determined that the grade of the fuel had absolutely no positive impact, with negative impacts of overfueling and lumpy Vanos operation. Of the standard unleaded vendors, I think it's wholly down to the forecourt cleanliness and turnover to be honest.

Of course they'll be a thousand counter opinions, but I thought I'd share my real world experience.

Save yourself some money and use regular fuel, that's what your car is designed for unless you've had it mapped to a particulr fuel, then you have to stick to that unfortunately.

A. Fuji White / Jet 2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster

...and I have a few hundred of those thousand other opinions.

We are talking about very small margins - at most 1% or 2% differences for typically a 10%+ increase in fuel cost. I defy anyone to tell the difference of 1 or 2 % in acceleration/performance in "real world experience". Obviously therefore its not worth the premium....or is it?

I've paid a premium for an SVA over the other models - they're all good so what was the point - well I "believe" its better and I love it so I guess that's the point.
I spend £1/mile in depreciation - there's loads of cars (most?) that don't depreciate anywhere near that level.
I spend 10p/mile in maintenance in a cheap year (can be much worse) - other cars available with cheaper maint.
I spend 10p/mile in insurance - other cars available with cheaper insurance.
I might get 23mpg at most on cheap fuel, that's around 28ppm - other cars available will do more than twice that.
Given my choices on the big numbers, why would it even register that the best fuel available will cost me an extra 2 or 3ppm?

But even so noone wants to just chuck their money away for no perceived benefit so what might I be getting?
Well if its available, 1 or 2% perfomance improvement is actually massive - ask anyone in F1. I'm not familiar with how Beamers run their engines, but most "modern" arrangements have variable timing of some sort. Most ECUs are not mapped to run the car on standard fuel they are mapped to cope with it. Instead they try to run the engines as hard and they can on premium fuels but are programmed to react to sensors detecting any knocking and at that point retard the timing to stop it. So the engine will run less "hard" on poor fuel - albeit that 1 or 2 % might not be noticeable. However, I'd suggest if your BM is actually noticeably pinking then there's something wrong with it...not the fuel.

Other than higher octane equivalence, I understand that the main difference in the "best" fuels is in the recipe of detergents used to keep the engine in good fettle. For those keeping their car for a few months or the typical 2 to 3 years no noticeable difference. For those of us keeping the car for much longer periods and extensive milages its much more likely to offer tangible benefits. I've always run my Lotus cars on premium fuels (35 years so far in the Esprit). I blew the engine on track at Castle Combe in 2022 and when it was taken apart (broken piston aside!!) it was in great shape - of course it might have been the same if I'd been using cooking oil, but I like to think its actualy down to using quality fuel and proper maintenance.

Just my real world experience...  Mike - MPx

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Last edited by MPx on 31st Jan 2025 8:51am. Edited 1 time in total

Everything will have fuel and ignition tables for the standard fuels available. Suspect you’ll get more benefit from the detergents in Super than any real performance gain.

Shell V Power for me, or other E5, Esso next preference. With the E component being hydroscopic the more of it there is the greater the risk of water contamination, especially if the car is standing for any length of time.

I started with super unleaded in my first 322 where I noticed a distinct performance improvement over ordinary (which I had been using until then) and the extra mpg made up for the higher price. I've stuck with it since.

My motorcycle (BMW R1250RT) is set up to adjust the engine according to fuel quality. When touring I normally get a range of 300 miles or so using V Power. On one occasion when I couldn't get super unleaded the range indication came up at about 260 miles, with no change to driving style.

But each to their own. Only Range Rovers since 1988

I don't use premium fuel for any increase in power or MPG, I use for the extra refinement and additives although may be minimal. 2012 4.4 TDV8 Vogue Santorini black ivory leather

I only ever run my petrol cars on 99 RON. Usually Esso Synergy or Tesco Momentum as they're the 2 closest to home.

My primary reason for doing so is the reduced ethanol content, however, it always feels like it's kinder to the car and a few extra pence per litre isn't going to make much difference at fill up time. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior