Tesco Momentum 99...am I imagining this

[flashp]

...or is it better than V-Power???
I just tried a tank and I'm over halfway through after filling when very low. Now, I'm sure (but can't be certain - placebo) that the car is running better and returning slightly better mpg with it, which the gauge seems to confirm.
It's stage 2 with all the usual parts, 330bhp.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

Of course it could be that V-Power is a slow seller from my local Shell garage and that the Tesco's near me turns their 99 over much more quickly so it's always fresher.

 

[AJP]

You might have been using a Shell with a dodgy V Power tank. It happened to me... I think.

Last summer I had a load of misfire issues (there's a big thread on it somewhere) that were finally cured - or so it seemed - with refurbished injectors.

The local Shell I'd always used closed for a few weeks late last year for refurbishment, and when it reopened V Power unleaded was unavailable. A few weeks ago, chatting to the lad serving at the next-closest Shell that do sell V Power, he informed me that the reason my local one stopped selling it was because the tank had become contaminated with water.

It might just be a coincidence, but I couldn't help putting 2 and 2 together. I'm not ruling out the possibility of me filling up with dodgy V Power for god knows how long, causing those misfires. I suppose it's water under the bridge now anyway. And I'd imagine this kind of thing could happen at any garage - Shell, Tesco, whatever.

But back to the fuel itself. I remember reading a big thread on a Skyline forum where this same question was asked. Emails were sent to Shell, and Tesco, and while it sounded like one of the two was a 'proper' 99 ron and therefore 'better', the thread pretty much concluded at V Power being the better of the two.

In my personal experience, I've had half a tank of Tesco 99 a couple of times, and I honestly couldn't tell a difference. Car's also a Stage 2, R-Tech, k03.

I'm inclined to think that if one is indeed marginally better than the other, you'd only feel a massive difference if you were running huge boost and advance.

Back to back testing is the only real way of objectively getting some answers. In fact I do remember a certain Mr Gower doing this very thing on Fifth Gear maybe... a good few years ago!

[Shoduchi]

Most likely you filled with fresh 99 RON petrol where before the V Power wasn't that fresh. I only recently learned that the higher RON capabilities of a petrol only last about a week in a tank. That's not a great deal of time, unfortunately.

[flashp]

I'm inclined to agree, and I think that the Tesco 99 is fresher than the V-Power in this case which is something that crossed my mind initially. Either way, it seems I've located a better quality supply of fuel. 

Wish I knew about petro-chemistry! 

[Shoduchi]

I'm inclined to agree, and I think that the Tesco 99 is fresher than the V-Power in this case which is something that crossed my mind initially. Either way, it seems I've located a better quality supply of fuel. 

Wish I knew about petro-chemistry! 

I wish I knew more too. I have to use a petrol octane booster if I want more power from my engine. Just 98 RON petrol where I live.

[flashp]

I'm inclined to agree, and I think that the Tesco 99 is fresher than the V-Power in this case which is something that crossed my mind initially. Either way, it seems I've located a better quality supply of fuel. 

Wish I knew about petro-chemistry! 

I wish I knew more too. I have to use a petrol octane booster if I want more power from my engine. Just 98 RON petrol where I live.

That's a bit off, where are you then?

[Shoduchi]

That's a bit off, where are you then?

Lisbon, Portugal.

[flashp]

That's a bit off, where are you then?

Lisbon, Portugal.

Nice  I'd trade 1RON point for all your sun, landscape and great roads!

[Shoduchi]

Nice  I'd trade 1RON point for all your sun, landscape and great roads!

That's a good point. 

Most of the days I can put my right foot down without much wheelspin since it doesn't rain that often here. On rainy days a powerful FWD loses a lot of its fun.

[AJP]

Nice  I'd trade 1RON point for all your sun, landscape and great roads!

That's a good point. 

Most of the days I can put my right foot down without much wheelspin since it doesn't rain that often here. On rainy days a powerful FWD loses a lot of its fun.

You don't know how envious we are! Still, we can look forward to our annual fortnight of warm weather just the same Then of course it just rains. And rains...

[spesh]

Most likely you filled with fresh 99 RON petrol where before the V Power wasn't that fresh. I only recently learned that the higher RON capabilities of a petrol only last about a week in a tank. That's not a great deal of time, unfortunately.

Who on earth told you that because it is utter nonsense.  The spec shelf life of super is well above that of standard blendstocks (eurobob being the most commonly known blendstock in the uk for standard unleaded).  If you think your super is less than a week old by the time it gets to you car you are mistaken, if you are really really lucky you might get 3-4week old (from refining), in reality your more likely getting a couple of months old and it will be mixed with older again (mostly due to oil terminals running just one super tank so its never run dry before receiving another parcel into it)

Any yes, i work in the industry.   The actual differences between tesco, bp and shell super are very very marginal and most perceived differences are down to the petrol station storage rather than the actual fuel (as mentioned by another poster in this thread)

[shoaybmakda]

When I first bought my Gti I didn't know it needed higher Ron fuel until a few weeks of standard unleaded I switched to v power. After finding out Tesco sold 99 Ron for alot cheaper than v power I've always used Tesco 99.

I drive a stock Gti and have no idea if it will make a significant difference but if I'm putting a better grade of fuel in then it's all good.

Dosnt rtech also say when mapping to have a tank full of v power or Tesco 99 in when getting the car mapped? Must be something in it if that's their requirements

[Shoduchi]

Most likely you filled with fresh 99 RON petrol where before the V Power wasn't that fresh. I only recently learned that the higher RON capabilities of a petrol only last about a week in a tank. That's not a great deal of time, unfortunately.

Who on earth told you that because it is utter nonsense.  The spec shelf life of super is well above that of standard blendstocks (eurobob being the most commonly known blendstock in the uk for standard unleaded).  If you think your super is less than a week old by the time it gets to you car you are mistaken, if you are really really lucky you might get 3-4week old (from refining), in reality your more likely getting a couple of months old and it will be mixed with older again (mostly due to oil terminals running just one super tank so its never run dry before receiving another parcel into it)

Any yes, i work in the industry.   The actual differences between tesco, bp and shell super are very very marginal and most perceived differences are down to the petrol station storage rather than the actual fuel (as mentioned by another poster in this thread)

I'm glad to know that petrol can withstand longer in tanks before losing its octane level.

I already knew about those differences between fuels. It's the additives added to fuels that make the difference between them, the quality of the storage and turnover in petrol stations that matter. I prefer going to busy petrol stations (on low activity hours) because of that.

[rich83]

I am pretty sure my car feels the same with either. But I use VPower pretty much all the time

[PatchySan]

I tend to use Shell V-Power mainly but my GTI has no issues with the Tesco 99 stuff. I see no noticeable dip in performance and economy and it's much cheaper to V-Power too which is an added bonus.

However my previous MK5 Golf with the 1.6 FSI engine hated it, it knows the difference when I use Tesco 99 fuel as it shakes and vibrates badly on startup in cold days! No idea why but it just seems to happen only on Tesco 99 fuel, didn't have any issues when I refilled it with Shell V-Power after so because of this I tend to use Shell whenever I can as it just seems to be the most consistent for me.

Also Tesco in co-operation with Millbrook Testing had published economy results comparing its Momentum 99 fuel to a "competitors 99 grade premium fuel" which most likely is Shell V-Power as BP, Esso and others only do up to 97 RON here in the UK. Their report showed that on a VW Golf 1.6 FSI and Audi TT 2.0 TFSI (BWA) that the "competitors (V-Power)" 99 fuel to be the most efficient in terms of fuel consumption though the Tesco 99 fuel wasn't that far off to be honest, both were much better than the standard 95 RON fuels on test. Link to the report can be found here if you like these geeky stats.