Premium Fuel. Is it worth paying more?

In the UK today, most standard fuels feature a Research Octane Number (RON) of 95. However, you may have noticed whilst filling up at the pumps that many forecourts offer a second ‘premium’ option featuring a higher RON usually of around 98. These premium fuels normally cost around 10p more per litre than their standard counterparts. But the big question is, is it worth it? Well first lets look at the basics.

How do Premium Fuels differentiate from Standard Fuels?

Fuel suppliers claim that using a premium fuel with a higher octane rating has multiple benefits for both the vehicle and the driver. These benefits supposedly include increased performance and increased fuel economy, attractive propositions for many motorists at the expense of a few more pounds and the pumps. The major fuel companies also claim that their premium offerings offer greater engine protection, ensuring the longetivity of your precious motor.

Fact or Fiction?

Many people instantly write off premium fuels as being a gimmick in order for forecourts to charge more for what is essentially a product that does the same job. After being in the motor industry for well over 25 years, we can thankfully shed some light on what is a ‘grey area’ for many discerning motorists.

Does using Premium Fuels improve economy?

First of all, the fuels containing a higher octane level should burn more efficiently. In turn, this means that more power should be delivered from less fuel being burned. Obviously this depends on how you drive your car and what vehicle you have, although from our experience, all drivers regardless of vehicle should at the very least notice a minor increase in economy. However on many of the cars we encounter, in particular cars offering higher levels of performance, the difference can be quite noticeable.

But what about Performance?

In a similar vein to economy, the difference premium fuels will make to performance will largely vary depending on the type of car in question. For example, due to higher compression ratios and engine temperatures, cars fitted with turbocharged and/or supercharged engines are likely to benefit more from the useage of higher octane fuels. From our experience, cars with more performance biased engines tend to produce noticeable improvements in performance throughout the rev range and also in the smoothness and tractability of the unit. Owners of cars with more economy biased engines will likely see negligible improvements in performance.

Do Premium Fuels help prolong engine life?

Yes. In all our years within the industry we can safely confirm that using poor quality fuel over prolonged periods can lead to issues such as worn engine components, engine knock and blocked injectors to name a few. For example, Esso use twice the amount of detergent addatives in their premium grade fuel and most other providers offer a similar increase in their higher grade offerings.

To Conclude…

In short, we’d always recommend using premium fuels where available. However, this doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with standard offerings, but we would recommend filling up with petrol or diesel from a trusted brand (Texaco, Shell, BP, Esso etc) rather than marginally cheaper offerings from supermarket forecourts as the quality of the branded fuels generally speaking far surpass their supermarket counterparts and have been refined to a higher standard. The choice is yours, but our professional opinion is to always use the best quality fuel you can afford.