Super fuel can save money

Dec 15 2008 Ian Johnson

Super fuel can save money

A LEADING tuning firm has proved that the 99 Octane fuel on sale at garages these days can actually give more miles per gallon.

Many drivers pull back from buying it beacause of its higher cost and the thought that it is just for high performance cars.

But a series of tests conducted by Thorney Motorsport, the UK's leading road car tuning experts give some festive cheer for the nation's motorists.

It was found that a simple switch to high performance fuel delivered significant improvements in both fuel economy and power - improving MPG by 14% amounting to a total cost of fuel saving of more than seven per cent or eight pence per litre at today's prices.

The four month 'on the road' trial set out to discover if the highest octane fuels offer not just great performance but real value for money. It pitched Tesco 99 Octane - the top performing high octane petrol from previous tests - against standard unleaded petrol (95 octane) and found that the 99 Octane petrol:

Thorney developed an intensive real world test programme testing two mechanically identical Vauxhall Astra VXRs 2.0-litre Z20LEH turbocharged cars on the road as part of their owners' daily driving routine.

Testing took four months and the cars were first driven on standard unleaded (95 octane) and then on Tesco 99 Octane with mileage, fuel consumption and cost of fuel recorded. The cars' power and torque was measured on a Dyno Dynamics chassis dyno.

The secret is that the 99 Octane used burns hotter and longer due to the combination of a higher octane and five per cent bioethanol. So for every litre of fuel burnt more energy is released from the engine - meaning more power output and less fuel needed.