Anyone got their Punto manual handy ? What fuel RON(s) does it recommend, i'm talking about the 1.4 8v engine.

Think it's the 188 engine ? Should be the same in EVO/2013/2013s ?

Ta,
Chris.

cjdl said:

Anyone got their Punto manual handy ? What fuel RON(s) does it recommend, i'm talking about the 1.4 8v engine.

Think it's the 188 engine ? Should be the same in EVO/2013/2013s ?

Ta,
Chris.

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What ever you can fill with in the UK

Ha, yeah. I found mine and it say no less than 95 RON, but no upper limit.

Some cars will specify 95-97 or 95-98, and the ECU will be able to adjust itself within a range. I have an offer to try V-Power Nitro+, which is 99 RON, I was just wondering if the ECU will be able to handle it, or if it's likely to start misfiring / running/idling rough due to excess Ethanol.

Only one way to find out I suppose !

It'll run fine, but you'll be wasting your money.

Some cars have ECUs which can adjust parameters (spark advance, boost, etc.) to match the octane rating of the fuel.

But yours doesn't.

Thanks. I have a 5p off a litre offer & triple points, so might be worth testing it out. I generally agree though that the premium fuels will do SFA for my car

fingers99 said:

It'll run fine, but you'll be wasting your money.

Some cars have ECUs which can adjust parameters (spark advance, boost, etc.) to match the octane rating of the fuel.

But yours doesn't.

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Isn't that what the knock sensor does

cjdl said:

Thanks. I have a 5p off a litre offer & triple points, so might be worth testing it out. I generally agree though that the premium fuels will do SFA for my car

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Some report better MPG with it, might be worth a try, will only be about 2ppl more by the time you take into account your 5p off a litre and 1.5p of points for every litre filled.

The knock sensor will retard the ignition if pinking occurs, but will not advance beyond the standard setting, no matter how good the fuel.

Most cars are designed to run on 95 unleaded (petrol cars, that is, before someone with a diesel comments). Higher octanes are useful for high performance engines that are designed for such fuels. Using them on normal cars is usually a waste of money. If you look at the claims for better fuel consumption, the percentage gain is usually less than the percentage extra cost.

That's possibly the clearest explanation I've seen so far... been on piston heads and read some jargon which gave me the idea. Meh, it isn't going to cost me anything to give it a try... so why not

@MEP, they'll give me 6ppl (normally 2), so is that worth 3ppl ?

cjdl said:

That's possibly the clearest explanation I've seen so far... been on piston heads and read some jargon which gave me the idea. Meh, it isn't going to cost me anything to give it a try... so why not

@MEP, they'll give me 6ppl (normally 2), so is that worth 3ppl ?

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Yes correct, me bad.

cjdl said:

Ha, yeah. I found mine and it say no less than 95 RON, but no upper limit.

Some cars will specify 95-97 or 95-98, and the ECU will be able to adjust itself within a range. I have an offer to try V-Power Nitro+, which is 99 RON, I was just wondering if the ECU will be able to handle it, or if it's likely to start misfiring / running/idling rough due to excess Ethanol.

Only one way to find out I suppose !

Click to expand...

Minimum 95 as the manual states.

I tried 92 to see if it pings. It did, and was pretty bad. Shouldn't the knock sensor be doing its job?

G78K said:

Minimum 95 as the manual states.

I tried 92 to see if it pings. It did, and was pretty bad. Shouldn't the knock sensor be doing its job?

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It does, but isn't designed to with that fuel, hence handbook saying min is 95.

Well, I stuck a full tank (and I mean FULL !) of V-Power Nitro+ in, and so far it seems encouraging. Seems to accelerate better, and definitely has more oompf going uphills.

Took it for a drive up over Glencoe yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised. MPG also seems slightly improved, so far, but I'll need to see the result when I finish this tank.

As a sidenote, my wee car is now 10,000 miles old I feel like I need a new one now :bang:



P.S. Somehow i managed to get 46.2 litres into it ? I thought my tank was 45L INCLUDING reserve ? :-/

cjdl said:

P.S. Somehow i managed to get 46.2 litres into it ? I thought my tank was 45L INCLUDING reserve ? :-/

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Filler neck etc

See here for some other discussion -- and links to fairly objective tests.

I ONLY use Shell V-Power in our m.y. 2000 Fiat 1,6-16V ( though handbook says 95 octane is OK).
We've been using it right from the moment we bought the car in 2003 with 17.000km's (=10.000mls).
Car has done almost 200.000 km's (=125.000mls) now, and runs like new.
Mpg is EXACTLY factory specs. and emissions at annual MOT are like a brandnew car.
Even on holidays abroad we ONLY use Shell V-Power ( gas station finder on TomTom etc).
I'm convinced about the good quality of premium fuels like V-Power, so I use it in my classic Alfa and Ducati too.

I use it in the MR2 tub and the T5 when I can't get to Tesco. But neither car seems able to tell Tesco 99 from V Power.

Its weird that manual only mentions RON 95. Previous cars manuals said 95, and optionally 98.
Usually you hear that 98 is only needed for high performance cars (read, with turbochargers). Shouldn't make a difference in power at all. In theory

In reality modern cars run at compression over 10, which once was unobtainable without high octance fuels.

My dad pointed out that car feels smoother with 98, especially accelerating from low revs. The difference is there, but not apparent after first fillup. I guess ECU adjusts itself gradually
Price difference between 95 and 98 here is 3.5%