Our
Ibiza ST (estate) has the 1.0 litre (95hp I think?) 3 cylinder direct injection engine with cam belt - not chain. A number of years ago I tried Shell premium grade fuel in a couple of our cars (there are 6 in the immediate family at any one time) but I have to say I really found no noticeable driving effect. The only comment I would make is that some vehicles may benefit from a high octane fuel because their engine management systems can run more aggressive advanced ignition settings due to the higher RON suppressing pre ignition. I had hoped to see this effect on at least one of the cars, but no. I haven't yet tried it in the
Ibiza as I'm very happy with how it goes on supermarket fuel - and anyway it's just convenient to fill up when doing the shopping - but with it's sophisticated wee turboed engine I suspect it's likely to be the best candidate yet to benefit. I'm also slightly concerned about LSPI :
https://www.oronite.com/about/news/low-speed-pre-ignition.aspx and, I would imagine, a higher RON fuel would
help to suppress this effect. However I'm not worrying greatly about this phenomenon which does not seem to especially affect our engines? Unlike the earlier TSI engines, I've not read lately of any significant piston/ring failure problems on this belt cam generation (EA211)?
I fully appreciate that additive packages can vary somewhat but I think a minimum standard is probably mandatory? On the subject of additives, historically I'm not a believer in supplementary additives (little bottles of "magic" potion/snake oil) and I've not really had any fueling system problems on any of our cars, either diesel or petrol, which I could honestly say were down to the fuel. HOWEVER, in contradiction to my earlier approach, whilst still fueling the cars with supermarket fuel (usually Morrisons), I'm now adding Archoil AR 6900-P MAX to the
Ibiza:
https://www.powerenhancer.co.uk/arc...d-petrol-synthesis.html#tab-label-description Mainly in the, very small hope, that it will slow the build up of carbon deposits in the immediate locality of the back of the inlet valves and seats. I'm not quite sure how it can achieve this being as how the engine is direct injection, but it claims it can. Even if it doesn't it contains strong cleaning agents which I'm sure will benefit the rest of the engine and it also contains lubricants which I'm hoping may benefit the high (very high) pressure fuel pump and injectors. Just because I've got it I've also started putting it in the Panda (1.2 Dynamic Eco). I've run wee Fiat Pandas as a second car for many years and this Panda is a long term "keeper" (it's quite a rare model being the Dymanic Eco version) which was only made for 2 years and attracts only £30 road tax but our car's original owner specified a number of "extras" like a panoramic glass sun roof etc - We've named her "Becky" (taken from the number plate) and she's my wee "project". It will be interesting to see, if I ever have to do a head gasket, what the cleanliness of the combustion chambers, piston crowns and inlet tracts looks like. Incidentally, whilst the subject of additives is being considered, I've never been at ease with oil additives, either for engine or transmission. I much prefer to buy a really top quality oil which complies fully with the vehicle manufacturer's specifications. It's worth taking into account that the latest research into LSPI seems to be finding that engine oil is playing a big part. several oil manufacturers are now developing oils specifically to address this
problem and try to reduce the destructive roll of the oil in this LSPI
problem. I read they are also trying to reduce it's roll in the inlet tract clogging
problem so I take this as an indicator that if you have one of these downsized but powerful turboed wee engines putting an oil additive in it may be ill advised?
Being an old f**t I drive quite conservatively these days in that I don't often rev an engine above about 4,000 rpm however I'm no "moving traffic jam" either. On the long journeys - Edinburgh to Barnstaple in north Devon and sometimes to Salisbury Wilts, typically 3 journeys per year before the Covid rubbish kicked in, The
Ibiza would consistently return almost exactly 60 mpg - slightly under when she was new, now never less than 60 (calculated from "2 click" tank full to "2 click" refill) cruising at 70 with cruise engaged wherever appropriate and "comfortably" keeping up with traffic flow on normal roads. - by which I mean, not particularly trying to drive "economically". I'm less sure what I get running around locally but I regularly see figure in the mid 40s appearing on the dash display when traveling across town and then out into the country south of the city where my two boys live. Interestingly perhaps? my old 1999 Cordoba estate 1,9tdi - the engine before the PD, and a car I absolutely loved and still mourn it's passing - returned virtually identical fuel consumption although it did not have cruise.