just a quick one and i know everyone has said it makes no difference but what fuel do people run theres (95/97/99 RON) on and from what garage
I use the garage in my village for plain 95 RON, with the occasional treat of 97RON.
Like BlueBird67 we use regular unleaded in our 1.8 with the occasional fill up with V-Power Nitro+. We tend to use Shell as they are the closest and most convenient garage and are usually price competitive with the other local garages.
Have the engine de-carbonised (Terraclean), it made my mk 2.5 a lot more responsive.
Good to hear some actual feedback about that. My local trusted garage has just started doing it and I am considering getting my 140k NA done once I take delivery.
car hasn’t done much work only 36k on 2004 so not sure it would benefit from a clean.
but just thinking about running higher grade fuel for the amount of miles i do a year plus when i leave it for a few weeks/months the fuel won’t break down as much hopefully
I always Shell standard grade
Do you have any factual basis to your statement. I have never seen anything factual on this on the MX5 especially as you assume “plus when i leave it for a few weeks/months hopefully”.
I have found no factual back up to that one.
had my 1,8 2.5 since 2002 and its only ever had the normal stuff put in it. and its the normal stuff it will be running on in the spring that will have been in the tank since it got put away in the garage for the winter on 31 September…
To test the claims of high octane fuel, I filled up with 3/4 of a tank of BP Ultimate Unleaded with ‘Active Technology’ yesterday and drove off expecting there to be no difference whatsoever.
Wrong, when the fuel in the line ran out half a mile down the road I detected a definite pep in power. I won’t be able to check the mpg properly yet because I’m doing mostly short stop/start runs at the moment. It costs 10p per litre more but if there’s an improvement in mpg I reckon I’ll be using it regularly. Incidentally, the car has only done 48,000 miles so I don’t think there will be much carbon blocking up the works. Higher mileage cars should benefit even more.
Watch to the end - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQghB4asSnI
i didn’t say it would be better thats why i said hopefully so i didn’t assume anything i was asking whats peoples thoughts not to pick my opinion apart
The best thing to do is fill her up with one of the high octane brands and decide for yourself. It will only cost an extra £ or so and it won’t do any harm.
I’ve tried the branded super unleaded petrol(s) in a number of my vehicles. It made quite a difference on some, not noticeable on others. I first tried Shell Optimax (as it was called back then) in my Honda CB750 motorbike. I thought it had made a positive difference almost immediately but couldn’t be sure. So next time I filled it up with standard unleaded. The decrease in performance was very noticeable. So from then on it had super unleaded only. BP Ultimate gave the same improvement.
There is also some evidence that super unleaded lasts better in storage in a car fuel tank. I have another car (1986 engine) which was off the road for almost two years. It started first time on two year old super yet I’ve heard from other owners of the same type that unleaded went off quite quickly and the engine wouldn’t start; the carb became gummed up. Once drained and cleaned and replaced with some fresh fuel the engine started immediately.
Duplicate post removed.
From the 2006/07 owners manual. Note the *lines about lower than 96 RON causing decreased performance. This explains why mine feels more alive with BP Ultimate (97 RON). This is what I’ll be using from now on.
Your Mazda will perform best with fuel listed in the table.
Premium unleaded fuel 91 [ (R+M)/2 method] or above (96 RON or above)
- You may use a regular unleaded fuel with an Octane Rating from 87 to 90 (91 to 95 RON)
- This will slightly reduce performance, such as reduced engine output, and engine
knocking.
Fuel with a rating lower than 87 octane (91 RON) could cause the emission control system
to lose effectiveness. It could also cause engine knocking and serious engine damage.
Have always used what was Shell Optimax and then V Power Nitro + in all of my MX5’s, I personally feel the engine pulls better, it’s smoother running and the mpg is slightly better.
I also use V Power Nitro + in my daily driver (Suzuki Swift Sport) and the result is the same a for the MX5.
It costs a bit extra to fill up, but it’s worth it for the improvement in the way the car drives.
. I’d use V Power if there was a station nearby. I’m pleased with the result of BP Ultimate but will try V Power Nitro when possible. Can’t wait to try some in my Suzuki Bandit 1250 when she comes out of hibernation in Spring.
I’ve only ever used Shell V Power in my MX5 Sport Black. I’ve used it in previous cars which have usually shown a very slightly better fuel consumption than with regular fuel (maybe around 2 mpg or so). I use V Power because of the additives rather than to gain performance or to get better mpg.
Hope that’s helpful
I started to use the expensive fuel about 5 years ago when I had an Alfa Romeo 166 two litre. It had a 65 litre fuel tank and I got about an extra 60 miles per tank out of it. Can’t say I noticed any extra performance but definitely better mpg. I swapped the Alfa for my MX-5 almost two years ago and have always used the expensive fuel in it, it’s a 2001 1.8 mk2.5 and I figure that it’s cheaper to use it due to the better mpg and the additives will probably help keep the engine cleaner as well. My ex boss tried to explain the benefits of the higher octane fuel, I seem to remember him saying that it detonates at a higher temp due to the higher octane so it will always give better mpg because of that.