Your petrol of choice ??

[PeteUU]

Hello fellow Seven owners.

I realise that from September 1st here in the UK, the government has stated that standard unleaded petrol must contain 10% Ethanol. I know this is controversial but today my questions relate to the fuel available now, E5 (5% Ethanol) maximum.

1.  Do you obtain your fuel from a certain Supermarket or only from a brand name supplier, say Shell?
2.  Which grade do you purchase i.e Standard unleaded, Super Unleaded, Octane rated 95,97 or 99, etc?
3.  Do you add anything to the petrol before using such as Valvemaster or similar lead replacement substance?
4.  How long have you made your choices and how does it suit your Seven?

I'm trying to obtain as much information as possible, am testing many fuels in the 'lab' to find out if the details for each given sample stand up and eventually to hopefully announce my findings on this forum. I am purely a private individual, not connected with any organisation and am not being paid for the research I am doing.

Your details would be most welcome.
Thanks.  P.

[Tony Griffiths]

I just buy whichever is cheaper and from the station nearest to where the car is about to run out. I never bother about the brand, nor do I add anything to it. Lead substitutes are unnecessary; Sevens were running for years before leaded fuel was introduced - and this was sold as a means of preventing "knocking" and, as a side benefit, reducing valve seat wear, neither of which troubles an A7 engine. I cannot detect any performance difference at all between any of the fuels. With its low compression ratio, I understand that a Seven can, when warmed up, even be persuaded to run (illegally) on paraffin - especially with a 24T2 carb fitted with an adjustable main jet.

[Steve kay]

Tony's response is interesting. Good lord there is no evidence whatsoever that a Seven, or indeed a 2CV, once warmed up will run perfectly happily on TVO or parrafin, heaven forfend. What might be of concern are the side effects of higher ethanol content, not for performance, but corrosion. There have been comments on the forum about dangers to fuel pumps, countered by suggestions that parts such as diaphragms etc  currently offered by our cherished suppliers are made to deal with ethanol.   The other concern for cars not using a gleaming bronze carb, is whether there is a threat to Mazak Zeniths. Further information would be most welcome.

[Mike Costigan]

Our sort of ancient side-valve will certainly run on TVO or paraffin. My father ran his Seven throughout the War years on paraffin, and local Sheffield members may recall Don Rowarth who ran a scrapyard out in the Peak District - he had a box saloon that he ran on TVO. When my brother bought his Vernon Derby back in the early 1960s, then fitted with a side-valve Ford Ten engine, it had been run on TVO for some years by the previous owner.

[GK5268]

To answer your questions:

1.  Do you obtain your fuel from a certain Supermarket or only from a brand name supplier, say Shell?
For the past 16 months fuel supply has been almost exclusively from Sainsbury (because they have card payment at the pump), same site


2.  Which grade do you purchase i.e Standard unleaded, Super Unleaded, Octane rated 95,97 or 99, etc?
Standard unleaded E5 95RON

3.  Do you add anything to the petrol before using such as Valvemaster or similar lead replacement substance?
No, straight from the nozzle

4.  How long have you made your choices and how does it suit your Seven?

16 months, previously was using an independent (mostly), have used other petrol when needed to fill up, such as BP & Texaco, and not noticed any difference, fuel consumption averages out at around 35mpg, long runs look at around 40mpg, although at one fill-up on the trip to the Beaulieu Rally last weekend I achieved 49mpg! 

The only issue I have experienced was fuel vapourisation, three occasions, once last year on the hottest day - light traffic making good progress at around 25mph when the engine died, and twice this year, April & June, not particularly hot, but crawling slowly in traffic for about 10 minutes both times. Pumping the primer on the mechanical fuel pump (why the engine could not have maintained this...) restored service and on the way again after just a few moments. I have since changed the diaphragm to the fuel pump and last year after the first problem, put an exhaust wrap around the downpipe and fitted heat reflecting material to the underside of the flitch plate. I now keep a jar of water and a chamois leather to provide a damp wrap to the fuel pump. The fuel pump is hotter to the touch than the now wrapped exhaust pipe...

[andrew34ruby]

Hello fellow Seven owners.

I realise that from September 1st here in the UK, the government has stated that standard unleaded petrol must contain 10% Ethanol. 

Must contain 10%? That does not seem to be the case. It seems that E10 petrol will contain  UP TO 10% ethanol.

I have tried various brands of E5 and tried 'super' and cannot detect a difference. Certainly the weather makes a bigger difference to how the car runs.

[Hedd_Jones]

1.  Do you obtain your fuel from a certain Supermarket or only from a brand name supplier, say Shell?

No - Nearest available supplier.

2.  Which grade do you purchase i.e Standard unleaded, Super Unleaded, Octane rated 95,97 or 99, etc?

Standard Unleaded

3.  Do you add anything to the petrol before using such as Valvemaster or similar lead replacement substance?

Very Occasionally - dash of 2 stroke oil

4.  How long have you made your choices and how does it suit your Seven?


I've had 7s since I passed my test 25years ago. This is what Ive always done. Suits them all fine. Austins in the family longer than me. 

My daughter inherited my fathers car which had been sat for 3 months, we had trouble with rust in the tank. But regular use since seems to have prevented re-occurrence.

I too have had vaporization problems in the past, mainly related to fitting a side draft carb to a scuttle tank car. Put it back as Austins intended - all good since. 

[Tony Betts]

a few years ago i had an old jag x type, it would never run right on sainsburys fuel. so i used the local shell. and it ran fine.

so nowadays locally i tend to take a trip to the local shell. just my findings. it dont have to be anyone elses

our mitsubishi l200 runs fine on any suppliers fuel.

for the supersports, i use the cheapest leaded pump at the shell garage. with NO addatives. and it runs fine.

as for the other problems, when 5% ethanol came in we had alot of people suddenly getting diaphram problems. it may just be coincidence? we also had more people reporting the brass float sinking, something eating the lead solder. again it may just be coincidence.

but when 10% comes in, ill keep a close check on soldered joints.

tony.

[Austin Nippy]

Hi,
I generally use the "super" petrol - whatever name they give it at the garage. I understand this to be ethanol free so hopefully will avoid some of the horror stories I've heard about ethanol in petrol.
I also find the Nippy seems to go better on it too. On occasions, I've had no option but to put "cheap" supermarket fuel in and it really doesn't seem to like it - misfires when warm so doesn't feel smooth and has little pull / power (relatively speaking) and constantly cuts out in traffic. Swap the petrol and it's happy again.
Don't know if that helps or not?
Best wishes,
Nick

[MartinH]

Branded fuels is a clever marketing construct. With the exception of Fawley in Hampshire all UK refining is owned by specialist refining companies, not the big oil companies. There is no such thing as Shell or BP petrol. Fuel is picked up by tankers from the refinery "rack" based on price and logistics. Esso petrol in Inverness will most likely come from Inneos in Grange mouth, not ExxonMobil in Fawley. What is true is that the "brands" will supplement the "rack" fuel with additives. So, ironically the petrol companies do exactly what we all do; they buy on price and location and then choose, or not, to add their own snake oil additives.