Super Unleaded fuel - Ethanol Free (no longer it seems!)

[Roscobbc]

For those of us who need to use Super Unleaded petrol 99 octane and/or want to use ethanol 'free' petrol (perhaps having previously experienced the corrosive and other detrimental effects ethanol can cause to carbs, fuel lines and pumps on older classic cars) were perhaps relieved when Esso announced a couple of years or so back that they were to market ethanol 'free' super unleaded petrol in most parts of the UK.
For those of us with older higher compression cars it was great news - and I have been using Esso Synergy Supreme Super Unleaded 99 octane petrol exclusively ever since (giving an alternative and credible source alternative to Shell's Super Unleaded 99 octane) - but no longer it seems.........see underline quote below from Esso's website

What’s in our Synergy Supreme+ 99 premium petrol?​

Our Synergy Supreme+ 99 petrol has more cleaning power than our regular petrol – and includes molecules engineered to reduce friction in your engine and help moving parts work more efficiently.**​

We currently supply an ethanol-free Synergy Supreme+ 99 unleaded in some parts of the UK. From September 2023 our Synergy Supreme+ 99 will transition to contain up to a maximum of 5% ethanol at all Esso pumps irrespective of which part of the country they are located. The labelling at our pumps will remain as E5 for Synergy Supreme+ 99 unleaded.​

 

[Chuffer]

For those of us who need to use Super Unleaded petrol 99 octane and/or want to use ethanol 'free' petrol (perhaps having previously experienced the corrosive and other detrimental effects ethanol can cause to carbs, fuel lines and pumps on older classic cars) were perhaps relieved when Esso announced a couple of years or so back that they were to market ethanol 'free' super unleaded petrol in most parts of the UK.
For those of us with older higher compression cars it was great news - and I have been using Esso Synergy Supreme Super Unleaded 99 octane petrol exclusively ever since (giving an alternative and credible source alternative to Shell's Super Unleaded 99 octane) - but no longer it seems.........see underline quote below from Esso's website

What’s in our Synergy Supreme+ 99 premium petrol?​

Our Synergy Supreme+ 99 petrol has more cleaning power than our regular petrol – and includes molecules engineered to reduce friction in your engine and help moving parts work more efficiently.**​

We currently supply an ethanol-free Synergy Supreme+ 99 unleaded in some parts of the UK. From September 2023 our Synergy Supreme+ 99 will transition to contain up to a maximum of 5% ethanol at all Esso pumps irrespective of which part of the country they are located. The labelling at our pumps will remain as E5 for Synergy Supreme+ 99 unleaded.​

Oh bugger and damn !! I use it all the time unless I am desperate and running on fumes . Looks like we will be buying lots more bottles of additive again .

 

[Roscobbc]

The other supposedly Super Unleaded 'choice' (although not ethanol free) is Tesco's 'Momentum' - even though I tend to use Tesco's 95 unleaded for my daily driver.......TBH I'm wary of trying their Momentum Super Unleaded fuel in my Vette (unsure about cleanliness/maintenance/freshness etc of their storage facilities)

 

[Chuffer]

The other supposedly Super Unleaded 'choice' (although not ethanol free) is Tesco's 'Momentum' - even though I tend to use Tesco's 95 unleaded for my daily driver.......TBH I'm wary of trying their Momentum Super Unleaded fuel in my Vette (unsure about cleanliness/maintenance/freshness etc of their storage facilities)

Never ever use Tesco petrol in the C3 . I do use their 95 Ron in the Jeep but get on average 2 mpg less then I did pre ethanol days.

 

[CaptainK]

That's a bugger about the Esso petrol as I have an Esso near me and liked to use it - mostly because I also get discount on Esso petrol. Still, I'll keep using it - my Edelbrock carb is rated for much, much higher Ethanol percentages, so no worries there. Just the rest of the fuel system to keep an eye on, and I suspect the fuel lines were swapped out many years back in the states as I believe they've had Ethanol in their fuel for many, many years.

 

[Invetterate]

The other supposedly Super Unleaded 'choice' (although not ethanol free) is Tesco's 'Momentum' - even though I tend to use Tesco's 95 unleaded for my daily driver.......TBH I'm wary of trying their Momentum Super Unleaded fuel in my Vette (unsure about cleanliness/maintenance/freshness etc of their storage facilities)

I use the 99 Momentum whenever I can get hold of it - always been fine. It's by far the best value. Alternatively, Sainsbury's do a 97 but not at all locations. Some Gulf stations also do 97. Not sure about the ethanol content but this for me preferable to 95 in both the Vette and daily driver. I do realise that the C5s are more accommodating though....

 

[Roscobbc]

The whole fuel pricing regime irritates me - both for every day useage and for Super Unleaded. The fact that we're charged an 8 to 10p premium by Shell and Esso 'grinds' - that's 40p, perhaps as much as 50p a gallon extra (over and above an already over-inflated retail price). Seems that Tesco's Momentum 99 is about 7 or 8p less per litre than the others two major suppliers.....I'm going to try it for the next Vette fill-up.

 

[Invetterate]

The whole fuel pricing regime irritates me - both for every day useage and for Super Unleaded. The fact that we're charged an 8 to 10p premium by Shell and Esso 'grinds' - that's 40p, perhaps as much as 50p a gallon extra (over and above an already over-inflated retail price). Seems that Tesco's Momentum 99 is about 7 or 8p less per litre than the others two major suppliers.....I'm going to try it for the next Vette fill-up.

Definitely worth a try Ross