Are superfuels worth the cash? - The claims, the reality
06 April 2011
They cost more but are claimed to offer better economy. Are petrol and diesel superfuels too good to be true? Peter de Nayer investigates.
Sales of so-called ‘superfuels’ are rising, and it’s little wonder: with their exotic names and bold promises of better efficiency, it would be easy to think that they could hold the answer to increasing fuel prices.
As a result of being made from higher-quality ingredients and being more finely distilled, superfuels contain more energy than standard fuels. Their makers claim they can provide extra mileage benefits of up to 25% – which would be more than enough to offset the extra 4-9% cost for buying the fuel.
Here, we independently test those extra mileage claims in real driving conditions to find out if superfuels really can help make our motoring cheaper.
Sales of so-called ‘superfuels’ are rising, and it’s little wonder: with their exotic names and bold promises of better efficiency, it would be easy to think that they could hold the answer to increasing fuel prices.
As a result of being made from higher-quality ingredients and being more finely distilled, superfuels contain more energy than standard fuels. Their makers claim they can provide extra mileage benefits of up to 25% – which would be more than enough to offset the extra 4-9% cost for buying the fuel.
Here, we independently test those extra mileage claims in real driving conditions to find out if superfuels really can help make our motoring cheaper.
We compared both petrol and diesel superfuels to determine the benefits. The petrol tests were conducted in a VW Polo 1.2 SE and the diesel tests in a BMW 318d Touring.
