Generally supermarket fuel is not as good for your car as the branded version because, as stated earlier, it usually lacks the important additives.
That's why if you use supermarket fuel on a regular basis you are advised to occasionally fill up with Esso, BP, Texaco etc to "clean" out your engine.
My choice is Texaco about once a month but it does mean a five-mile journey each way, whereas the local Tesco is just down the road.
However, at least in my area, there's no difference in price between supermaket and branded fuel (apart from ClubCard points!)
|
That's why if you use supermarket fuel on a regular basis you are advised to occasionally fill up with Esso, BP, Texaco etc to "clean" out your engine.
Which body or organisation is it that advises this?
|
Earlier this month from Fleet News:
"One driver has complained that the supermarket fuel is poor quality, has low detergent content and if used frequently leads to breakdowns, which in a diesel car means a new fuel pump! Is this correct?
Answer: "Basically, all fuel retailed in the UK must meet certain standards. There are British Standard definitions for every fuel type and quality, usually marked clearly on the pump.
"It is also well-known that most supplies to forecourts are blends from 'the local refinery'. While these are branded, there is a huge amount of cross-branding of the same chemical mix, with some additives mixed in, late in the process (often in the tanker itself) to support product differentiation.
"In my view, the overall level of fuel quality from UK forecourts is high and pretty uniform. It is not generally true that 'supermarket fuel is very poor quality' ? much of it is almost the same as the branded liquids with the oil-company names."
Note the fact that supermarket fuel "must meet certain (BS)standards" and that much of it is "almost the same as the branded liquids".
Also, from ClassicCars:
"Cheap supermarket petrol often doesn?t have the extra detergent additives that more expensive brands feature but for old car engines, which may have decades of internal deposits that are best left untouched, this isn?t necessarily a bad thing; the octane rating is more important."
I've no personal qualms about using Tesco etc fuel but I do freqently also used a branded fuel to help keep the engine in good order.
|
Stuartli: 'if you use supermarket fuel on a regular basis you are advised to occasionally fill up with Esso'
Aprilia: 'Which body or organisation is it that advises this?'
Stuartli: 'the overall level of fuel quality from UK forecourts is high and pretty uniform. It is not generally true that 'supermarket fuel is very poor quality' ? much of it is almost the same as the branded liquids with the oil-company names."'
So your point, Stuartli is exactly what????
And Stuartli, what makes you think that using a branded fuel keeps the engine in good order?
By the way, I've jsut started up a new business selling fuel additives that will make your car run better. At £25 per litre you cannot go wrong: it will improve your driving no end - just send me some cash & I'll send you some.
|
Oh yes, and if you won't send me £25, why not?
Don't you believe me as much as you believe xxxxx [insert any major brand with premium priced product]?
If not, why not?
|
|
Even if I sent you £25 and you sent the imaginary litre bottle, there's no way it could actively help to improve my driving - no matter how many litres I used...:-)
|
Even if I sent you £25 and you sent the imaginary litre bottle, there's no way it could actively help to improve my driving - no matter how many litres I used...:-)
maybe mapmaker intended you to drink the magic potion, rather than pouring it into the engine? ;-)
|
If you happen to do the same journey every day, then an easy test to see which is best for you is to try supermarket petrol vs a decent brand. I did and here are the results (remember I do the same journey to work & back 5 days a week (30 miles each way) and do not use the car at weekends).
Tesco petrol - 420 miles on 1 tank (42 mpg)
Sainsburys petrol - 360 miles on 1 tank (36 mpg)
TOTAL petrol - 480 miles on 1 tank (48 mpg)
The results shocked me and I wouldnt touch supermarket petrol with a barge pole. I drive a 97 Honda civic 1.5 Vtec and all the above tests were carried out in July/August 2005.
Try yourself and post the results here.
Cheers.
Sain
|
I find it very difficult to believe a difference of 120 miles between the Sainsbury and Total figures to be credible.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
|
Try yourself and post the results here.
No noticable difference between using Esso and Sainsbury's petrol.
|
Like Stuartli, I find that 120 miles difference to comprehend.
In the 3 years i've had my Tdi, I have logged every tankful, and other than long distance drives as opposed to my daily commute, there is little variation
I've tried Shell, Shell Extra, BP, BP ultimate, sainsbury's, tesco, asda, with and without millers, with and without 20% veg oil (purely for research purposes) and i can tell you that the only thing that makes more than 2 or 3% difference is...
the school run.
When other people stop driving their kids to school, my consumption figures improve by 4-7%
|
What we really need to know is when any additives are added to the fuel.
To be more specific, I think it is crystal clear that fuel comes from many different refineries to most fuel retailers, and fuel, be it petrol or diesel, is these days refined to fairly precise specifications. However diffent oil companies do use differing additive packs, especially where diesel is concerned, (ie anti-foaming, anti-waxing and cetane improving etc).
Therefore my question is if Sainsburys gets the odd load from say Oil company 1, is it just luck that they might use better additives than Oil company 2 who usually supply Sainsburys. Or is the additive pack added once the destination of the fuel is known, eg Good stuff for franchised stations and crap for the cost cutting supermarket forecourts ?
|
y'see, when someone surprises outlandish results, and then I realise that they registered today to post those results and have posted nothing else, I come over all suspicious.
Normally a newbie will post something and then hang around for an hour to see if its answered, and then frequently respond again. This one appears to have registered, posted an dleft.
Surely not a Total employee ?
|
Surely not a Total employee ?
or it could have been.....
no, the poster said he drove a honda, not an auditdi or overpriced golf ;-)
|
Generally speaking the petrol stations around my way, including the supermarkets, all charge the same price for petrol and diesel.
In fact my local Tesco is just a stone's throw from a BP outlet and yet it's definitely the busier of the two - must be Clubcard points that swing the balance...:-)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
|
two - must be Clubcard points that swing the balance...:-)
Not to mention the 5p off a litre when you buy £50 worth of shopping offer that Teco run every now and then - that must include 75% of people that shop there.
|
Owing to the vast number of grockles in my area I've filled up in the local independant over the summer. Gone back to the supermarket this last fill and...
before independant 46.8 on avarage
during independant 51.2 on average
back to supermarket 47.1 on average
All figs due to on board comp so errors should cancel out. No change in driving patterns either.
Guess where I'll fill up next?
VX cdti150
|
I?ve posted this in the past but will repeat it. My son in law drove fuel tankers for Wincanton with Texaco livery several years until about two years ago when he changed to car transporters.
He tells me that when they fill the tanker they are given some kind of card by the clerk in the office which slots into the filling rig which tells it what additives to put in.
It depends who the customer is what additives and how much is put in.
The drivers haven?t a clue what additives goes in as everything is done automatically and literally don?t care either but is definitely different for different customers.
|
|
I would be interested to know by what mechanism one brand of petrol can have 5-10% higher calorific value than another - especially if it is all down to these mystical 'additives'. In fact most additive (detergents, octane improvers etc.) actually *reduce* the calorific value of the fuel.
|
Have been using Tesco fuel for many years,never had a problem.Also tried where I cannot locate a Tesco,other suppliers whether BP/Shell or any other when a refill is necessary.I have found no difference between any of them.So as far as I am concerned Tesco fuel is as good as any other!!
--
Steve
|
>>Tesco fuel is as good as any other!!>>
And so say all (or most at least) of us....:-)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
|
If I had a product that i could factually and scientifically prove that it was better than my competitors, and more cost efficient, I would be singing it from the rooftops, taking out full page ads and providing conclusive evidence that could not be argued against.
Strange, I havent seen any.
|
|
My brother was quite happy to fill his C3 1.4 HDI with any brand of diesel, until he happened to fill up with Shell one day, and then noticed a significant improvement in mpg.
|
|
Doesn't HJ himself have good things to say about Shell and Texaco petrol?
|
|
There was an item on local TV news tonight about a Texaco garage in Derbyshire charging £1.05 a litre for diesel. The owner said words to the effect thet "we are an independent retailer, although Texaco branded we are supplied by the majors and have no control over prices". Sounded as if it wasn't always Texaco and could be any of the "majors" which he used. So how do we know whether it is Texaco, Shell, Esso, BP etc that we buy at this garage? Doesn't that rather negate saying "buy Shell or Texaco"?
|
The Texaco garage, charging £1.05, is near where I live.
A bit further on is an Esso and a Shell garage which both are charging 92.9p.
I always go to the Shell place, cheapest and best, you know it makes sense.
|
Except for premium fuels eg optimax and ultimate, the base fuels come from the same source.
The additive is added to the tanker dependent upon customer.(except lubricity additive for diesel that is added at the refinery)
All brands of additive contain detergent the difference between the brands can be significant. (I've seen the inlet valves and injectors)
the additives industry spends a fortune on developing new detergents that are more thermally stable. (very difficult)
All additives increase cylinder head deposits by ~10% the main aim is to keep inlet valves and injectors clean.
Feel companies really squeeze the additives manufacturers on price.
Thought of the day a Polos inlet valves run at ~400C an old Mercs inlet valves probably run at ~250C
|
I do find a difference between different brands of Diesel. I buy Esso as a rule, the car just feels a bit livelier, and goes a bit further on a tank full, than Shell or BP (which is usually dearer). I tried texaco once, no difference.
I haven't touched supermarket petrol or diesel since an automatic Omega I had kept cutting out when turning into/out off side roads. The garage cleaned out the fuel system (throttle body??) and said it was gunked up. HJ reported similar finding from other Omega readers, and put it don to supermarket fuel. Changed to Shell petrol, problem solved.
BTW "super" diesel seems to be more common in France,but I just by the cheaper stuff (but not from supermarkets - even in France I don't rate it)
TimBo
|
|
|
