That's what I do; supermarket petrol plus Miller's. Present car (Focus Mk2, 2-litre) has done over 70,000 miles with me. Fuel consumption 38 - 45 mpg depending on conditions. EGR valve replaced a year ago (not uncommon, apparently); nothing else fuel-related.

Previously, I had a Peugeot 306 HDi which I treated similarly - supermarket diesel plus equivalent Miller's. I put over 100,000 miles on it. Average consumption 53 mpg - never seemed to vary. No fuel-related issues whatsoever.

Two cars, I hasten to add, that were/have been outstandingly reliable and trouble-free, and a pleasure to drive.

Edited by FP on 04/03/2017 at 19:58

Edited by SLO76 on 04/03/2017 at 21:02

This topic is an old favourite which never ceases to arouse passions - I've no idea why.

These are the three positions assumed by those who contribute: all comparable fuel is of the same quality, fuel additives don't work and you shouldn't use them; comparable fuel varies from filling station to filling station, fuel additives do work and various people with experience recommend them. Little, if any, evidence apart from the anecdotal is available to support either of these arguments and the experience of one driver over a few hundred thousand miles in a handful of vehicles is too small to be significant statistically.

The third position is that fuel additives may be helpful and it's worth putting a few pence per litre into fuel expenditure. That is anyone's choice and is a perfectly sensible position to take up.

I shall continue to ignore the scorn of one poster here who has no more authority to pontificate on the topic than anyone else.

You are aware that BMW, Mercedes, VAG, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Vauxhall, Volvo - along with a host of others, actually SELL fuel additives to go in the tank, which are advertised as 'helping to keep your fuel system clean' ?

You pointed out the BMW one the other week and it works out at 20 pence a litre, what a rip off. Imagine the public outcry if fuel went up 20 pence a litre overnight. The manual for our new Superb (a VAG product) clearly says "use no fuel or oil additives" so that is exactly what I will do.

As they used to say " a fuel and his money".

Now, I'll direct you to a webpage - this one actually has a picture of a bottle of VAG group additive on it (though I will concede that this picture was not taken in the UK).

www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/audi-g17-fuel-additi.../

For those not willing to click on a link, I'll describe the bottle - it's a yellowish liquid, in a bottle like you'd get in Southern Europe for small 'tourist' bottles of limoncello, ouzo, or the like. It states on it (in several languages including English) "Multipurpose additive for petrol". It has on it the VW, Audi, SEAT ... and SKODA logos.

Further down, there's what looks suspiciously exactly like the BMW/Merc additive 'tins' that I mentioned the other week. With VW, Audi and (once again) SKODA badges on.

So, first you state that all handbooks you've ever seen prohibit the use of additives - shown to be false.

Now you say that SKODA say never to use additives ... shown to be false, as they sell their own 'branded' ones.

You talk about 'a fuel and his money'. At your rate, you'll be going down the route of John F, and warning people to only change their tyres every 30 years.

Another saying for you - You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Or, to rephrase it a bit, you can show someone something sensible, but if they're of the flat-earth variety, they won't take a blind bit of notice.

¦ On vehicles using the prescribed unleaded petrol of min. 95 ROZ, the use of petrol with a higher octane number than 95 ROZ can lead to an increase in power and reduction in fuel consumption.

My filler cap says min 95 Octane, therefore the above statement from the manual applies.

Double post. Please delete.

Edited by Glaikit Wee Scunner {P} on 14/03/2017 at 21:15

A very rare A8 SWB W12 sports quattro. Only a few hundred were made, and only about 60 RHDs were sold here. Took me ages to find a decent one. Lower geared final drive than the LWB gives stunning performance. Hardly anyone knows they exist - it's a great Q car!

with twelve busy pistons silently churning away

What Audi do you have with 12 pistons?

A very rare A8 SWB W12 sports quattro. Only a few hundred were made, and only about 60 RHDs were sold here. Took me ages to find a decent one. Lower geared final drive than the LWB gives stunning performance. Hardly anyone knows they exist - it's a great Q car!

PS sorry, forgot to copy question in last post which, without it, looks senseless.