I am a regular reader of the Honest John column in Saturday's Telegraph. In the column Honest John regularly recommends premium petrol such as Shell Optimax. Is there any benefit to my car, e.g. longevity, fuel economy of purchasing Shell Diesel, Shell Diesel Plus or am I best to stick to Tesco's cheapest?
I am interested in technical details or other websites if anyone can point me in the right direction please.
Many thanks
Linden
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This question arises again and again on this forum and the answer is there is no straight answer. For me, I find that Optimax gives me better fuel economy, it's as simple as that. Ten other people will say no it doesn't and then ten more will say yes it does.
You'll need to experiment with your vehicle to see if it works for you. If it does, great. If it doesn't then buy the cheap stuff.
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Do they do Optimax diesel now? Is this what they call the new stuff that Shell was being piloted in the North West last autumn?
My experience, FWIW - when I bought my current car I had a brief fling with BP Ultimate Diesel, which seemed OK, but pricey - then switched to my old favourite, Texaco Clean System 3 diesel, which is as good and 4-5p per litre cheaper.
Having run a few tanks of that through, I have now, as I have always done in the past, started adding Millers' Diesel Power Plus with every fill, which has (as with the other two diesels that I have owned) made an already sweet-running engine even better. Six quid from our local factor, for a bottle that lasts over 3,000 miles, is an absolute bargain.
To summarise: Texaco plus Millers is good when used in SEAT Leon TDI 110, SEAT Ibiza TDI 130 and FIAT Punto 1.3 Multijet.
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Depends on which car you have as to whether it can use higher octane petrol usefully or not. What you got?
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Doh - just read the title, you're on about diesels, the body text was a bit misleading. Diesels run on old cooking oil and a cap full of turps apparently, I wouldn't worry about it.
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I am currently running a Seat Alahmbra 1.9TD SE (115 Bhp) with 75,000 miles on the clock. This has been run for the vast majority of its life on Tesco diesel. Average 42-45MPG over its life.
I change in March to a brand new Audi A6 Avant 1.9 130 SE and although this is a company car as well, I want to start out with the best diesel for smooth running and fuel economy.
I average 800 - 1000 miles per week.
Linden
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Car :Mondeo 97 TD 86K run on Shell have run it in the past on supermarket Diesel. Why Shell ?: needed to put in 22 litres for a 242 mile round trip M27/A303/A358 Returns approx 51 MPG and that is 5-6 MPG more than i used to get from cheaper fuel.Car appears to run better on Shell i do not know why, could be the fact i add Millers to every tank. Taken to the Red Line once a week in 2nd and 3rd to blow out soot and keep the injectors clean. Starts first time with no smoke uses no oil. Whats it worth Probably nothing as a trade in yet passes emissions with excellent results.
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FWIW I too use Shell and Millers. Notice the difference when I skip a couple tanks with Millers. Much rougher with noticable increase in smoke on hard acceleration.
No Dosh
mailto:Alan_moderator@honestjohn.co.uk
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Try to avoid supermarket fuel and use Miller's.
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When I ran VW group diesels, I found that Shell or Sainsburys Greenergy ULSD worked best for the TDI. I found other supermarket fuel to cause less smooth running. Cetane levels are important - I also used Millers or Stanadyne to improve cetane further and reduce any smoke. Latterly, with the higher quality fuels, there was little or no smoke at full "throttle" .
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In the past, discussions on fuels has said that all fuels are the same until the individual companies put "additives" into them whereas the supermarkets don't.
On this post contributors are saying they use Miller additives. Could it be this is all that the brand names put into their diesel to make it that bit better?
So supermarket plus Miller the answer then?
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I'm now converted to Shell - mainly because they price match Asda, when I fill up in Luton.3p/ltr cheaper than here in Herts!
Plus, as I like to penny pinch, use their 'PLUS POINTS' card & save another 1p/litre!You could even get a shell credit card & earn more points on ordinary shopping!!
& Mrs Vansboy has used nothing but Optimax in her Mx5, returning 30-33mpg, in its 6000 miles from new. Not bad for this model.
VB
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Mine runs best on Tesco veggie oil. It accelerates quicker and has far better smelling emmisssions.
Allegedly.
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