I know that Shell Optimax is always recommended but is their normal Unleaded better than, say, Esso or BP?
I'm only asking because we don't have a Shell garage nearby and I'm just wondering whether it's worth driving those extra miles when Esso is just round the corner.
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Fill what's empty, empty what's full and scratch where it itches!
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To my thinking,the blunt answer is yes. I have an 80 thousand-mile Rover 820 and have always filled up with Shell. I'm sure one of the reasons why it's never given problems is because of the quality of Shell fuel, but I've never used Optimax.
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With respect, mattyw, what makes you so sure that Shell is better than the others if you've never tried them?
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Dizzy, you remember the TV ad. ? "You can be sure of Shell" ? surely?
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Ah! But the Esso sign means happy motoring ##
Oh me lost yoof!
Terry
"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand"
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I see the tiger hasn't gone out your tank then, terryb.
(This will mean nothing to anyone under the age of 50!)
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I have good news Dizzy: you don't need to feel so old.
I am only 25, and I remember the 'put a tiger in your tank' ad campaign
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That was the SECOND campaign - you were not even born for the first....
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....I was always a Regent or a Cleveland Discol man personally ;=), at least that was until cheap Fleetline appeared....it was only 4/4d a gall instead of 4/6d.
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Jane, IMHO it is hardly ever worth driving extra mile(s) just to get a different brand of fuel. It's much more sense to stop at the right one as you pass it (if you see what I mean). May mean a little anticipation but that is easily learnt.
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Unless you are the sort of person that likes to pay £3 for a bottle of 'designer' water rather than get it free out of a tap, I wouldn't worry about the brand of fuel.
All UK petrol has to meet BS EN 228. Some years ago I used to work in automotive R&D and we used to get 'straight' (i.e. no additives) BS EN 228 fuel to run the development engines. Most of those engines ran thousands of hours under harsh conditions (e.g. 'butch' testing, climatic chamber etc etc) - I never saw a fuel-related problem. Straight UK fuel is really very very good (you should see what the Greeks have to put in their tanks!).
Buy the correct octane grade at the cheapest price.
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Thanks Aprilia....that's all i needed to know!
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Fill what's empty, empty what's full and scratch where it itches!
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any truth in the supermarket petrol story that its a lesser grade? i no a couple of years ago (i think it was ford, or one of the big guys) were having problems with their cars when people filled up with supermarket petrol. i remember it was on bbc1 watchdog.
used to be a myth about it being a lesser quality. as petrol has a sell by date then they used to buy it at the end of the month.
dont no how much truth there is in that? i buy from everywhere and have never had a problem
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Consider the life of many engines used to get to the shops and back: literally a stones throw away. Its surely not the long runs that matter: its the coked up, misfiring, thrashed from cold, low and knackered oil, watery coolant, HC emitting, soon-to be-wrecks that many people chunter about in. There is nothing like the public to test an engine! Now what was that about not requiring cleaning agents in the fuel:)
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Sounds like fuel (no pun) for the soon-to-be-announced Obesity Police agenda....
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Aprilia writes "straight UK fuel is really, very, very good."
That may be so for bread and butter engines. But wasn't it BMW who complained (a few years ago) about how the quality of UK unleaded was damaging certain engines of vehicles they had exported to the UK market ?
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I remember in the late 1980s how Shell was wrecking engines left right and centre, including Volvos and Vauxhalls, and Police car fleets. It really shook up the industry as they had to pay out lots of money and it really damaged the brand for a while.
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I'm with Aprilia on this. I imagine the Shell and BMW fiascos have led to all UK fuel manufacturers now keeping on their toes.
I fill up wherever is convenient and the first thing I look at is the price. Have to admit, though, that I avoid any totally unknown brands 'just in case'.
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Yes Alex; BMW had a major problem with the sulphur content of some UK fuels : do a search for 'nikasil' if you want the full story.
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I believe that HJ himself has quite strong views on this subject..... (I mean the merits or otherwise of different petrols)
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First of all let's get the Nikasil issue straight - this was a problem for BMW, not the petroleum industry. Moreover, contrary to what BMW have stated from time to time, the Nikasil problem was NOT confined to the UK. Put very simply, the Nikasil material was too fragile and could not withstand some of the acidic by-products of combustion.
As regards 'supermarket' petrol; yes there were 'problems' reported in the late 1980's, early 1990's. These related to the fact that some (not all) supermarkets were selling petrol without any detergent additive. They all put it in nowadays. Having said that though, most modern engines are sold across the whole EU (and in some cases across the globe) and components are designed to cope with a wide range of fuels. With the low levels of gum and heavy oil found in UK petrol, detergents are hardly necessary here anyway.
Ask any mechanic who has taken apart a modern fuel system and he will tell you that they are invariably spotless inside. A few months ago I stripped a carb. of an old G-reg Fiesta (155k miles) and it was perfectly clean inside. The jets looked like they had just come out of the factory.
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Aprilia: I don't think BS EN 228 2000 mandates detergents; therefore suppliers can meet EN 228 without the necessary additives, but as I haven't got a library with access now, I am not sure, so would defer to your greater knowledge. I suspect though that not all fuels are made to such high standards, until all sign up to World Wide Fuel Charter (ACEA,Alliance,EMA, JAMA) Enough already!
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