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I think everybody knows that supermarkets like Morrison's, Tesco etc fuel is cheaper than branded name like Shell and BP. Somehow I have the feeling based on unverified experience that supermarket fuel is less efficient in terms of mile per gallon it covers. Is this true? or am I just imagining it? Every pence is worth saving now
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You are just imagining it.
Gordon does not believe the mpg I achieved with the Honda, can count on one hand the number of times it was not filled from either a Tesco or Sainsbury pump (when in the UK).
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Gordon does not believe the mpg I achieved with the Honda
That's a bit unfair, it's not that I don't believe you, I'm just jealous! :-)
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Go to your nearest refinery or storage depot and watch the Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys 'branded' tankers filling up from the same tanks as the BP, Shell, Esso tankers. The only difference is that they supposedly add different additives to the tanker once it has been filled.
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BP have no refineries in the UK anymore anyway.
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Just outside of Hull near to Hedon and Paull. There is a BP site called Saltend - I was under the impression that this was also a fuel (avaition as well as motor vehicle) as well as a chemical refinery?
It is a huge complex when you look at it from the likes of Google Earth etc.
As you go over the Humber Bridge and look East (back towards Hull) this is the locations of the cooling tower and the flame (burning combustables from the refining processes) you can see.
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No, it's just a chemical plant processing acetates - and they announced their intention to sell that off last year
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I think everybody knows that supermarkets like Morrison's Tesco etc fuel is cheaper than branded name like Shell and BP.
Actually, that's not the case in our area. We have Sainsbury's, Tesco and Shell filling stations within a few miles of each other, and the Shell station is consistently the cheapest. The supermarket stations usually match the typical price in the area, but don't better it.
Of course, this changes during the 'save 5p per litre when you spend 50 quid in store' type promotions that are run periodically.
Both our cars (turbo petrol and cr turbodiesel) run equally happily on supermarket or branded fuel with no detectable difference in performance or economy when switching between brands. On that basis, we use whichever happens to be closest when the fuel light comes on.
Cheers
DP
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During an Autoexpress test (last year ?), very little difference in mpg and 0 - 60 times between fuels. However some differences with the 97 RON brands - some give a small improvement while others were no better than regular 95 RON for mpg and acceleration.
In my area, Shell is cheapest, then Texaco and ASDA with ESSO & Tesco and others being the dearest. They price to match other fuel stations in a 5 mile radius, which does't really work well in the Cornwall as we all travel longer distances than that and so there is always a big queue at Shell.
The exception is when you have 2 filling stations in sight of each other and they will often be the same price regardless of brand.
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Ah, this old chestnut:
* Some believe there is no difference: they can find no evidence.
* Some believe there is a difference: they point out that what differentiates fuels is the additive packages and often suggest that the supermarkets skimp on them or omit them entirely.
* HJ has always recommended Shell and Texaco (others more recently) on the basis of additive packages and anecdotal reports of problems from his readers using supermarket fuel.
* There is no prospect of definitive comparative tests on a convincingly large scale, because even the Consumers Association considers them unmanageable (even in cooperation with its European counterparts).
* Shell Optimax (and its successor V-Power?) was the only fuel with its own base stock as well as additive package. Other base stock is traded freely between brands (including supermarkets), thereby confirming that it is the additives that differentiate the fuels.
So, it remains mainly in the domain of belief.
To save fuel pennies, change your driving style:
tinyurl.com/jtd4a
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All fuel sold legally in UK meets the applicable BS (British Standard). On that basis it should not damage your engine but I suppose there may be some perceived difference between the results obtained by using Ultimate or Tesco. Some tests revealed some BHP differences between fuels when used in 300 bhp+ cars - otherwise no measurable difference.
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>> I think everybody knows that supermarkets like Morrison's Tesco etc fuel is cheaper than branded
Actually that's not the case in our area.
Same here. Around 8 months ago in our area the supermarkets were usually 1-3p/l cheaper than 'main brands'. But at the moment its a lottery which brands are in the list of cheapest stations and it varies all the time. Looking on petrolprices.com today (in our area), in the list of cheapest 10 stations for petrol, there are no supermarkets. For diesel, there are 6 main brands and only 4 supermarkets.
I used to almost always use Morrisons, and never noticed any difference when I tried branded stuff (incl. a few tanks of BP Ultimate).
I'm happiest when the cheapest station on petrolprices is close to home, its a brand that does saver points, and I use my credit card which gives me cashback on the purchase.
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In my town Shell is cheapest! (compared to Sainsbury/Tesco)
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Its probably like engine oil, If it meets the spec for your car its OK, no matter where you buy it.
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Supermarkets are app 3-4p a litre cheaper in Northampton. Shell was 1p higher than BP last time I looked.
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If you buy Shell with a Shell credit card and combine it with a Shell drivers club card I think it works out at a 3.5p per litre saving at present. Still eye wateringly expensive wherever you buy though.
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It's also worth mentioning that buying ASDA petrol on an ASDA Credit Card gives a straight 2p per litre discount at the pump.
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This is probably one of the most discussed topics on all of the car forums on all of the web !
For what its worth here's my input.
When it comes to petrol I don't think it matters a jot.
Diesel is a vastly different matter. Strangely enough, when I use Shell or Esso fuel, I get good MPG but a more noisey engine on tickover. I just put 62 litres of Sainsburys diesel in and find that my engine is smooth and quieter, but a couple of MPG from where it was previously.
It has been suggested that although people may see tankers liveried from a number of different companies delivering at supermarkets, the 'additive pack' will be different from when that tanker is delivering to a 'branded' station.
When I buy Shell diesel it doesn't seem to be too foamy, whereas when I filled up at Sainsburys it was very foamy.
Rather inconclusive, but unless someone can confirm once and for all the 'additive pak' theory we will never know.
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I dont want to get this argument going again but driving for the past 30 odd years in company vehicles covering aprox 40 to 50 k miles a year I definately get more MPG from the branded fuel as apposed from the tesco / sainsburys / asda.The main advantage of using a supermarket is that I have not had my credit card cloned by any of them. But several times at the one that sounds like a sea creatures home.
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RB what is the balance between buying cheaper fuel and getting fewer mpg from it? Can you put a figure on it?
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In fact my Honda (diesel) sat nav specifically shows shell filling stations with their distinct logos along and around my routes which is making me think that shell fuel is probably the manufacturer choice for Honda. Am I wrong?
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all fuel does come out of the same refineries. howevever i have noticed no difference in varying petrol performance between oil companies and supermarket. i have with diesel which i believe is due to the additives added to each companies individual tanker deliveries ( which petrol doesnt get ). i drive 30000 miles a year business and private and have always noticed a mpg reduction with supermarket diesel of 4 or 5 mpg both in my work focus, mondeos and my own mk5 golf tdi and my previous mk4 tdi.
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A mate of mine used to work in a Rover dealership (remember them ? !) and almost every time they had a K series engined car in suffering from valve stick because the cylinder head was gunged up, they knew before asking the customer that the car would have been regularily fuelled at the nearby supermarket !
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So, on the assumption that the fuel sold by the supermarket met the specification required by the engine maker clearly, Rover had a problem.
But we knew that anyway.
My VAG diesel gets fuel to EN590 from a whole variety of sources, mainly supermarkets. No problems whatsoever.
659.
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