[awq]

Any thoughts on the use of cheaper supermarket diesel / petrol as oppose to the branded variety such as BP, Shell, Total etc.
My mechanic swears by the "better" varieties. Remember, a number of years ago when there were lots of claims against Tesco for damage to engines because certain additives to fuel were missing.

Is it worth paying up to 6 pence a litre for branded fuel ?

 

[meerkatmagic]

Hi,

I will only use branded petrol such as Texaco as my last clio which was only three years old used to cough and the performance was very bad when i put Morrisons petrol in it.
It's up to you but you have paid a lot of money for your car a few pense extra should be better than a costly repair bill.

 

[Ythsie]

I'm of 5he same opinion and tend to use BP in Poland....Sayimg that, if you use a supermarket and know it's good...why not? My daughter uses Tesco diesel in her Audi Q5 and has never had problems...but that's diesel!!

 

[crossbow]

Ythsie, Oil burners can run on chip fat.

So Tesco PROBABLY can't hurt.

 

[Thewhiteball]

I know that Tesco tankers etc all fill up from the same terminals that the Shell BP Texaco tankers fill up at. Remembering that Shell especially do not make petrol in this country any more. Most fuels come from the spot markets.

 

[IvorETower]

The base fuels at the terminals are the same, but then there are the additives, and the supermarkets tend not to use so many of them

I've been paying the extra for BP Ultimate diesel for about 3 years now, and both cars (Scenic and Galaxy) definitely run more smoothly on it.

My dadstarted to use Shell's premium diesel in his car recently (he has previously used the supermarket stuff) and he says the difference is so noticeable that he's not going back to using the supermarket fuels

 

[Perusal]

Some good comments above. Every forum I have been in has eventually asked this question.
I worked in the oil industry for the last 25 years of my career and whilst my speciality was lubricants I ate lunch on many occasions with the fuel chemists. I worked in a research lab and saw the test results.
There are many who swear there is nothing wrong with supermarket fuels and many use them without any issues whatsoever but if you think all fuels are the same then let me put this in a completely non technical way....
Ask yourself the following 3 questions with a simple yes/no answer
1) do you accept that the major oil companies spend many millions of dollars and cover hundreds of thousands of miles developing and testing their fuels?.......yes/no
2) do you think the supermarkets do any of the above ?......yes/no
3) do you now think that the oil companies will sell their proprietary technology to the supermarkets so that they can undercut them at the pump?...... yes/no

Now, assuming you answered ....yes/no/no...then "go figure" as they say across the pond.

Do I ever fill any of my cars with supermarket fuels knowing what I do? Well, yes, but very, very rarely.

Our Captur received its second tank of fuel today, both so far from BP. I don't recommend BP over any others, I more usually fill up with Esso because they have far more fuel stations in this area. I basically stick to branded fuels.
At the end if the day you pays your money and you makes your choice Edited by: Perusal

 

[awq]

General opinion seems to be favoring branded fuels, however, whilst supermarket fuels do the job, I think that after paying £18,000- for my Captur I shall probably be using one of the branded fuels. After all, I am getting some pretty decent MPG so the extra cost of branded fuel should be absorbed.

 

[cliocaptur]

I know that Tesco tankers etc all fill up from the same terminals that the Shell BP Texaco tankers fill up at. Remembering that Shell especially do not make petrol in this country any more. Most fuels come from the spot markets.

Not quite true as it's not the full story. Supermarkets have contracts with bigger companies to supply fuel. So the likes of Texaco esso etc sell their base fuel to the supermarket who send it to their pumps as it is, Texaco/esso/bp then put their own additives in for cleaning etc which is often the reason for the price increase. So whilst a lot of supermarket fuel is made by branded companies they do not include the cleaning agents which can help keep things like injector heads from clogging with carbon. My own personal preference is shell v power for the Clio 200 and vpower diesel for captur.

 

[Sutty's blue captur]

Before you fill up with cheap fuel just do the maths.
I have a Texaco card, so always go there. I know I spent less than £1000 on petrol last year. If I'd gone to Tesco I might have saved £30 in the year, but risked lower mileage and more problems. My new Captur is only going to them!

 

[Ythsie]

I use Shell's normal petrol and do not pour the more expendive fuel in....it does not need it!!
I tend to use the same garage at home, and look for a Shell station elsewhwre...Fuel in this country can be 'contaminated' but to be honest it's pot luck...How can you be sure? ....you can't!!

 

[helart]

I have used Morrisons for 99.9% of fill ups with our Megane and had no trouble ..and got points towards voucher...so may now look at BP as they give Nectar points

 

[Ythsie]

Yes, good idea! I get something similar...loyalty points...and Lidl superstore gives discounts per litre at those stations for the money spent at the store...so it makes good sense in my circumstances.

 

[lor]

I've put Esso/BP petrol in my car, along with Morrisons or ASDA fuel - no problems at all. I've even done the same in my motorbike and not seen any benefits or constraints.

As far as I'm concerned, if I need fuel I go to the first place I see or the place that happens to be in the right direction to where I'm going.

 

[Perusal]

I use Shell's normal petrol and do not pour the more expendive fuel in....it does not need it!!
I tend to use the same garage at home, and look for a Shell station elsewhwre...Fuel in this country can be 'contaminated' but to be honest it's pot luck...How can you be sure? ....you can't!!

Yes, you are correct in principle. Your car does not, as you say need the premium fuel but a tank once in a while does no harm. One of the issues is that the majority of people think premium fuels are about more power because "power" sells. However the real benefit of premium fuels is that they burn more "cleanly". The base fuel is more highly distilled, the additive packages a little better and therefore they will burn more cleanly, form fewer deposits in the engine and MAY over time improve fuel economy because a cleaner engine works more efficiently.

As I said above, I stick to the regular branded fuels but every 6 months or so I will stick a tank of premium fuel through the engine. For a 45 litre tank and an approximate premium of 6p/litre that works out at less than £3 every 6 months to give the engine a little bit of a clean out.

As an aside my wife came in the other day after filling the tank and showed me a receipt for 48 litres of fuel, when I checked the handbook it states that the fuel tank capacity is 45 litres

 

[meterman_56]

Excellent thread guys..got me thinking anyway.. I normally fill up at Asda with no problems..but after reading your comments I certainly will fill up every few months with a premium brand of fuel.
meterman_56

 

[Thewhiteball]

It is worth having a look at what the AA RAC and other motoring organisations say about the fuel additives of the big producers. I worked in the oil industry for forty years and actually made some of these additives, including a cleanspark enhancer that burnt the valves out of a certain make of engine. Some of the motor oil additives however do serve a genuine purpose in that they can have an ashless disspersant quality that keeps the products of combustion in suspension in the oil. This means that when you have an oil change all the nasty bits fouling compounds get flushed away.
Its personal preference mostly any hoo, but certainly in the case of diesel engines I'm not so fussy about who I get it from as long as its cheap.

 

[Perusal]

It is worth having a look at what the AA RAC and other motoring organisations say about the fuel additives of the big producers. I worked in the oil industry for forty years and actually made some of these additives, including a clean spark enhancer that burnt the valves out of a certain make of engine. Some of the motor oil additives however do serve a genuine purpose in that they can have an ashless disspersant quality that keeps the products of combustion in suspension in the oil. This means that when you have an oil change all the nasty bits fouling compounds get flushed away. 
Its personal preference mostly any hoo, but certainly in the case of diesel engines I'm not so fussy about who I get it from as long as its cheap.

You seem to be confusing engine oil and fuel oil additives here. Ashless dispersants are a major component of lubricating oils which as you rightly suggest keep fuel derived contaminants held in suspension in the lube oil until such time as it's changed. Having worked for 12 years at the European R&D centre of the world's largest independent engine and fuel oil additive suppliers, we supplied every major oil company to some extent or another,I would respectfully suggest ALL the additives play a part. However 2+2 does not always equal 4 in the chemical world, sometimes it's 5 in which case everybody is happy but sometimes it's 3 in which case a lot of head scratching goes on, if you know what I mean.

We ran test engines for thousands of hours/miles in the lab, the results certainly made interesting reading. Me, well let's just say that having spent thousands on my car I'm not going to risk things by saving a few pennies at the pump each time. I would also suggest it's even more critical for Diesel engines since they create more carbon deposits and contain more additives eg pour point depressants in the winter to prevent the fuels waxing at low temperatures.

 

[LisaH]

I used Morrisons fuel regularly in my old Clio and the fuel injectors packed up on me. It was a 3 year old car and was rendered dead with an expensive repair bill.

After that I stuck to Shell V Power and refused to use Morrisons or any other cheap alternative again. As a result my car ran as smoothly as anything.

The Capture has been filled up once since I got and I've stuck with V Power (the better one) Diesel. I simply refuse to put anything sub standard in such a good car and want it to last. I dread anything happening again like last time.

By the way, I did my first fairly long distance run in the Capture the other night down the A3 to collect something from a friend and it was the nicest most comfortable car drive I have ever had

 

[mick dundee]

I've filled up at Tesco for the last 11 years (since I passed my test), and I've had no problems with any of my cars. Ditto with both my parents and my in laws (longer than 10 years in both cases).
Is anyone able to post any links impartial scientific evidence regarding "premium" fuels being "better"?