Author Topic: Supermarket Fuels  (Read 8398 times)

gorilla

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Supermarket Fuels
« on: July 20, 2006, 07:01:00 PM »
Based on your entire motoring experiance, have you ever noticed an advantage of disadvantge to using supermarket fuels? My old Afla 156 twin spark used to vary on supermarket fuels, sometimes it was OK, other times it used to idle roughly. My old BMW E46 330i in contrast never had any issues.

So far my Civic is running perfectly but it is my first diesel - I’m derv told is more consistant in the quailty then unleaded.

guest230

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2006, 08:00:00 PM »
I dont know about u chaps but my disele run no were near as good on supermarket fuel , and tested it 6+ times it does 2-3 mpg better on shell fuel say then tesco fuel, and it has been tested by firth gear last year that shell fuel over a supermarket brand gained upto 4% more bhp in petrols and 3% more bhp in diesle.
So for my money as there usal the same price go for the good stuff and it will help keep your motor runing clean greener and faster

guest170

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2006, 07:02:02 PM »
Hi, I am a new member after just purchasing my first Honda which is a 2006 vivid blue pearl jazz DSi Sport, which I think is a great car.
As a tanker driver for one of the top brand fuel companys I can maybe enlighten you a little in the difference between supermarket and top brand fuels.
Its simply all down to additives, supermarkets get very little in their fuels.
Your top brand fuels such as esso,shell,bp,texaco,etc all have a higher percentage of additives in their fuel and thats what gives your car better performance, better miles per gallon and keeps your valves cleaner.

RichardA

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2006, 08:00:12 PM »
Thanks for the advice, ejr (and welcome to the site!).

My dad used to run a 52-reg Hyundai Getz 1.1, which would only return about 42mpg on average using supermarket unleaded - way short of the official claim of almost 50mpg, even with a 50mile round trip to work using decent A-roads. His two previous Hyundai’s easily gave more mpg from slightly larger engines on the same journey. But a change of fill-up from Sainsbury’s or ASDA to Esso saw a noticeable improvement in the mpg.

guest170

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2006, 08:07:01 PM »
Hi Richard, thanks for the welcome.
I think you will see a difference in performance and fuel economy

RichardA

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2006, 08:29:21 PM »
I also intend to use Castrol fully synthetic oil, as recommended by Honda.

guest170

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2006, 08:41:12 PM »
http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html

Read this… it will tell you all you need to know about oils.

Comical Engineer

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2007, 10:01:12 PM »
I ran my previous diesel Saab mainly on a diet of Morrisons diesel. Over the 65000 miles I had the car, fuel consumption improved from about 42mpg to 44.5 mpg. There was no noticable difference between supermarket diesel and the odd occasions when I bought branded derv.

I have worked on several oil refineries and confirm that the only difference between brands is the additives - they ALL come out of the same tank. The additives are dosed in immediately before the delivery road tanker is filled. There are about half a dozen small tanks containing the additive, from which the correct one is selected for each customer. At one refinery there was an additive tank labelled “Tesco”. Not that ALL fuel delivered has to meet a minimum British Standard specification which covers the basic fuel properties including anti-knock and octane / cetane number. This ensures that if you buy unleaded 95 RON at any garage, it will perform to the specified standard as required by your engine.

That said, there are some cars which do seem to be very sensitive to the fuel. This tends to be mainly cars that are highly tuned because modern engine management systems can adjust for many factors including fuel quality. Cars which are also slightly out of tune can also be sensitive to fuel quality.

gorilla

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2007, 10:17:12 PM »
[quote:2tvimylm]“That said, there are some cars which do seem to be very sensitive to the fuel. This tends to be mainly cars that are highly tuned because modern engine management systems can adjust for many factors including fuel quality. Cars which are also slightly out of tune can also be sensitive to fuel quality.”[/quote]

I stated above that Supermarket fuels did no harm to my BMW 330i…however, I did notice some improvement when using the premium unleaded, as BMW’s in-line sixes, like that in the 330i can adjust to make use of advanced fuels.

culzean

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #9 on: October 10, 2008, 04:11:44 PM »
I know Vauxhall blamed some of their engine problems (sticking valves and burning of valve seats) on 'supermarket fuels' a few years ago - Don't seem to have a problem with supermarket fuel in my Jazz, but would rather not use it anyway. The Civic that I had before definitely ran better on Total or BP and very well on BP Ultimate, but got too expensive to keep using it.

I normally add molyslip to my engine oil gearbox oil and change engine oil at least twice a year irrespective of mileage, once at beginning of summer and again in the autumn - have never had a problem with any car I've had (and I normally cover 20K+ miles per year) with burning or leaking oil and definitely no 'sludge' problems.

Molyslip is 'molybdenum disulphide' and the 'disulphide' bit is attracted to metal and sticks the ultra-slippy 'molybdenum' plates to the metal parts of the engine bearings. With the sticky 'disulphide' bit close to the metal bearing surfaces and the slippy 'molybdenum' plates on the outside it reduces friction in the engine and provides protection during the dodgy period during startup / warmup  when the bearings are moving but the oil hasn't been pumped round to them yet (metal to metal contact). Up to 80% of engine wear takes place when the engine is cold - that's why 'motorway miles' are no worry to the engine, it is hot and the oil is flowing and all the gunky deposits get burnt off and blown away.

Don't judge a car purely on mileage - with modern oils, high mileage is not a problem - however avoid older low mileage vehicles, they may look a bargain, but be aware that they have probably had lots of cold starts and short journies - causing high engine wear. The kindest thing you can do for a modern car engine is to cover at least 25 miles a day, this keeps everything in top working order, including the battery and cat-converter.
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

olduser1

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #10 on: October 14, 2008, 05:55:37 PM »
We have used SHELL unleaded for many years no issues - my colleagues in the trade are very happy with local drivers filling up at supermarkets then having starting rough running/ new values etc fitted.

My Subaru turbo's ran much better when filled with SHELL  V power superunleaded, more miles to the tank and quicker overtaking after 7000rpm.....

bill888

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2008, 09:48:46 AM »
When I ran a Civic Aerodeck 1.8VTi, I always thought the car didn't drive as well when using Tesco unleaded and I thought mpg was slightly lower too.   Sainsburys seems okay and no problems with Esso.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that Tesco (and Asda) fuel contains ethanol to make it green?   In the South East, I understand the fuel comes from the depot at Thurrock.

After the contaminated fuel fiasco, I've avoided Tesco petrol like the plague.

I now use Shell myself but to be honest, the CVT masks any enhancement to performance it may or may not offer in the Jazz.

2007(57) Jazz 1.4SE CVT-7 (GE3 - made in China)

Geoffers

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2008, 02:56:55 PM »
All this 'knocking' of supermarket fuels makes me laugh!

I've used Asda petrol for donkeys years over many cars - 3 Austin Rovers, 2 Renaults, a Mercedes and now a Jazz, and I've covered a fair few hundred thousand miles in that time.
I've NEVER had a problem. Never had cause to take a cylinder head off. Never known anyone who has had a problem.

Petrol is petrol is petrol. Additives are the only difference and they make precious little difference. Certainly not worth the extra cash for the extra mpg!

RichardA

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Re: Supermarket Fuels
« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2008, 03:15:08 PM »
I think some cars like Subaru's, Mitsubushi Evo's and cars fitted with VW TFSi (turbo+supercharger) and FSi engines (direct injection) benifit from 97RON unleaded.

I doubt as if the Jazz would benifit in terms of mpg, emissions and performance though.

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