Cost of diesel

[izzeybear1]

In France diesel costs just over one euro which is around 70p. Petrol is dearer. In GB diesel cost around 98p and is dearer than petrol. I filled up my tank just outside Roscoff and used most of the contents whilst towing and recorded around 22mpg. I refuelled and used half the tank for towing and the rest for general driving, MPG 19. Solo driving in France mpg 28 in GB 25.

We are being ripped off in GB in more ways than one.

There are now more diesel engined vehicles in GB is this why diesel costs more when it used to be a lot cheaper. God bless the tax man and the fuel companies

Do the French make diesel differently, I think not. Possibly the cetane number is higher giving a better fuel consumption. I would appreciate any comments on an addative made by Millers which raises the cetane number, is it any good?

 

[rob_jax]

Iain,

You're not being ripped off, you've just chosen to look at one cost and ignore all the others.

Many French motorways are toll roads - and that can add 50% to the cost per mile, French road fund licence and insurance is different to the UK, and the rest of Europe too. There are so many differences from country to country, and for various home grown reasons, that it's probably impossible to harmonise the situation. So you'll just need to learn to grab the good bits - like fill up in France (Belgium is better) before getting the ferry

Is French diesel different? No - diesel fuel throughout Europe is manufactured to the same EN 590 standard (and petrol to a similar standard).

The premium fuels (Total Excellium, Shell V-Power and BP Ultimate) are different - high Cetane number - better performance, improved specific consumption and less smoke

Why did you achieve better fuel consumption? - probably because traffic density was lower

Is Millers Sport4 diesel additive worth adding to the fuel?

If your car has a Euro IV engine, and you fill up with supermarket fuel - then yes.

If your car has a Euro IV engine, and you fill up with branded fuel - then yes

If your car has a Euro IV engine, and you fill up with Shell V-Power / BP Ultimate / Total Excellium - then NO. Diesel engines can't benefit from a fuel with a Cetane number greater than 55 - and the Millers would be wasted.

If your car has a Euro III engine, then Millers make a different additive for that generation - the benefits won't be as good - but that's because of the engine design

Don't know the Euro generation of your car engine? It's in the technical section of the drivers handbook.

Robert

 

[izzeybear1]

Iain,

You're not being ripped off, you've just chosen to look at one cost and ignore all the others.

Many French motorways are toll roads - and that can add 50% to the cost per mile, French road fund licence and insurance is different to the UK, and the rest of Europe too. There are so many differences from country to country, and for various home grown reasons, that it's probably impossible to harmonise the situation. So you'll just need to learn to grab the good bits - like fill up in France (Belgium is better) before getting the ferry

Is French diesel different? No - diesel fuel throughout Europe is manufactured to the same EN 590 standard (and petrol to a similar standard).

The premium fuels (Total Excellium, Shell V-Power and BP Ultimate) are different - high Cetane number - better performance, improved specific consumption and less smoke

Why did you achieve better fuel consumption? - probably because traffic density was lower

Is Millers Sport4 diesel additive worth adding to the fuel?

If your car has a Euro IV engine, and you fill up with supermarket fuel - then yes.

If your car has a Euro IV engine, and you fill up with branded fuel - then yes

If your car has a Euro IV engine, and you fill up with Shell V-Power / BP Ultimate / Total Excellium - then NO. Diesel engines can't benefit from a fuel with a Cetane number greater than 55 - and the Millers would be wasted.

If your car has a Euro III engine, then Millers make a different additive for that generation - the benefits won't be as good - but that's because of the engine design

Don't know the Euro generation of your car engine? It's in the technical section of the drivers handbook.

Robert

rob_jax

Thank you for your input especially re the Millers additive.My vehicle is an Isuzu MU which is a Jap import so the comments re Euro engines may not be easily identified. Do you know if the Isuzu 3.1 diesel is in that area?

I did allow a little for clear French roads but the towing consumption figures were on British roads. Still i must try the Miller route qand see what happens.

Iain

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi Iain.

I have read your topic with great interest ,sadly I do not go abroad to pay for the fuel but I do find that with our 2.9 merc donkey diesel from the supermarket does not return the same mileage as your better grade fuels we tend to try and get shell where we can , we can then get better fuel consumption .

Answer stick to propriortory brand fuels

 

[rob_jax]

Iain,

Referring back to your comments on your Isuzu MU:

The different Euro emission control classifications (Euro II, III, IV, IV+, and sometime soon V) also reflect the ability of the engine to self-tune itself and benefit from higher Cetane fuels.

Euro I - implemented after 1992

Euro II - after 1996

Euro III - after 2000

Euro IV - after 2005

Basically Euro IV (and IV+ with particulate filters) can fully benefit from running on 55 Cetane diesel fuel. Euro III engines will gather some benefit, and Euro II had fairly dumb ECU computer feedback control and might only see a limited benefit.

I'm guessing that your car hails from around 2000 - 2002, and will probably be the equivalent of a Euro III or just possibly the earlier Euro II emissions control generation. The 3.1 litre engine was used in the UK Isuzu vehicles, and the badge engineered Opel and Vauxhall equivalents - and if you compare your car with the same year of European model you should get some indication.

My suggestion would be to try the Millers additive for Euro III engines - Millers Power Plus - but if you can't find this, try Millers Diesel Sport 4 (which is probably more expensive)

You should notice a reduction in smoke (the front of the caravan should be less "sooty") and possibly an improvement in fuel consumption (and possibly power) but these last two are very difficult to assess without test equipment. Why? Because you tend to get the result you want to see - it's very difficult not to subconsciously influence the result of any test you conduct.

Robert

 

[RiaandJames_374303418]

Robs point is partly correct, but Diesel cars have been far more numerous in France and Italy for many many years and have cost much less then in the UK.

The UK is well known for the expense of buying and running cars, the French driver is free to choose if he or she pays the Toll charges and I beleive many French workers do not commute far to their place of work compared to British workers who have no choice than to pay top prices for their Diesel or Petrol.

Being British but having lived in Germany and Italy for many years we find the UK cost of living and motoring scandalous and a complete rip off.

In Europe you also have the choice of using an efficient clean train network at a reasonable price rather than the joke services we have here.

My daughter and son and their friends will not even come here if they can help it as it is so expensive and quite frankly a little barbaric in mmany ways.

 

[emmerson2]

Iain,you're not alone in your thoughts about different fuels in France, because I found my LPG powered Range Rover was 3 or 4 mpg better in France than at home. My pal found the same thing. But I don't think it's the fuel. I put it down to the lack of traffic, and the better roads, where you can accelerate to 70mph, and just stay there for mile after mile, instead of the stop-start journies we suffer here.