Question on premium diesel fuels...

[Colinn]

I know there is a lot of argument as to whether premium fuels are worth the extra cost, but I recently filled up with Shell V Power diesel and felt there was a definite improvement in economy and performance...

So I'd like to stick with V Power for a bit longer, but tonight the garage had none!

So is it OK to mix with other premium bands or even revert to ordinary diesel without detrimental effects? I ask the question as it is clear that all the fuels seem to have slightly differing formulas and I don't want to end up with problems caused by messing about with different types.

(NB: This is not intended to start a debate on whether premium fuels are any good - it's just about mixing them!!)

 

[Rod_5041370]

I have been using premium diesel for 18 months now and the only thing that I will not mix it with are the normal diesels.

Unfortunately in the UK, Shell V-Power Diesel has comparatively few stations selling it.

I mix Shell V-Power, BP Ultimate, Total Excellium, Esso Sans Souffre without any ill effects.

I have all the outlets for the first three mentioned on my TomTom sat. nav. for the whole of Europe.

 

[Rod_5041370]

I have been using premium diesel for 18 months now and the only thing that I will not mix it with are the normal diesels.

Unfortunately in the UK, Shell V-Power Diesel has comparatively few stations selling it.

I mix Shell V-Power, BP Ultimate, Total Excellium, Esso Sans Souffre without any ill effects.

I have all the outlets for the first three mentioned on my TomTom sat. nav. for the whole of Europe.

Forgot to mention that before going to premium diesel I needed to put

 

[MikeAce]

I only use premium diesel in my mondeo now, i always filled up on tesco rubbish, one day after filling up i got 5 miles into a full tank and the car packed in.

a computer diagnosis later confirmed contaminated fuel, tesco fuel is considerably less quality than good fuel.

my mechanic told me its literally brush cleaner and barely within the legal tolerances of what can be defined as diesel. he also told me has has been working with the trading standards for a couple of years trying to fight this.

when asked how the car usually performs i answered "excellent" he replied with "trust me, it runs like **** compared to how it could run on proper fuel"

a new set of injectors later and a fill up from texaco finest it ran like a champ, it out performed anything i ever expected from a ford. i will never ever run cheap supermarker fuel again as i get far more mpg (about 480 compared to tesco at 400) and much more punch. well worth the extra 2p a litre.

in my opinion, dont mix, just stay clear from supermarket fuels.

 

[WilliamTups]

A main car dealer advised me to run my diesel car on the premium fuel when it was in for a service, but they said this does have a higher cost. So if you could afford to always run on the premium fuel great, if not it was okay to mix the fuel and they said ideally one tank in four of premium fuel would do the car some good. I've been doing this now for about 18 months with no problems. (but I try to keep a 50/50 ratio)

But it was only this week I discovered Shell V power when this was all the fuel they had left on Monday morning, I must admit I think that it has made one hell of a difference in the car, just a shame about the 101.9p per lire (ouch..)

Thinking about whilst I was in the TA (Petroleum Unit) on one exercise in Germany we had thousands of litres of diesel fuel of slight varying quality that come from different suppliers all mixed up in several big storage tanks with no adverse effects to the vehicles we were filling.

 

[Jazman]

We run diesels and my Mercedes runs the same on Sainburys city diesel as it does on Expensive BP diesel.

Suggest you go to the sister site at

http://www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=228253&EL=3217470
and read the full report.

 

[ProfJohnL]

The cost factor of using 'premium' blends compared to 'standard' blends may not be as bad as you think.

In my area there seems to be about a 5p extra cost for premium blends

For the sake of this reply if we say standard diesel retails at 100p per litre, and you car does 10miles to the litre (45.4 mpg) then your cost per mile is 10p.

To match the cost per mile with premium at 105p per litre you would only have to achieve 10.5miles per litre.

It is my personal experience that my car is doing about slightly better, which means the premium fuel is actually more economical.

If it also looks after the engine better as well, then there is the saving on wear and tear also.

For the cost of a few pence, it might just be worth the experiment of trying a couple of tank fulls to see if your car benefits.

 

[Jazman]

John L did you bother to look at the Whatcar test results?

The cheaper fuels did as well or better MPG wise than the more expensive ones.

So what's the point or benefit?

 

[Geordie]

Jazzman,I'm with you on this one.I tried the BP ultimate for 3 fill-ups on the trot travelling the same roads around my area with no jaunts out of the ordinary,and got the same figures 3 times running even with the low fuel warning light on to scrape as much as I could and the max was 435 miles,I then reverted back to the ordinary fuel and had to fill-up before I got down as far as having the warning light come on and the mileage was even better than with the ultimate. I thought this was maybe an error om my part so checked the next 2 fill-ups and it was the same,so now I wont buy the so called wonder fuel and the article in the papers lately, just confirmed my opinion.

 

[Colinn]

OK folks, I didn't want to start a debate on the pros and cons of premium diesels. I was just concerned about mixing them - but you guys have taken over - and interesting comments too...

Amazing how many totally opposing experiences there are on a simple matter of fuel!!

I have to say that on my first fill up of V Power, my weekly journey to the south coast definitely used less fuel. Usually the fuel gauge drops to just below three-quarters full - last week it was just above three-quarters full - never done that before and that's good enough for me!

I thought the engine ran quieter and smoother and performance seemed better - but I'm prepared to accept that is subjective and perhaps I was willing it to!! We'll see...

 

[rob_jax]

Colinn,

Speaking as the UK representative to the CEN fuel standards, it doesn't matter if you swap between the premium and standard diesel fuels, this won't cause any problems to the engine, injector pump or fuel filters.

If you have a new car, with a Euro IV or IV+ engine (owners handbook) then you should notice the biggest improvement.

And a note to Jazzman - the WhatCar report seems to be technically flawed. The only diesel car they used (VW Golf 1.9 TDI) appears to be from a previous generation (head lamp layout in the picture appears to be from two generations back) - and won't benefit greatly from the new premium fuels.

By testing the different fuels with a car that can't take advantage of the potential, then it's no surprise if you don't see an improvement.

If you run an oldish diesel car - then aside from the reduction in smoke - there will be little improvement. But if you run a newish car - then the difference is noticeable.

Robert

 

[Colinn]

Colinn,

Speaking as the UK representative to the CEN fuel standards, it doesn't matter if you swap between the premium and standard diesel fuels, this won't cause any problems to the engine, injector pump or fuel filters.

If you have a new car, with a Euro IV or IV+ engine (owners handbook) then you should notice the biggest improvement.

And a note to Jazzman - the WhatCar report seems to be technically flawed. The only diesel car they used (VW Golf 1.9 TDI) appears to be from a previous generation (head lamp layout in the picture appears to be from two generations back) - and won't benefit greatly from the new premium fuels.

By testing the different fuels with a car that can't take advantage of the potential, then it's no surprise if you don't see an improvement.

If you run an oldish diesel car - then aside from the reduction in smoke - there will be little improvement. But if you run a newish car - then the difference is noticeable.

Robert

Thanks Rob, that's good enough for me. My engine is EU4 so I guess that's why I can see the improvement.

 

[Robert_374242026]

We have the 2.0 vw dsg version Skoda. our nearest garage is Morrisons so the tank usually gets filled from there, however 4 weeks ago we went from Hastings to Culkein/Drumbeg about 700 miles, topped up at Cumbernauld and was amazed at the consumption, 50mpg to Cumbernauld and rest at 42mpg.Was this because of all the discussion some time ago talking about Millers Sport additive which for the first time i have ever used or what.I have nearly used the whole bottle (about inch left).We do not seem to have pemium around here but if i do i will try it and see what a simular trip of 2200 miles will do .

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Jazzman,

No, I did not read the Whatcar? Report, though I did try. The link you supplied did not work for me.

When I started to try a Shell diesel V power premium fuel I was pleasantly surprised to find that my mpg did seem to be better. I also thought that my engine was smoother. Unprompted by me, my wife, who also drives the car, commented it was smoother!

I have since refilled a number of times with Shell, and the mpg is still notably better than with the previous Tesco grade we have used. Fortunately both the Shell and Tesco garages are en route so I have no detours to make to obtain either, otherwise the cost benefit might be lost.

It seems that rob-Jax has read the magazine report, and has made an important observation. The test was apparently carried out on a single older car.

Some times what is not said, is as important as what is said.

Just consider what the outcome may have been if an improvement had been found even just a small one. Perhaps that might be the case for a different make or model of car. Mine for example a W plate Saab 93.

The point is, that if by whatever means you find a technology that improves the performance or economy of a vehicle to the extent that you can make a cost saving, then what is wrong with suggesting to others to try it. In this case it is literally a few pounds to try it out. No adjustments or modifications are needed.

 

[RogerP]

Interesting never thought about this before.

I am i right in thinking , dependent on car , there's a possible 30-40 miles per tank extra to be gained.

 

[alunhve]

I have found this thread interesting. I have a Kia Sedona Diesel which is coming up to 5 yrs old. I have generally been pleased with the fuel consumption but do not monitor it meticulously (it has seemed wonderful compared to the Petrol Frontera we had before) but it does get filled from the local Sainsbury's and in recent months we have been getting intermittent problems of the engine cutting out when at low speeds. Despite having had a service and it going to the local main dealer for the diagnostics to be run over it (had a replacement brake light switch fitted as this apparently was the only relevant error code) the problem has persisted and I can not decide whether it is an engine problem or caused by bad batches in the diesel from the Supermarket.

 

[Colinn]

Picked up a couple of leaflets at the weekend on Shell V Power and BP Ultimate...

Both show photographs of engine valves and injectors heavily coated with filthy deposits using ordinary diesel - but spotlessly clean with the premium brands.

So if ordinary diesel is crap, and the premium stuff is so good, doesn't it beg the question: why are the fuel companies selling the ordinary stuff at all!!!???

 

[clivea]

We have the 2.0 vw dsg version Skoda. our nearest garage is Morrisons so the tank usually gets filled from there, however 4 weeks ago we went from Hastings to Culkein/Drumbeg about 700 miles, topped up at Cumbernauld and was amazed at the consumption, 50mpg to Cumbernauld and rest at 42mpg.Was this because of all the discussion some time ago talking about Millers Sport additive which for the first time i have ever used or what.I have nearly used the whole bottle (about inch left).We do not seem to have pemium around here but if i do i will try it and see what a simular trip of 2200 miles will do .

I have been using Millers for 2 yaers now and reckon that I get about 2mpg better in a Sorento and 3-4mpg better in a Mondeo. My son hasa 2 yaer old diesel Honda CRV and he does a standard trip into work evry day. He has recently started to use the Millers Sport 4 diesel additive and says that he's geeting 2 mpg better. Neither of us have any problem with smoke. The Millers works out at just over 2p per litre of fuel dosed. But drops to about half that if you buy a 5 litre botle as opposed toa 500ml bottle.