i was talking to a guy at work today and we got on about cars and where we fill up i said i always use my local supermarket diesel but he said he would never use it and would pay a little extra for garage diesel but surely diesels is diesel no matter where you buy it from he was saying it was sub standard so i said the reason it was cheaper is because they buy in bulk but saying that i have heard a few say they don't use supermarket diesel
Supermarket or garage diesel
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Some will tell you that extra additives found in the expensive brands are worth paying for. Some will tell you they get a few more miles per gallon from the expensive fuel. Some will tell you they experience smoother running and more power from the expensive fuel.
Some will tell you they always buy the cheapest and its fine.
I subscribe to this latter view.
Some will tell you they always buy the cheapest and its fine.
I subscribe to this latter view.
We use Tesco supermarket for clubcard points and diesel is reasonable
Damian
Moderator
I have always used supermarket diesel and petrol and occasionally some from one of the big names and supposedly "better", but to be honest I have never found any difference in how the cars have run.
What has made a difference is that most of my daily driving is short distances and relatively slow speed, but get the van on the back and go for a long journey with the engine working reasonably hard and getting everything up to its optimum temperature for a long time, and the car does feel more responsive and seems to smoother.
What has made a difference is that most of my daily driving is short distances and relatively slow speed, but get the van on the back and go for a long journey with the engine working reasonably hard and getting everything up to its optimum temperature for a long time, and the car does feel more responsive and seems to smoother.
Since lockdown because I am shielding my wife due to chemotherapy I have been buying fuel from my local Tesco as it’s the only station locally with pay at pump facility. Up until now I was firmly on the ‘ only branded fuel’ bandwagon but I have to say I’ve noticed little change in performance or fuel consumption during the last 5 months in both our vehicles. There seems to have been a marked improvement in the quality of their fuel over the last couple of years. I’m still wary of their Momentum performance fuel as it has high levels of ethanol which can cause problems with some fuel system components and I believe it is more hygroscopic than ‘regular’ unleaded.
We stopped using supermarket fuel years ago. and only use branded fuel now. I don't get more mpg etc but one thing I did notice is that the engine burns cleaner and not so much smoke when starting up. I guess it is due to the additives as all the diesel comes from the same tank at the refinery. Occasionally I will top up with premium diesed or use a diesel additive like Millers especially before a MOT. OH's car is a petrol and mpg did seem to improve marginally but performance was definitely better.
Does any one remember Robjax who was a chemist in the petroleum industry and contributed to this forum many years ago? I have his diagnosis which is interesting, but it is a long article. Basically it is the additives that make the difference and why branded fuel cost more especially premium fuels.
Does any one remember Robjax who was a chemist in the petroleum industry and contributed to this forum many years ago? I have his diagnosis which is interesting, but it is a long article. Basically it is the additives that make the difference and why branded fuel cost more especially premium fuels.
Is this an older car? I once had a Citroen XM which I loved until some Frenchman wrote it off for me. On start up it put up a smoke screen. Actually embarrassing. But it always flew through the MOT. Cars I have had for the past 20 years or so have had no smoke discernible from inside the car even with cheap fuel.
Also, the handbooks state that no additives should be used. An impossible ask for those additives put in at the pump, But I don’t feel the need for any extra in a modern engine.
Gone are the days when we asked for a shot of RedX with each gallon. (More smoke).
I filled up at the beginning of March. Still got a quarter of that tank!
John
I have Passat 2.0 PD (170PS) with a DPF. I used to use Tesco Diesel, but mainly becasue I really only do short journeys these days, the car was frequently ( about every 200 to 250 miles) going into an automatic DPF regeneration cycle. Occasionally the the DPF light came on and despite taking it for longer runs at over 2000 rpm on 3 occasions the engine dropped into limp home.
My tame garage would use the ODB port to initiate a high level DPF regeneration which requires driving at 50mph for about 20 to 25 miles to decoke the filter.
I now have my own ODB reader and interface, and can start the high level cleaning process.
But I have also changed to using one of the branded super grades, and the distance between auto regen's has improved considerably.
The DPF issue is one reason why I am considering changing the car, the other is Birmingham will be introducing its £10 pollution charge soon, and coupled to my much shorter journeys with teh odd longer stretch. a Plug in Hybrid would seem to offer me the necessary flexibility , and reduce both my costs and pollution footprint.
My tame garage would use the ODB port to initiate a high level DPF regeneration which requires driving at 50mph for about 20 to 25 miles to decoke the filter.
I now have my own ODB reader and interface, and can start the high level cleaning process.
But I have also changed to using one of the branded super grades, and the distance between auto regen's has improved considerably.
The DPF issue is one reason why I am considering changing the car, the other is Birmingham will be introducing its £10 pollution charge soon, and coupled to my much shorter journeys with teh odd longer stretch. a Plug in Hybrid would seem to offer me the necessary flexibility , and reduce both my costs and pollution footprint.
Apart
from my Superbs unreliability we decided to go to petrol as both Bath and Bristol will be shortly introducing restrictions on diesel and with the runabout easily turning in around 50 mpg in daily use it matters little that the tow car has turned the “Mpg” clock back to 1997 when we had a Saab 9000 2.3 turbo.
A penny or two at most - most of the cost of fuel is made up of fuel duty, VAT, distribution costs and basic manufacturing cost - all fuel in Europe has to meet EN standards which includes an additive/cleaner specification.
Premium petrol costs more to produce as it's higher octane but premium diesel doesn't - the marginally higher cetane level doesn't have the same effect as higher octane in petrol.
RIP Robjax.
Parksy
Moderator
My 2.8 Mitsubishi Pajero would smoke now and then and before MOT time I'd use a tank full of premium diesel.
My current towcar, a 2.5 Kia Sorento doesn't produce any noticeable smoke so with the three nearest fuel stations to me being Asda, Morrison and Tesco I always fill up with supermarket diesel.
Performance and fuel economy with the Kia are fine, but after towing a t/a caravan with the Pajero, almost any vehicle will show good fuel economy.
My current towcar, a 2.5 Kia Sorento doesn't produce any noticeable smoke so with the three nearest fuel stations to me being Asda, Morrison and Tesco I always fill up with supermarket diesel.
Performance and fuel economy with the Kia are fine, but after towing a t/a caravan with the Pajero, almost any vehicle will show good fuel economy.
Back in 2010 my first Sorento suffered a failed Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve . Garage said it was my usage of supermarket diesel. Since then I still use the supermarket but very so often do fill up at Esso or BP. No difference in mpg but no more EGR failures. No real evidence hence I am not convinced either way.
Isn't the Pajero an imported Shogun? We had a 2013 Shogun for about 3 months in 2018 and fuel consumption was eye watering as we were lucky to see 17mpg when towing at 56mph. Brochure said it would get up to 39mpg on a motorway solo. It got nowhere near that when solo on a motorway.
Parksy
Moderator
Same here, the Pajero was a grey import and the Shogun was the UK version. It would pull a house down and was super reliable but the fuel economy was atrocious.
The Sorento pulls the caravan just as well but it's smoother and much more economical.
P.S.
When we towed the caravan to St Ives with the Pajero the standing joke was that it would have been cheaper to fly down there 😁
You’re right about the mismatch between real consumption and the makers claimed consumption. In 2013 vehicles were subject to testing that bore no relationship between real world and claimed figures. Honest Johns website shows just how large the gap really was. As standards got stricter we then hit diesel gate and it wasn’t just VW that transgressed. In the last 12 months the worldwide test has been introduced to try and make it more like the actual consumption. But I suspect it will still underestimate the true figures as the variation in real world conditions is extremely wide. Ie Finland v U.K.
Never bettered 30 mpg solo on my SWB but it wasn’t bought for economy. We even became honorary members of our local Land Rover club. Possibly on account it never broke down, rarely got stuck and rescued Solihull”s best when required.
We regularly tow about 180 miles from home to the same site to visit family. I have filled up with various makes of fuel and usually check the fuel consumption on arrival. Tesco has normally beaten the branded fuel so I use it most of the time.
I buy regular Shell Diseasal for the solo driving (get me Plus Points) but will treat the car to some premium/VPower for the towing.
Off topic: I signed up for that CMC Esso Card thing but never used it... have they canned it now?
Off topic: I signed up for that CMC Esso Card thing but never used it... have they canned it now?
No I think that you can still get is it Fuel Pecker. Seem to recall seeing it when I was on the website recently.
Hi
The fuel card on camc was by pump king for esso fuel, they now have a fuel card by fuelpecker which I think do 4p per litre off pump price at esso stations and 1p per litre off pump price at shell stations don't quote me on prices
I did when we were in Potes and spoke to a lady who had one the same as mine. She thought that it was a hoot and had a good giggle.
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