The Great Fuel Debate

[Goodkat]

There have been many threads on many websites (Including this one no doubt) about fuel, mainly a giant debate on what is better, Supermarket vs Named brand.

Now I am a habitual supermarket fuel buyer. Always dazzled by the extra penny or two cheaper per litre, I have for many years pumped Asda's own brand petrol into my car, always using the reasoning that if it really was crap, it would not pass tests and also,'it all goes from the same refinery, right'?

Well. My Focus is a MK2.5, 58 plate, and I bought it with 124,300 odd miles on the clock. I do not know what fuel has been put in it throughout it's existence. I have been putting Asda's 95RON motion potion in, and the car runs ok. I have now got to 124,700 odd and have just put £25 of Shell's Fuel Save in. It had 78 miles to empty beforehand, now it has 219. I will be filling up for the next few weeks at the same petrol station, with Fuel Save. I will be watching the MPG and the general feel of the car, to decide once and for all whether Shell brand is better, or if it is all hype.

So, who here wouldn't be seen at Asda/Tesco?Sainsburys petrol station, who is happy with Supermarket fuel? Any experiences good or bad for either? Any recommendations on what is the 'optimum fuel'? Is the more expensive fuel much better than the cheaper, or is it all just a marketing ploy?

Discuss.

[TomsFocus]

I used to go to Shell every single time from starting to drive, doing a tank a fortnight, both petrol and diesel cars but nothing high perfomance, using their normal fuel, rather than the premium.

Then when I wasn't working any longer, switched to Sainsbury's as its cheaper, but also get nectar points and next to the place I'm buying food lol. Free tyre air machines as well...

I measure mpg every time and tbh there was no difference lol. Didn't notice any performance drops either. Only thing I did notice, on my old (heavily remapped) smoky diesel there would be more soot on the bootlid after a fortnight! Will never know if that was genuine or my imagination though.

My Dad swears by VPower in his petrol V6 Mondeo though, even though it costs more, he reckons he gets better mpg (though I don't see 20mpg as good lol) and it drives better.

So I was wondering exactly the same thing the other day. Now I've got the Focus (with expensive fuel system parts), would I gain anything (reliability/longevity/mpg/performance) from buying premium fuel? I noticed the fuel flap says Ford recommends BP...but I'd imagine BP just pay Ford to have that sticker there lol. I don't mind spending a couple pence per litre extra if there genuinely is a difference...

[SeanW]

I think the recommended sticker is as you say - a paid advert

Not quite the same - but at work I've dealt with fuel which supposedly meets specification. We've had to polish (filter repeatedly) the fuel before issuing it to warships. It went from an almost opaque brown to clear brown (very old MOD surplus diesel - yes, our warships are running on the same stuff you get from the pump lol)

Most merchant ships run on heavy fuel oil (only burning diesel when they absolutely have too). The stuff is like tar.

[Stoney871]

I use Supermarket fuel with no problems.

Every 3 or 4 fills I may stick Esso in just to mix it up a bit.

[Stoney871]

BTW I never use Texaco because the robbing beggars are always 5p dearer than everyone else in the area.

[Goodkat]

It does surprise me that Texaco are still doing business in the UK, they are considerably more expensive than others, but I know the one that is near me has lucrative HGV contracts which probably pays their way.

Sent from my Gen 1 WAP phone

[Marks12]

I Do try to use Esso over here in Ireland but there isn't any near my home have to wait till im going to town or work its a bit of a pain. Sometimes I will use the Texaco or emo Depot they aren't too far away I am starting to fill up nearer and nearer to dublin as the price gets dearer the nearer you get to dublin which means the garages are more likely to sell you the real deal not the rubbish other garages are selling with additives in them. There is no Shell in Ireland anymore Topaz took them over and I try to avoid filling up at topaz cause When Shell was in Ireland they tried running Irish farmers from there lands and the prime minister at the time Brian Cowen let them and now Topaz is around they offered mr Cowen a deal just before he stepped down for making the country go into the financial crisis which was caused mostly cause of him now hes some big name for Topaz so i wont give him the satisfaction

[FocusSmudge]

Our local Texaco is 3-4p cheaper than any other garage in the area; coupled with a local residents loyalty card, we get a further 2p off per litre meaning diesel is approximately 126p and petrol is 124p. The dearest I've seen in my area is an independent garage at 139p diesel!

When I had my 1.6 Hatch, I vowed never to use Tesco fuel again. It seemed to play funny buggers with my fuel gauge and 'miles to empty', neither of which ever moved on Tesco fuel or updated days after filling.

In terms of MPG, I always thought regular Shell gave me a few more miles. I filled up with a full tank of diesel last Sunday, have done 253 so far, mostly around town and the 'miles to empty' reckons a further 234 left (although it had originally quoted 407 so it's hardly accurate!) on track for roughly 500-550 miles.

Next time I'll top up with V-Power (have some vouchers!)

[MattDRX]

Think Tesco fuel is fine tbh, used BP a few times and it seems to vanish a lot quicker than anyone elses.

Used to work with someone from CZ who claimed Sainburys fuel had water in it to make it cheaper lol

Sainsburys Super seems to be the best, my old Clio was mapped for 98RON and loved their super more than anyone elses.

[Ianb]

Digging this one up to find out whether there are more ideas? I use Texaco, I've found them to be the cheapest so far - can say I've done a proper shop around, but certainly cheaper than the supermarkets.

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[laumk7]

I never use the supermarkets if I can help it, I had to use esso recently so I don't know what that counts as, but I needed fuel.

I usually plump for my favourite Shell station, still a fair old trek to get to, but worth it imo, before that I tried bp, but the car didn't seem to like it. There isn't a texaco I around here that I know of, there's a few tiny (and I mean tiny!) independents, but I avoid those as the fuel is usually sky high, not to mention getting in and out is a faff, there is a murco (I think that's what it's called?), but I avoid that as well as the staff are rude

Supermarket fuel I've avoided like the plague since three reasons; first a few cars back my car started misbehaving since filling up with tescos fuel, second since the great silicone mess up asdas did a few years back and third my husband fills up at the local supermarket and they're downright rude

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[TomsFocus]

I bought a tank of BP yesterday as I had a nectar points bonus there (works out as £2.50 off). Not noticed any difference yet as I usually use Sainsburys...