Supermarket Fuel In Supercars?
Discussion
Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I wanted to get an idea of what people run their supercars on? I fill my Gallardo with Superunleaded, but as we all know the prices are creaping up at the moment (standard ul is due to hit £1.20 a ltr before christmas). Ive read in the past that Supermarket fuel is rubbish compared to normal BP/Shell/Esso and the like, but have always thought personally how can this be true? It all comes from the same refinery's dosnt it?
Is there anyone on here who knows the definitive answer? Am I ok to put Sainsburys Super Unleaded in my Lambo, because Im getting 5p off a litre at the moment! :-)
Is there anyone on here who knows the definitive answer? Am I ok to put Sainsburys Super Unleaded in my Lambo, because Im getting 5p off a litre at the moment! :-)
king kill me 
but maybe thats why i only drive a slow old sports car You'll never get to buy a Gallardo if you keep throwing money away on petrol!
Anyway, the case for - Tanker drivers will tell you they get the different fuels from the same tanks usually, with only the fancy ones having extra cleaning addatives.
against- people will tell you that it's old fuel, or dregs or something, that a mate told them on the internet, back up with psychosomatic evidence that their car feels worse, or less smooth on "cheapo" petrol.
I've yet to see any evidence or documentation that supermarket fuels are any worse.
Anyway, the case for - Tanker drivers will tell you they get the different fuels from the same tanks usually, with only the fancy ones having extra cleaning addatives.
against- people will tell you that it's old fuel, or dregs or something, that a mate told them on the internet, back up with psychosomatic evidence that their car feels worse, or less smooth on "cheapo" petrol.
I've yet to see any evidence or documentation that supermarket fuels are any worse.
yellowgriff said:
Is there anyone on here who knows the definitive answer?
:-)
how can you be worried about 5p,,,,,, when a clutch bearing 2 grand,, am i missing something:-)
Thanks for the replies that actually answer my question
Im with you here. I never use to care about fuel and to some extent I still dont. In that i mean that i will not start searching for an alternative station to see if it is cheaper. I own a Diablo and my last tank got me 130 miles for £75. Do i care? Yes because i resent having to pay stupid amounts that seem to vary far too often. Does it stop me driving? No not at all, I drive the car all the time.
When you get 130 miles to a tank, you are allowed a little moan at petrol. I usually average about 140 by the way. Have got 250 on a long distance journey so my goal is to beat that.
I use super always, wouldnt think i would really notice a big difference between fuels and I dont really kick my car about to notice, just the odd the little blast on the M'way.
Edited by Mattymouse33 on Sunday 8th November 20:36
Just spent ages typing a response full of calcs and figures only to lose the lot because I wasn't logged in, hmmm.
To summarise, I used to keep fuel consumption records for a small fleet. In some cases I was able to compare several tanks' worth of both 95ron and 99ron in the same vehicle with the same driver. My conclusion was that the decrease in fuel consumption offered by higher octane fuel outweighed the cost premium.
The vehicles were for the most part mainstream, although I undertook the same analysis on my ZX9-R and ZZR600. Generally speaking, fuel consumption decreased by 8-12% whereas the cost difference is only 4-6%. Of course, this is a real-world rather than clinical test.
For instance (starting figure of 30mpg used for clarity):
1000 miles in generic hatchback, 95ron at £4.81/ gall (£1.059/ litre). Avg consumption 30mpg, fuel used 33.3 galls, cost £160.17
1000 miles in generic hatchback, 99ron at £5.03/ gall (£1.109/ litre). Avg consumption 33mpg, fuel used 30.3 galls, cost £152.41
Whether a supercar's engine will respond in the same way to different octane fuels, I don't know... but happy to put in the miles if someone wants to volunteer their car
To summarise, I used to keep fuel consumption records for a small fleet. In some cases I was able to compare several tanks' worth of both 95ron and 99ron in the same vehicle with the same driver. My conclusion was that the decrease in fuel consumption offered by higher octane fuel outweighed the cost premium.
The vehicles were for the most part mainstream, although I undertook the same analysis on my ZX9-R and ZZR600. Generally speaking, fuel consumption decreased by 8-12% whereas the cost difference is only 4-6%. Of course, this is a real-world rather than clinical test.
For instance (starting figure of 30mpg used for clarity):
1000 miles in generic hatchback, 95ron at £4.81/ gall (£1.059/ litre). Avg consumption 30mpg, fuel used 33.3 galls, cost £160.17
1000 miles in generic hatchback, 99ron at £5.03/ gall (£1.109/ litre). Avg consumption 33mpg, fuel used 30.3 galls, cost £152.41
Whether a supercar's engine will respond in the same way to different octane fuels, I don't know... but happy to put in the miles if someone wants to volunteer their car
I used to exclusively use Tesco 99, in a previous car. After a couple of years it developed a fault with the fuel gauge, where it would either read full or empty regardless of how much was in the tank. Someone recommended that I switch to another brand and try an STP fuel cleaner. After a couple of tanks of BP (whatever the best BP fuel was) and a bottle of the cleaner, the problem disappeared and the gauge read normally. I haven't been back to supermarket fuel since.
I wouldn't like to point fingers and say the supposed lack of additives in supermarket petrol caused the issue. It may also have been coincidence that the gauge started working again and nothing to do with me changing the brand of fuel whatsoever.
I wouldn't like to point fingers and say the supposed lack of additives in supermarket petrol caused the issue. It may also have been coincidence that the gauge started working again and nothing to do with me changing the brand of fuel whatsoever.
Mattymouse33 said:
Im with you here. I never use to care about fuel and to some extent I still dont. In that i mean that i will not start searching for an alternative station to see if it is cheaper. I own a Diablo and my last tank got me 130 miles for £75. Do i care? Yes because i resent having to pay stupid amounts that seem to vary far too often. Does it stop me driving? No not at all, I drive the car all the time.
When you get 130 miles to a tank, you are allowed a little moan at petrol. I usually average about 140 by the way. Have got 250 on a long distance journey so my goal is to beat that.
I use super always, wouldnt think i would really notice a big difference between fuels and I dont really kick my car about to notice, just the odd the little blast on the M'way.
140 miles to a tank. Stop driving down the high street in first gear. (It does sound good though.)
When you get 130 miles to a tank, you are allowed a little moan at petrol. I usually average about 140 by the way. Have got 250 on a long distance journey so my goal is to beat that.
I use super always, wouldnt think i would really notice a big difference between fuels and I dont really kick my car about to notice, just the odd the little blast on the M'way.
140 miles to a tank. Stop driving down the high street in first gear. (It does sound good though.)
Edited by Mattymouse33 on Sunday 8th November 20:36
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