Does Supermarket Fuel Produce Lower MPG?

[R300will]

The super markets buy up the petrol from refinery's that the main companies like BP and Shell and Texaco etc. don't want. So the quality will be inferior to those brands and some decrease in MPG or performance may be noticed.

[AMST09]

Tesco 99 for me, closest best fuel and cheap

Filled up with Sainsbury's and ran awfully, couldn't wait to get through it

[EViS]

Very mixed responses there. For those of you who reckon you do in fact get more MPG out of the premium fuels, is it enough to make it better value for money in purchasing those fuels over the supermarkets?

And I wonder whether those who do see improved MPG, whether they drive Diesels or Petrols?

[R300will]

EViS said:

Very mixed responses there. For those of you who reckon you do in fact get more MPG out of the premium fuels, is it enough to make it better value for money in purchasing those fuels over the supermarkets?

And I wonder whether those who do see improved MPG, whether they drive Diesels or Petrols?

I recon you might. I think i will in mine, i am a regular at the local Texaco and think that the better quality fuel will look after the engine and therefore give me better long term performance.

[obscene]

My car always seems to run alot smoother on Shell petrol. Not filled up anywhere else unless I had to.

[A9XXC]

My 944 runs better and smoother with approx 10% better mpg on Shell Vpower. However BP Ultimate is no better than Sainsburys Super(?) 97 or the Tesco 99, which are just about better than the basic Asda stuff or anything else I've tried. Would add the car is designed to use standard 95 unleaded.

[CoolHands]

I've never noticed any difference between any 'regular' petrol in any car. Don't know about vpower etc

[R300will]

CoolHands said:

I've never noticed any difference between any 'regular' petrol in any car. Don't know about vpower etc

Try 3 consecutive tanks of 95 from a supermarket and then 95 from a more premium brand of station such as BP of shell and see what your average MPG is.

[halo34]

I tried BP Ultimate in a skyline GTST I had once, it didn't like it at all - the fancy gizmo I had hooked up showed it was holding back quite a bit (timing changed).

Went pop about an hr later (not saying it was the fuel but it wasn't happy at all).

My current 320d seems to be ok on Morrisons, Tesco its definately worse on MPG and lacking in power - Shell seems allot better.

By the computer

Tesco 41 MPG
Morrisons 42 MPG
Shell 45 MPG

Not comparable however as varying conditions and temps etc so very hard to do like for like. I can only go on how car feels and I definately feel its better with Shell.

[Fort Jefferson]

alfabadass said:

Not in the slightest!

There is crap petrol and good petrol even amongst the "brands".

Total, Texaco, Murco = complete st!

Sainsburys and Asda? Total bks.

Shell, BP, Tesco Momentum, Esso = awesome! Smooth running, etc

You're talking out of your arse, Sainsburys petrol is BP.

[CoolHands]

R300will said:

CoolHands said:

I've never noticed any difference between any 'regular' petrol in any car. Don't know about vpower etc

Try 3 consecutive tanks of 95 from a supermarket and then 95 from a more premium brand of station such as BP of shell and see what your average MPG is.

I shall!

I use fuelly.com too so I already have accurate records, but tend to mix & match providers. I will now do as suggested

[FreeLitres]

I ran my old 3.0 X-Type on v-power for about 6 months and then switched to using supermarket 95 Ron - the Mpg actually increased!

[aw51 121565]

Fort Jefferson said:

alfabadass said:

Not in the slightest!

There is crap petrol and good petrol even amongst the "brands".

Total, Texaco, Murco = complete st!

Sainsburys and Asda? Total bks.

Shell, BP, Tesco Momentum, Esso = awesome! Smooth running, etc

... Sainsburys petrol is BP.

Yup. A9XXC alluded to this about an hour ago too .

And if it isn't now, it certainly used to be.

[k15tox]

Unless your running a car tuned for higher octane fuel your wasting your money.

Far too many varibles on a daily basis for people claiming 1-2mpg better on a certain fuel. Eg, temp, traffic, air quality.

Plus if it does produce 3-5hp more on shell or some more expensive stuff what's that going to be up to 100mph? 1/4 of a car length?

The placebo effect is proven to work.

Run my monaro on tesco's finest for 35k.

Banged out 300whp 320wtqs and a 13.8 1/4 mile.

Not too shabby really for poverty fuel.

[DanielC4GP]

My old Focus used to do about 350 miles on a full tank when using Shell or Esso. If I used Morrison's though it would struggle to do 300. That's doing the same trips to work and back and the same quick trips to the pubs. Wasn't just the one off either happened every time I used Morrison's fuel.

Never noticed a difference in any other car though, just the Focus.

[anonymous-user]

Reindeer said:

I've always been pretty impressed with Sainsburys Super Unleaded..........Anyone else?

Good fuel. I always thought Sainsburys was essentially BP fuel. I never get fuel from anywhere but Sainsburys now. Tesco fuel is shocking in my car.

[sparks_E39]

My 2.8 litre 5 series BMW averaged almost 43 mpg (verified) on a 200 mile return trip to Richmond from Poole using normal Shell fuel- Asda normal fuel, it always does 37-39 mpg. It's a trip I make often and the driving conditions were the same.

[morgrp]

My local shell costs the same as the tesco down the road so why would I "take the risk"
of running my car on super market fuel?

[sparks_E39]

morgrp said:

My local shell costs the same as the tesco down the road so why would I "take the risk"
of running my car on super market fuel?

There is no risk but Shell is better in my opinion.

[johnpeat]

As many people have said, all 'petrol' of a given RON comes from the same refinery/supply (there are only a handful of refineries/supplies in the whole country).

Any differences are the additives which some 'branded' petrols have - but these are mostly detergents and other things designed to stop crap building-up in injectors or fuel lines and/or reduce carbon deposits, they will not effect the 'bang' in any way.

End of the day, 95 RON from any pump should be the same in any car and any differences you're noticing are far more likely down to a mixture of your driving/road conditions/tyre wear and other factors.

What makes people think supermarket petrol would be poorer than 'brand' petrol anyway? Just because it's cheaper??

Tomato Sauce is cheaper in a supermarket than in your corner shop - is it tomatoier from the corner shop or are you just being snobbish (or fooled by the expensive ads/F1 sponsorship etc??)