Supermarket fuel inferior quality says Telegraph. Really?

[Ari]

This was in the Telegraph at the weekend. I fill up at Sainsburys (super unleaded) as I was lead to believe it all came from the same refineries and there was no material difference in supermarket fuels versus 'branded' fuels.

Interested in people's thoughts on this - should I be filling up with branded fuel instead?

[xRIEx]

Different fuel companies put different cocktails of additives into the tankers after filling up at the refinery.


ETA - Don't most cars have a fast idle on cold start? Is it just the case that 1500rpm is too high? I'm sure mine will initially do about 1200 or so on cold days.

[Kj159]

I fill up with both supermarket fuel and branded fuel, but recently I have been using branded fuel more after I read a similar article. It does seem to last longer and I seem to get more miles from a tank, but i'm not sure if that's a sort of placebo affect. I don't doubt that the branded fuel is cleaner and higher quality though, it makes sense.

[aww999]

After loyalty discounts, in-store promotions and the like, Tesco fuel is ~20% cheaper than branded fuel for me. All my cars have run fine on it; if bits of piston start flying out of the exhaust I will reconsider, but I can't see me troubling BP's forecourt any time soon.

[kambites]

I certainly can't tell any difference between different 95RON fuels in my car.

[DannyScene]

xRIEx said:

Different fuel companies put different cocktails of additives into the tankers after filling up at the refinery.


ETA - Don't most cars have a fast idle on cold start? Is it just the case that 1500rpm is too high? I'm sure mine will initially do about 1200 or so on cold days.

My Celica revs itself up to around 1600rpm on a cold morning

[lbc]

I only use Shell V-Power, as it saves money in the long term.

[dave_s13]

My brother in law (to be) is a tanker driver. He says it all comes from the same tap.

I'll be seeing him later in the week so will ask about post mix additives and get some more info on the exact process he experiences when filling up his tanker.

[The Wookie]

I know the fuel is supposed to be all the same but a few tanks of Tesco fuel in a row will put my Evora into limp mode after a long run. Repeated this 3 or 4 times but never once had it using branded fuel.

Dealer says no issue with the car and that they're just sensitive

[Prof Prolapse]

It is inferior quality in the sense that Shell and various companies spend a great deal of time refining additives. It categorically is not all the same (close friend worked in this area).

Whether or not it makes a difference is the only question.

[KTF]

lbc said:

I only use Shell V-Power, as it saves money in the long term.

How is that?

[Prof Prolapse]

Injector cleaning additives for one thing.

I'd use it if I gave a fk.

[kambites]

I suspect modern fuel injectors are designed do deal with much poorer quality fuel than anything you can buy in the UK without clogging up.

[KTF]

dave_s13 said:

My brother in law (to be) is a tanker driver. He says it all comes from the same tap.

I'll be seeing him later in the week so will ask about post mix additives and get some more info on the exact process he experiences when filling up his tanker.

I believe its something like they stop off at the first 'tap' and the tanker gets filled up with the base product.

Then they go to the second tap and the additives are added.

Then the two are mixed as the tanker drives along to its destination.

[mini1380cc]

KTF said:

lbc said:

I only use Shell V-Power, as it saves money in the long term.

How is that?

He could simply mean it works out cheaper per mile. The difference in MPG for my MR2 Turbo meant V-Power was cheaper than 95RON.

[kambites]

mini1380cc said:

He could simply mean it works out cheaper per mile. The difference in MPG for my MR2 Turbo meant V-Power was cheaper than 95RON.

This appears to be true of our Octavia too but Tesco Momentum is cheaper still if you shop there enough to get the vouchers.

[DaveH23]

Fifth gear did a test a while ago and they agree that they are inferior. Not by much but they are non the less.

Will try find the link.

[Bonefish Blues]

xRIEx said:

Different fuel companies put different cocktails of additives into the tankers after filling up at the refinery.

Genuine question - how do they do this, is there some sort of dispensing mechanism? Always wondered how the different mixes were managed.

[madbadger]

We put some supermarket and branded fuel through our mass spectrometer to have a look.

100.0% the same.

Having said that I gladly pay an extra 1p a liter to not have to mingle with the locals at the nearby ASDA and try to navigate through the worst designed petrol station in the world.

[Spare tyre]

My old 406 was sold on by me with 330 on the clock, I knew its previous owner. They always used sainsburys and so did I (apart from not possible)


Never had any problems

The car is still running fine now btw