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Fuel Quality

misterjingles
misterjingles Posts: 150 Forumite
in Motoring
My mechanic swears that supermarket petrol is inferior to well known good quality brands such as Shell , Esso etc.

Is this conspiracy theory or is petrol just petrol whatever ??
«1

Comments

  • chainguy
    chainguy Posts: 59 Forumite
    Last I checked, Tesco didn't own any refineries, so whose making it for them..?

    I know who. You'll be fine on supermarket fuel.

    I run a fairly mad spec road car as a toy, with adjustable boost between 15-25psi. It doesnt pink on the Tesco super. Says it all for me.
  • tomstickland
    tomstickland Posts: 19,538 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I've recently been keeping a close eye on mpg with supermarket and non-supermarket fuels. Similar driving patterns. I've not seen any noticeable difference in mpg.
    Personally I just use a random mix. My local Shell garage is amongst the cheapest in the area too.
    Happy chappy
  • montrose5
    montrose5 Posts: 160 Forumite
    Have a look at 'Honest Johns' site on the Saturday Telegraph. Plenty of stories of problems with supermarket fuel. Not convinced, seems alright to me
  • lily_the_pink
    lily_the_pink Posts: 1,001 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    The supermarket stuff will be the same grade but wont necessarily have the same additives - so on some cars (but only some) you will notice a difference.
  • Astaroth
    Astaroth Posts: 5,444 Forumite
    As far as I saw Tesco's dont own any baked mean factories but there certainly is a difference between Heinz baked bean and Tesco Value.

    My father used to work in the oil industry as an independant auditor for depots etc and whilst I cant say which fuels went where there were certainly different grades/ additives within "4 Star" (it was a long time ago) and "3 Star" etc which went off to different petrol stations.

    Whilst there are certainly difference between different companies fuel it is a totally seperate question on if these differences actually make any noticable difference to the end user or if it is all marketing spin.
    All posts made are simply my own opinions and are neither professional advice nor the opinions of my employers
    No Advertising or Links in Signatures by Site Rules - MSE Forum Team 2
  • saintjanet
    saintjanet Posts: 723 Forumite
    one of the motoring mags. did an article on this,i think it was auto-express,they said there was alot of difference between various fuels,not just the standard unleaded but the more expensive ones like optimax etc.,when these were compared.

    It seemed to be dependant on which car you drive though.
    :) There are two sides to every story.
    I am not a SAINT just a saints supporter(saints RLFC)Grand final winners 2006.World club champions 2007.
  • chainguy
    chainguy Posts: 59 Forumite
    If thats your product perception Astaroth, then fine. Stick with it.

    I work with a refinery as part of my day job (I supply the Power Transmission equipment they use) and I know what fuel goes where, and from whom.

    I cant say much, as I'm bound by non disclosure agreements, but all I say is, if you think Tesco, or any other retailer, would sell crap, and indeed anything 'inferior' to the point where it could damage your engine, your on cloud cuckoo land.

    The octane is on the money, and it may not have the latest 'additives' of some name brand, but thats it.
  • balsingh
    balsingh Posts: 1,501 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Sainsburys use BP fuel. I've been running it for well over 10 years in all sorts of cars including high performance BMWs and its been great!!
    If you found my comment helpful, please click the 'Thanks' button below :T
  • C_Ronaldo
    C_Ronaldo Posts: 4,732 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    ive not noticed a difference but i dont normally shop at BP, shell, esso stations i use the supermarkets stations
    No Links in Signature by site rules - MSE Forum Team 2
  • chris73
    chris73 Posts: 364 Forumite
    Found an Esso station yesterday selling Diesel for 89.9p and Unleaded for 84.9p

    Sort of takes the Supermarket fuels out of the equation as that is far less than the local supermarkets are selling it for around here
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