Branded v. Supermarket petrol / diesel

worried_jim

A._Badger wrote: »

As for price, the supermarkets arrived in the market promising cheap petrol. Clearly, if it was ever true, it isn't now and a side effect of their presence is that they have helped drive the number of filling stations down. It is hard to see what benefit, if any, that they have brought to the motorist.

Good point. When they arrived on the scene they were consistently cheaper by a few pence then the branded sites, now this is not the case as branded sites are often the same price as the supermarkets and on some occasions even cheaper. The Esso garage @ Hove station is always cheaper than the nearby supermarkets.

elektra-2007

virgo17 wrote: »

My own conclusions to this debate are :-

1) There is no difference in the fuel delivered to a supermarket filling station from that delivered to an own garage.

2) There is a big difference in the way the fuel is managed upon or after delivery at many supermarket filling stations. How can the staff that work in the supermarket filling stations (and next week may be stacking shelves) be as proficient as the dedicated manager of a normal filling station. Horses for courses?

3) Apparent savings on Tesco fuel are frequently a myth. Just prior to their 'spend £50 in store and get 5p off per litre' the forecourt price rises by nearly that much for the period.

4) Many own brand filling stations are more competitive. It depends largely on geography and the number of stations in the area.

Just my 2p. YMMV.

EH????? When I used to work nights at Somerfields petrol station, staff wernt allowed to touch the fuel!! The tanker driver delivered it, it was sealed back up and that was that!! The manager never touched it either, we just read the numbers each morning/night and that was it. I dont get what u mean....about garages and supermarkets treating it different after delivery....its just in the tank isnt it?

DaveMacD

A few years ago (when I had some spare cash, and before diesel got to the point of absolute silliness in price) I tried running my truck on Shell VPower Diesel. For several months, that was all I used, and I can honestly say that, in my vehicle, I noticed not a jot of difference other than my bank balance dropped more quickly. Likewise, I have noticed no difference between 'brand name' suppliers, and supermarkets. The main advantage of using the supermarket to fill up is that you can pick up the veggie oil to make a 50/50 mix at the same time

tomstickland

With Diesel I wouldn't expect any noticeable difference in performance or economy.

With petrol there might be some benefit on an engine with knock sensors, but it's not a great deal, and I doubt that it's worth the extra cost.

flyingscotno1

DaveMacD wrote: »

A few years ago (when I had some spare cash, and before diesel got to the point of absolute silliness in price) I tried running my truck on Shell VPower Diesel. For several months, that was all I used, and I can honestly say that, in my vehicle, I noticed not a jot of difference other than my bank balance dropped more quickly. Likewise, I have noticed no difference between 'brand name' suppliers, and supermarkets. The main advantage of using the supermarket to fill up is that you can pick up the veggie oil to make a 50/50 mix at the same time

I got a couple of discount coupons for that and ran a few tankfuls. My car lets me download the economy and journeys onto computer and there was a slight improvement if any. (Shell in fairness doesn't claim better economy for the V-Power Diesel). I think the car ran a bit smoother when cold but how do you accurately measure that. Not worth the extra for that.

The main benefit of V-Power Diesel is that it is a Gas To Liquids fuel and is different from mineral diesel. I was once told by an MOT tester that it helps cars pass MOT tests due to different emissions. Whether it is true I don't know!

Certainly Shell Diesel Extra used to be sold as more expensive over ordinary diesel in dome places so that must have some additives in it from Shell.

I tend to run my car on Shell due to drivers club stuff and it is the nearest to me. The only fuel I don't like is Tescos get a few mpg less on it which seems irrational over other supermarket fuels but there you go!

Zanzibar

Same story with premium v. regular fuels, with some claiming mileage and performance benefits and others not.

I'd really love to see some real science put into this subject. We should be informed!

This was tested with Shell V Power a few years ago in Autoexpress I think it was - I have the article about somewhere. It concluded the cleaning ability of the extra additives did indeed make a difference to the engine. They opened up and inspected the vales etc. and there were far fewer deposits.

I tend to get the premium fuel and have noticed unless you have a performance car you are unlikely to notice any difference - and its a performance difference not a noticeable MPG one.

Also I seem to remember Tesco do a special 99 RON fuel at some selected stations - never tried it myself.

http://www.greenergy.com/tesco_99_octane/FAQs.html