asda diesel freezing? compensation??

spanner16

mikey72 wrote: »

They are different. As each batch is loaded, different additives are injected into the fuel being loaded.
I've said that before in this post. I've shown examples of the technology used.
Whether you think it performs differently is a different question.
No fuel is inferior to the standard it must meet. You're paying for cleaners, knock reducers, and if you pay for octane boosters, you may get better mpg, chances are you use it in slightly better performance though.

I understand the theory and the technoogy involved but the only tests I can find differentiate between premium fuels and standard fuels, I can find nothing that says that basic supermarket fuels are different to basic "branded" fuels, you would think that if there was a difference it would be easy to prove, I have read tests by Top Gear, Fifth Gear that compare fuels but the only conclusions reached are that premium fuels are better than standard ones

mikey72

I always use the cheapest. The car runs on it, it'll do for me.

spanner16

mikey72 wrote: »

I always use the cheapest. The car runs on it, it'll do for me.

Me too, I've noticed no difference if I have had to fill up branded garages

spanner16

I emailed BP and asked them what they do, they say that some additives are put in during the refining process and that the additives they put in at point of loading are "performance enhancing" to produce premium fuels as BP Ultimate. I think this is what the other companies do as well so would conclude that basic petrol grades are the same as supplied to all garages with regional/refinery differences. I can't find anything to suggest any different

Wh05apk

I am also sceptical of the argument against supermarket fuels, I think most of this is brand snobery.

I have always monitored my fuel consumption closely, and have mainly used supermarket fuels, with an occasional tank or two elsewhere, I have never noticed any change in consumption or performance with any fuels.

Recently I started using Shell fuelsave diesel which did seem to give me an extra 1-2 mpg, however after a few tanks this dropped abck to normal, so I may have subconciously changed my driving style because I "believed" it would be more economical.

The last tank of Shell caused me big problems, with the car seeming to be flat, hesitant and smoking badly, I suspect the fuel was contaminated, as this improved as soon as I topped up with some supermarket "crap"! Shell of course denied any problem, however, I will in future mainly stick to supermarket fuels and save my money /get my Tesco points!

Inactive

Wh05apk wrote: »

The last tank of Shell caused me big problems, with the car seeming to be flat, hesitant and smoking badly, I suspect the fuel was contaminated, as this improved as soon as I topped up with some supermarket "crap"! Shell of course denied any problem, however, I will in future mainly stick to supermarket fuels and save my money /get my Tesco points!

Of course, Tesco do not have a history of selling contaminated fuel?;)

They always charge more than my local village filling station anyway.

Tesco Points.... You are welcome to them.:)

bigjl

I must admit that until I noticed a big difference with my Mondeo TDCi I would have doubted that there was any difference between Supermarket and Branded diesel.

My wife doesn't notice anything wrong with her Clio DCi on supermarket diesel, though I have driven it and noticed that it smokes a little bit more under load than when we got it last year.

This was slightly reduced when I filled it up with Esso, a full tank lasts a week, but it still gets around 57-60mpg day in and day out, it actually improved to 62mpg during the recent cold spell.

I still think that the Ford (specifically Euro4) issue may be relevant, so if anybody doesn't think there is anything in this they won't mind saying what car and year they have when they post their opinion.

I knew a farmer that had a 1995/M 405 td, the one with the intercooler and he swore that it drove ten times better, though smoked more when filled up with "cherry" diesel, which, back then definately wasn't low sulpher diesel and had few, if any, additives.


Also note that older diesels can run on veg oil etc, as they were much more flexible about fuel quality, subject to the right diesel pump, than todays slighty delicate and highly strung diesels.

This fact alone would go some way to certain newer diesels being very sensitive to fuel quality.

Does anybody remember the last time they had the light flash on the dash relating to the fuel filter being full of water? I last seen it lit on a 405 TD years ago.

spanner16

bigjl wrote: »

I must admit that until I noticed a big difference with my Mondeo TDCi I would have doubted that there was any difference between Supermarket and Branded diesel.

My wife doesn't notice anything wrong with her Clio DCi on supermarket diesel, though I have driven it and noticed that it smokes a little bit more under load than when we got it last year.

This was slightly reduced when I filled it up with Esso, a full tank lasts a week, but it still gets around 57-60mpg day in and day out, it actually improved to 62mpg during the recent cold spell.

I still think that the Ford (specifically Euro4) issue may be relevant, so if anybody doesn't think there is anything in this they won't mind saying what car and year they have when they post their opinion.

I knew a farmer that had a 1995/M 405 td, the one with the intercooler and he swore that it drove ten times better, though smoked more when filled up with "cherry" diesel, which, back then definately wasn't low sulpher diesel and had few, if any, additives.


Also note that older diesels can run on veg oil etc, as they were much more flexible about fuel quality, subject to the right diesel pump, than todays slighty delicate and highly strung diesels.

This fact alone would go some way to certain newer diesels being very sensitive to fuel quality.

Does anybody remember the last time they had the light flash on the dash relating to the fuel filter being full of water? I last seen it lit on a 405 TD years ago.

You appear to be arguing that supermarket fuels are lower quality (yes ?) There is no evidence to back that up apart from owners claiming they can tell that there is a difference and even that is only claimed by some.

bigjl

spanner16 wrote: »

You appear to be arguing that supermarket fuels are lower quality (yes ?) There is no evidence to back that up apart from owners claiming they can tell that there is a difference and even that is only claimed by some.

Read my post again, then take some notes and reread them if my post is difficult to understand.

I am one of those that can tell the difference, as mentioned in my post what car do you drive and what year is it?

I have driven several million miles in my driving career and, as stated in my previous post, was as big a sceptic on these kind of issues as the next man, but having experienced just such a thing in my Mondeo TDCi and slightly reduced smoke in the wifes Clio DCi I can only conclude that there are some differences between the two when the car is fairly new, Euro 4 and newer possibly?


Funnily enough I remember posting all this information earlier, or do you just quote somebodies post without actually reading it?


Remember that theoretical opinion is meaningless without evidence, my evidence is that I can tell when my Mondeo has been filled with Supermarket diesel without my knowledge, such as when my missus borrowed it and I could immediately tell the difference.


You will note that I have said that it is entirely possible that such issues don't affect older diesels, or perhaps even ones that are in a lower state of tune, my Mondeo is the 130TDCi so is in a fairly high state of tune as standard, but have added that some older diesels drove slightly better when they had "cherry" diesel in them, abliet with more smoke.

The extra smoke issue is also a factor in people in Eire that use green diesel, I don't think green or red diesel is treated with any additives and ten years ago, which is when I was told this information, neither was low sulphar (?spelling) either.



So which cars have you made comparisons in?

clever_username

For what it's worth I can't say I've ever noticed a difference between supermarket fuel and the 'branded' stuff.