Supermarket Petrol / Big Brand Petrol

SteveyJC

Hi all,

I dunno about you guys, but i am convinced that supermarket petrol burns alot quicker than the like likes of Shell / BP / ESSO etc? Now obviously its more or less impossible to know for sure, but does anyone else find this? And if this is the case then does the extra 1p or so on the pump make it more worthwhile than supermarket petrol?

I know it's all made to a British Standard, but arent there more lubricants/enhansers with the fancy stuff?

Can Martin or someone in the trade help with this?

Steve

snapdragon69

Supermarket fuel is just fuel with a supermarket branding on the pumps and canopy etc.... It is all from the usual oil companies, usually wherever they can get it the cheapest. Nowadays, oil companies also send their tankers (they don't even own these probably P&O or Wincanton etc... subcontractors) to other oil companies depots to fill up. This is far more efficient for the industry than having depots for all the oil companies in all conurbations.
having said that, additives of a variable quantity and type are added to some compartments on the tanker if a customer requires them. If ESSO were to operate out of a Total depot, they would have their own additive tank, if a supermarket had theirs from Texaco, they may add less or no additive.
The additives don't make any difference to power or economy in the immediate term, but may improve these over the long term by removing deposits and lubricating the fuel system.

vansboy

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk plenty info there in 'discussion forum' in 'The Backroom'

Use Shell Optimax & you'll be doing the best you can, currently, for your engine.

Use a Shell Optimax card, you'll save some points/pennies over a few hendred litres.

Get a Shell credit card, you'll get £10 points to start you off.

The fuel fom the terminals DOES have an additive package, depending on the reteiler thats getting it.

The driver selects the fuel, using a card type arrangement. So whatever it says on the side of the tanker, don't think it's all the same stuff inside!!

VB

mutley74

I used to use Shell diesel extra in my diesel picasso. Then over price i tried morrisons diesel. I noticed a big difference in the quality o fmy engine performance. I could notice the engine noise being slighly higher, and my exhaust started to show traces of more black deposits at the exit. Something i never noticed over 000's miles wil shell fuel. Thus i am back to using Shell when i can.

Talon_Karrde

now see...i saw this thread and thought......i'm gonna tell all about what honest john on the e telegraph says about this! and someone only gone and done it already!
Shell optimax is best, but BP ultimate is good, and texaco/esso are better than supermarket, all for reasons above.
I was a sworn advocate of supermarket stuff til honestjohn persuaded me to try optimax/ultimate and the difference is very noiticable, even in a boring renault scenic!!
ta muchly

Katgoddess

I work for a supermarket petrol station, and have never had any complaints.

But I can confirm its all the same stuff from the same oil refinery. Depend on the location its probably the same stuff in BP and Shell's garages as well.

Must be the different additives they use for different companies.

LRP and Super Unleaded is the same petrol with different additives...

sharon-d

I always used supermarket petrol until I bought a used Astra. If I use supermarket petrol the engine warning light comes on all the time, if I use petrol from shell or BP it doesnt. Guess its the additive dont really know for sure but I now stick to the garage.
Sharon

Baz-Bee

I used to drive a 2.0 Ghia and my wife had a 1.8 GLX Mondeo. Neither would run properly on Tesco petrol. Mis-fired, ran rough, lack of power, etc. Ran OK on Esso, BP, Texaco and other big name brands.

Since then I have run a Renault Scenic and currently run a Nissan X-Trail. Whilst my wife has a Fiat Stilo. Both run fine on Tesco petrol. So I am not sure what the moral is of this tale!!

Paul_the_Painter

Shell Optimax is the only "real" super unleaded available in the UK, the others are all 97RON Optimax is 98RON, a magazine had some tested a while back and it was actually coming out at 98.5 RON. If you are using a car with a highly tuned or turboed engine the higher RON will make a differance, especially in the summer when its hot outside and the engine needs all the help it can get to stop detonation. By highly tuned I mean anything that puts out more than about 80bhp per litre, certainly for anything over 100bhp per litre.

Modern ECU's will detect detonation (or knocking) and retard the ignition accordingly, but this means a drop off in power and effieciancy, in my old Subaru (2.0l Turbo STi) I put it on a rolling road with Optimax in the tank and got a reading of 299bhp, then filled up with Tescos finest 95RON and the power on the same day dropped to around 270bhp.

Ronn1e_2

Talon_Karrde wrote:

now see...i saw this thread and thought......i'm gonna tell all about what honest john on the e telegraph says about this! and someone only gone and done it already!
Shell optimax is best, but BP ultimate is good, and texaco/esso are better than supermarket, all for reasons above.
I was a sworn advocate of supermarket stuff til honestjohn persuaded me to try optimax/ultimate and the difference is very noiticable, even in a boring renault scenic!!
ta muchly

Me too. We are too slow to respond.

cpjackso

In my experience I have found Morrisons petrol to be absolutly awful - I currently use Sainsburys mostly which is a lot better and usually the cheapest garage where I live. Will give the Shell a go though - thanks.