Petrol Station Super Unleaded Con?

AdrianC

DUTR wrote: »

Ouch! Near me the Shell is the same price as Asda (has been cheaper sometimes) even out in the woody muddy parts, the fuel is no more than 3p/l more than the city more 2p/l though .

This is the first petrol station you get to after leaving the city - 20 miles before.

The next one - 5 miles further on the A-road - is usually about 4p cheaper...

pvt

InsideInsurance wrote: »

BIL came to visit us in the UK, back home to fill a car is less than 75p

Where was he visiting from? 1962?

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

There are definitely garages who try and make the difference between the petrols difficult to spot. If it isn't easy to tell (try in the dark or what if you are colour blind like 8% of men are) then I think it is a con.

The main brands do make it reasonably clear, but not all, and if all there is to tell them apart is a small sticker with some sort of brand name that you may not even realise represents a premium petrol then it is an unfair practice.

If you went into the supermarket and picked a bottle off the shelf marked 3.99 and you got charged 5.00 because it was misplaced, you'd be miffed if it was the same label, just a different grape.

AdrianC

IanMSpencer wrote: »

(try in the dark or what if you are colour blind like 8% of men are)

Every single forecourt is brightly lit, every single handle has the words "PREMIUM UNLEADED" or "SUPER UNLEADED" on, and every single pump displays the price per litre when you lift the handle.

nobbysn*ts

InsideInsurance wrote: »

BIL came to visit us in the UK, back home to fill a car is less than 75p and an attendant does it for you and normally washes the screen etc too.

He was firstly confused that you had to fill the car yourself and guessed that it'd cost about £10 to fill a car. Was more than a little shocked at the circa £85 bill and thought the least they could do is fill the car and wash it for you.

What car does he have at home? Even at 75p a litre, £10 would get you 3 gallons, so maybe a moped? Or maybe bad at maths?

Joe_Horner

AdrianC wrote: »

It _really_ isn't that simple. ANY brand's super is very likely to be up to E5. None are "guaranteed" to be E0.

It also isn't that simple because the required 5% ethanol really makes very little difference indeed.

The energy density of petrol is around 34.4MJ/litre and for ethanol is 24MJ/litre.

But E05 fuel is still 95% petrol wih only 5% ethanol, which leaves it with an energy density of (34.2x0.95) + (24x0.05) = 33.7 MJ / litre.

So that's only about 1.5% difference.

All oher things being equal, that would equate to 0.75mpg difference in a car averaging 50mpg, which you could practically gain or lose by washing the paint more often!

But "all other things" aren't equal. Ethanol in fuel allows an increase in thermal efficiency because of its knock resistance. That means that a greater percenage of tha theoretical energy content gets turned into work at the wheels.

It also reduces soot producion significantly, which helps to keep he engine running efficiently for longer.

Now, I'm no greenie, I'm very sceptical of global warming, I've seen the problems that ethanol can (rarely) cause with old (ie: pre-80's or so) cars, and I think it's a very bad idea indeed to give over much needed food producion to making road fuel.

But I also dislike technically invalid arguments on either side, and a properly measurable, as opposed to anecdotal, loss of MPG from 5% (or even 10 or 20%) ethanol just doesn't happen!

topdaddy_2

AdrianC wrote: »

Every single forecourt is brightly lit, every single handle has the words "PREMIUM UNLEADED" or "SUPER UNLEADED" on, and every single pump displays the price per litre when you lift the handle.

Or that colour blindness is usually blue-green blindness.

Iceweasel

Interestingly petrol prices are much the same in the US of A and Russia - around 75p a litre.

So presumably average earnings, standard of living, and quality of life will be much the same then?

Perhaps the BIL lives in RuskiLand.

roonaldo

REDDDRAGGON wrote: »

It seems to be they are making the most of the poorly labelled pumps by bumping the Super price to 159.9p, when it's normally about 138.9p every where else. While it might not be illegal, it does seem like a bit of a deception!

What do you want a flashing light with "cheaper fuel here ---->" for all people who cannot read and understand what they are buying.

People who drive premium cars (and even your average car) will want to fill up with a premium fuel and there's a market for it. I dont get how on earth its deceptive. At petrol pumps across the country there are usually only 2 or 3 fuels available at each pump. So if theres 4 fuels on the market i.e. unleaded, super unleaded, diesel and super diesel they are often rotated at different pumps. This is pretty basic.

I'm sure you get round Tesco ok picking up value food so not sure whys theres an issue at the pumps.

InsideInsurance

nobbysn*ts wrote: »

What car does he have at home? Even at 75p a litre, £10 would get you 3 gallons, so maybe a moped? Or maybe bad at maths?

No, not 75p per Litre, 75p to fill the tank. He has a Toyota Landcruiser. Petrol is around $0.01 a L, less if you can pay in USD

He knew UK petrol was more expensive but thought it'd be around a tenner for a tank rather than eighty.