1st Diesel car - avoid supermarket fuel?

Minrich

This discussion has been done all over the internet on motoring forums . The fuel supplied to forecourts around the country is stored in only 2 or 3 locations . Tankers all fill up with the same fuel whether it be diesel or petrol , then depending where they are delivering the fuel to they have additive put into the tanker to make it "Shell" "Esso" "BP" "Supermarket fuel . This process has been going on for many years ..... Remember the Esso "Put a tiger in your tank campaign" ? . The best way to describe the difference is that some of the premium fuels burn more effectively , bit like you having a fire which burns quite nicely but throw a bit of Petrol,meths,alcohol onto it and it burns a bit hotter for a short period of time , soak all the wood on the fire in petrol for a few days and the fire will burn alot hotter .. Thats what the additive does like in Shell Nitro etc

FreddieFrugal

The 'my Diesel engines are better than yours' argument is sounding very childish.

I'm surprised no one has called anyone a 'poo poo head' or got upset and threatened to tell their mummy.

chaucer

patman99 wrote: »

The last proper scientific test carried-out on the debate was when C5's 'Fith Gear' program tested both regular and premium diesel in their Citreon C5 camera car a few years back. They discovered that the premium fuels did indeed live up to their claims, with a 5-8% boost in power.

May be it's time to do the tests again.

Wonders if video exists out in www land?


@ the bickering ... mmmh ... no more eh fellas - thanks

chaucer

Premium diesel test on fifth gear here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezjknhwcQXU

Iceweasel

I think one of the problems is that the 'premium fuels' with their additives to keep the innards of the car's fuel system (and the valves and cylinder head) do not give instant results.

Few of the additives are claiming to give instant extra horse-power.

They fuel companies say they need to be used over a prolonged period of time - so the driver who normally uses supermarket fuel will not experience some great neck-snapping push forward when they press on the loud pedal.

So they then decide that it's all a waste of money and a con as they can tell no difference.

Short of having 2 identical engines running for the same number of hours at the same rpm, then stripping them down to see how clean they are - we cannot prove a thing.

Dyno tests will likely show little difference simply by filling up with a different fuel and have another test straight away.

A smoke test might even show up the premium fuels in a bad light if the engine has used supermarket fuel previously and is new to a 'cleaner' type of fuel as presumably the premium fuel will start cleaning up deposits left by conventional fuels.

The whole subject is a:



and I suspect that believers and disbelievers are unlikely to change their opinions by what is written in this thread.

The sad thing is that rather than agreeing to disagree some people start treating those who think differently as idiots for holding an opposite view to theirs.

Time to move on I think.

Minrich

Some higher performance engines are designed to run on premium fuels (Generally higher octane) only , they will still run on lower quality ~(lower octane) fuels but will not give as many BHP and is noticeable on those types of engines . The fuel to use in your car will be on the filler cap flap , stick to that ?

anotherbaldrick

Minrich wrote: »

Some higher performance engines are designed to run on premium fuels (Generally higher octane) only , they will still run on lower quality ~(lower octane) fuels but will not give as many BHP and is noticeable on those types of engines . The fuel to use in your car will be on the filler cap flap , stick to that ?

Precisely , exactly my point, however my filler cap just says "DIESEL"

motorguy

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Perhaps you run lorries in a low sate of tune,

Lorries? No. Not quite.

Probably my top 3 owned diesels (so far) :-

BMW 535 M Sport, bought at 3 years old from BMW dealer, then remapped to 330BHP, 500lb/ft torque, 0-60 in 5.5s.

BMW 535d M Sport, bought new, remapped @ 1,000 miles to 340BHP (newer engine type so mapped better), 500lb/ft torque, 0-60 in 5.5s, delimited so top speed around 173MPH.

BMW e70 X5 3.0d, bought new, remapped @ 1,000 miles to 280BHP. 0-60 sub 7 seconds.

ALL of those could quite happily run on supermarket fuel and werent "lumpy".

Current car - 2012 Nissan 370z GT, bought with 9,000 miles, 328BHP, 0-60 in 5.1s. Runs on super unleaded, but needs an octane booster to take it to 98RON, which i add with every fill. Doesnt run "lumpy" on supermarket fuel.

Dog Carrier and car to leave at airport when i'm on client site (weekly) - 2005 Jag X Type, 2.2D Estate Sport. 155BHP (same engine as fitted to Mondeo ST TDCI at the time). Would remap to 190BHP, but havent bothered yet. Doesnt run "lumpy" on supermarket fuel.

Sons Car - 2009 BMW 120d M Sport, remapped to 210BHP. Can run on supermarket fuel without being "lumpy".

Nearest i had to a "lorry" was up until a couple of months ago i had a 1999 VW Caddy van, full Golf 2.8i VR6 engine conversion, 180BHP, flipped rear axle, leather interior, Polo dash, coilovers, K&N induction kit, G60 steel wheels. Ran on super unleaded. Doesnt run "lumpy" on supermarket fuel.

motorguy

Minrich wrote: »

Some higher performance engines are designed to run on premium fuels (Generally higher octane) only , they will still run on lower quality ~(lower octane) fuels but will not give as many BHP and is noticeable on those types of engines . The fuel to use in your car will be on the filler cap flap , stick to that ?

Yes, like 2.0TDI VWs - says "Caution - will run lumpy on supermarket fuel" on the filler cap

:rotfl:

Marktheshark

This they put additives in the tanker again.

Who puts them in, the driver with his own magic bottle squirts some in ?
How big his his bottle in 4500l of fuel ?
How does it mix, oil based products are very difficult to blend and require specialist machinery .

Do we really believe the driver climbs up and tips in some snake oil that self mixes itself with the fuel.