Shell Fuel

redpete

bigjl wrote: »

But I did brim the tank with Shell normal petrol and it gave 370miles till the fuel light came on.

I might brim it on Tesco stuff next month just out of interest.

Not sure that doing it once will prove anything. I always monitor mpg by filling to the brim and find it varies between 45 and 55 depending on types of journeyes, style of driving and seasonal effects.

20aday

I've filled up at the likes of Esso, BP before as well as the supermarkets.

I've tended to find Sainsbury's, Morrison's and Asda return lower MPG figures compared to Esso and indeed BP.

GabbaGabbaHey

aardvaak wrote: »

Why is it the shell fuel stations very often sell the most expensive fuel.

It makes me laugh to see silly people in there paying over the odds when less than a mile away they can get fuel cheaper at Tesco or Sainsburys.

Why do people still go there?

Why is it the supermarket fuel stations very often sell the poorest quality fuel.

It makes me laugh to see silly people in there getting poor quality fuel when less than a mile away they can get fuel with a much better additive package - and, if their car requires it, higher octane - at Shell.

Why do people still go there?

Ranger8

Some people use Shell V-Power because they want to use the best fuel available in their vehicles.

bigjl

redpete wrote: »

Not sure that doing it once will prove anything. I always monitor mpg by filling to the brim and find it varies between 45 and 55 depending on types of journeyes, style of driving and seasonal effects.

Because I do the same journeys all the time. Same time of day wit same traffic usually aswell.

It may not be "scientific" but if in the same usage Tesco petrol gives 320miles wouldn't you think that would indicate Shell fuel is worthwhile using instead of Tesco?

Clearly if I filled the tank then drove to Manchester at a steady 56mph it would be irrelevant.

But I don't. The car spends a lot of its time in traffic and goes up and down the A13 a lot into East London.

bigjl

Ranger8 wrote: »

Some people use Shell V-Power because they want to use the best fuel available in their vehicles.

I know a Chaffeur that only ever used Shell V Power in his DPF equipped vehicles.

He never had to take either of his 7 Series for a Regen run. Same for his diesel S Class or his two Vianos.

If I ever buy an expensive car again it will get Shell/Esso/BP, though it will more than likely be Shell.

Sometimes going for a more Premium product is MSE because it brings benefits in the longer term.

Just my take on things

Crabman

The problem with these discussions is that there is no objective view (that an independent observer can rely on) - there are arguments either way and all stated facts end up being disputed.

I've been driving for over ten years and in all that time having been a member of this forum I still genuinely don't know whether supermarket fuel is better/worse than branded.

I've done my own tests running with several consecutive tanks of Shell fuel but I can't say that I did identical journeys to be able to compare MPG between premium and supermarket brands.

Joe_Horner

Crabman wrote: »

The problem with these discussions is that there is no objective view (that an independent observer can rely on) - there are arguments either way and all stated facts end up being disputed.

I've been driving for over ten years and in all that time having been a member of this forum I still genuinely don't know whether supermarket fuel is better/worse than branded.

I've done my own tests running with several consecutive tanks of Shell fuel but I can't say that I did identical journeys to be able to compare MPG between premium and supermarket brands.

Pretty much agree with this.

I'm happy to accept that there may well be a difference - even a measurable / significant one given the right use of the right car by the right driver - but I'm certainly not convinced that it makes much financial difference either way.

Last I saw, BP's claim for their premium offering was something like "could give up to 20 miles extra per tank". Bearing in mind they're trying to sell the stuff, if that's the strongest claim they can get past the ASA (by implication, the strongest claim they have evidence for) then the benefits in MPG aren't all that great:

(1) They don't specify what size tank. Does that mean our Daf 33 with its 32 litres to brimming or our Pug with just over 75 litres? 20 extra miles out of a 32l tank would be a lot more impressive than 20 extra from 75l.

(2) They don't specify what car. Did their test car have knock sensors enabling it to make the most of increased octane rating by advancing the ignition? What was the car's "base" fuel consumption? An extra 20 miles from something doing 15mpg on other fuel is probably significant. On something doing 60mpg it really isn't.

(3) They don't specify what sort of use. Again, 20 miles extra, as a percentage, would be more impressive in heavy urban traffic than out on a clear motorway.

Given everything they don't say it's hard to run any numbers but, if we assume a fairly average 50l tank and 40mpg on "normal" fuel, then an extra 20 miles over 50l represents an extra 1.8mpg. That's an improvement of 4.5%.

But the fuel is typically 6 - 10p per litre more than their regular offerings which, at £1.10 per litre for standard, means it costs around 5 - 10% extra.

Conclusion: The (likely) best figures that BP can support with evidence for their premium offering is that you could improve your fuel economy by 4.5% but it will cost you 5 - 10% extra to do so.

I strongly suspect that any real world difference between supermarket and branded regular fuels would give similar results - except where the branded station is close enough to a supermarket one that they miraculously manage to match prices despite all their super secret, super expensive, additives of course!

vw100

To give you my take on this, when I put in Shell V power or BT ultimate fuels in my car, I notice the car runs smoother, quieter, has slightly more power and get a better mileage per gallon. Supermarket fuels I get the opposite.

Shimrod

I did a long term test a few years ago on my last petrol car. I drove two months on shell v-power, and two months on ASDA fuel - around 4,000 miles on each type. The V-power did give slightly better fuel consumption, but only around 0.5mpg, and certainly not enough to justify the premium price. Can't say I noticed any difference in performance either.

My last car, recently traded in at nearly 200,000 miles on supermarket fuel without any ill effect. No maintenance beyond the manufacturer advised intervals, and the DPF was eventually replaced at 170,000, or around 50,000 beyond its expected life.

In the absence of any hard evidence one way or the other, I can only go off what works for me, and I'll be sticking the the local supermarket for my diesel.