Millbrook Report: Tesco petrol vs Premium

Legacy_user

Might change a few people's views.

Millbrook Report which also contains a full detailed description of tests, fuels and vehicles used.

https://d16vpkeamxept2.cloudfront.net/assets/6ca06d648b9541e78fa838fece4a1a23.pdf

worried_jim

On page 13 it states that the tested BMW 325 is a 4 cylinder 2996cc engine, I thought these were 6 cylinder units.

worried_jim

It seems that Tesco fuel is not as good as branded in almost all cases. I wonder if the cost difference balances this out?

buglawton

I'm a Tesco type B fuel user. Doesn't look too catastrophic then.

Joe_Horner

worried_jim wrote: »

It seems that Tesco fuel is not as good as branded in almost all cases. I wonder if the cost difference balances this out?

Really? If you look through the detailed results the differences are basically the square root of sweet fa, certainly between the two 95 and the two 99 RON fuels. If anything Tesco regular (fuel B in the test) showed improved fuel economy over the un-named 95 RON.

On the valve and injector deposits they've used a scale of 65 grades assessed visually and the variance across all of them is no more than 2 or 3 points - almost certainly well within the subjective nature of the assessment.

Take home message seems to be quite clearly that there's sod all meaningful difference between them :beer:

mcpitman

worried_jim wrote: »

On page 13 it states that the tested BMW 325 is a 4 cylinder 2996cc engine, I thought these were 6 cylinder units.

That's worrying, Jim (sorry couldn't resist).


So essentially, it's still marketing bumpf.

facade

It appears that if you pay over 10% more for Tesco momentum, that you can get nearly 4% more MPG!!!

Plus I suppose it takes 5 seconds off the 0-60 time, cleans the outside of the car, and adds 15mph to the top speed, otherwise why buy it? :eek:

(I already have 4 of those fuel pipe magnets, and 2 of those swirly discs fitted, I actually have to drain the surplus fuel out of the tank every week because it keeps overflowing :rotfl:)


On a serious note, it does show that there is no difference between Tesco fuel and "A Competitor", probably because it came from the same bulk storage tank anyway.

motorguy

facade wrote: »

It appears that if you pay over 10% more for Tesco momentum, that you can get nearly 4% more MPG!!!

Plus I suppose it takes 5 seconds off the 0-60 time, cleans the outside of the car, and adds 15mph to the top speed, otherwise why buy it? :eek:

(I already have 4 of those fuel pipe magnets, and 2 of those swirly discs fitted, I actually have to drain the surplus fuel out of the tank every week because it keeps overflowing :rotfl:)

You're drastically missing the point of the Tesco 99RON fuel.

Some cars have to run on higher RON rated fuel OR run better on it when they do.

OR more accurately - cars requiring higher RON rated fuels wont run as efficiently on 95RON rated fuel.

These cars are usually performance cars. For example our A45 requires higher RON rated fuel, as does my sons Clio RS200, as does my Boxster, as did our 370Z GT, to name but a few off the top of my head.

If any of those cars were run on 95RON fuel, the cars will adjust but you will loose a percentage of your power and some fuel efficiency.

Using a 98RON or 99RON fuel in an engine that has been designed to run on 95RON fuel wont make it any more powerful nor will it make it any more efficient.

HTH.

facade

Sorry, I already knew that some engines require higher octane fuel, I'm fairly sure my P6 needed 5 star (was that 105 octane?) in The Olden Days.

I also remember some Olden Days Proper Car having a plug you turned over to run on pool petrol (stuck out of the wiring running along the flitch panel IIRC) that altered the timing, but I can't remember which one it was.

The only significant thing I noticed in the report was that there was a trend for the cooking motors to use a bit less fuel with the 99 RON, which is what I hit on, as if you are running a quadcam supercar you are hardly going to be thinking about putting pool petrol in it from Tescos in the first place

roddydogs

Yes, a five year old report will change a lot of minds, not.

motorguy

facade wrote: »

Sorry, I already knew that some engines require higher octane fuel, I'm fairly sure my P6 needed 5 star (was that 105 octane?) in The Olden Days.

I also remember some Olden Days Proper Car having a plug you turned over to run on pool petrol (stuck out of the wiring running along the flitch panel IIRC) that altered the timing, but I can't remember which one it was.

The only significant thing I noticed in the report was that there was a trend for the cooking motors to use a bit less fuel with the 99 RON, which is what I hit on, as if you are running a quadcam supercar you are hardly going to be thinking about putting pool petrol in it from Tescos in the first place

Its not just about "the olden days". Most modern day performance cars - REAL performance cars - require 98RON fuel to perform optimally.

None of the cars in that report are what i would call "cooking" motors and without being bothered to check them all i dont think ANY of them require 98RON fuel.

I'd cheerfully run our A45 (376BHP out of a 2.0 litre engine so up there with (or beyond) supercars in terms of specific output) on Tesco 99RON fuel - we cant even get 98RON fuel here in Northern Ireland. The highest rated is 97RON super unleaded, so to get 98RON we've to use superunleaded and add an octane booster.