Cheapest Petrol & Diesel Discussion Area

I-LOV-MONEY

If anybody is interested, I keep a note of the price of (unleaded) petrol everytime I fill up. Yesterday I paid 129.9. The last time I paid that price was on 7 May (down from 131.9 the previous fill). The price went up after that !

Must get out more ... !

james_joyce

Hi all,

I keep trying to work out the answer to the following - can someone help please?

My car (Focus 1.8 TDCI estate) runs most economically at about 60mph but I need to average 65 mph on my (motorway) journey. The journey is 100 miles.

Is it more economical to travel at:
65 mph throughout, or
70 mph uphill and 60 mph downhill, or
60mph uphill and 70 mph downhill?

Obviously 70mph uphill would use a lot of fuel, but 60mph downhill would be really economical.

I just can't work it out!

Regards
James

Navvy

I'm sure you will find it more economical to go gently up the hills, dropping to 60mph, then letting your speed build up to 70mph going downhill. Just keep your foot lightly on the accelerator - don't accelerate hard just to maintain a steady speed.

Difficult to test without an MPG meter, but I suspect it is more economical to do 70 on a light throttle than 60, if you are on the same long slope.

On a steep uphill it is probably better to drop down a gear and keep a light throttle than to stay in top gear and use full throttle.

I'm averaging between 50-55mpg in my Citroen 2.0 HDi.

james_joyce

Thanks for that - yes a meter would be really useful. If anyone else has used one to work this out, please let us know!

firelw

Tesco used to give you 5p off per litre when you spent £50, so living up to their slogan every LITTLE helps

I-LOV-MONEY

I got 6p a litre off my petrol at Tesco today. I am not sure if that was as a result of general shopping or buying £72 worth of petrol !

Whatever, I wasn't complaining. I was actually tossing up whether to go to Tesco (126.9) or Asda (126.7) as they were both on my route. I am glad on this occasion I went to Tesco!

maxmiler

Saving money by buying supermarket fuel can cost you much more than your savings in years to come.
Supermarket fuel is "base fuel", or in some cases is even reblended to make the duty on it a bit less (for the supermarket).

Branded fuel from the likes of Texaco, BP, Shell, Esso, Total, Murco and the rest, has additives put in at the refinery. These additives improve the way the fuel burns, reducing soot and build-up of unwanted deposits.

The result of using base fuel shows up after some mileage is on the vehicle. i.e. after the soot and deposits have built up.

So if you like paying for a new EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve, or having your DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) clog up, or have a much reduced life owing to early accumulations of ash, then carry on saving 1p or 2p per litre.
But also, on modern diesel engines, the exhaust cleaning cycle occurs much more frequently using base fuels. This cleaning process reduces the overall MPG of the vehicle, so the overall cost of fuel is actually higher.
I much prefer to prolong the life of such components by paying the little extra rather than the many hundreds that might suddenly be required to fix the problems so caused.

Of course if you have a company vehicle, then only the reduction in MPG will affect you.

jimjames

Thing is you don't even need to get supermarket fuel, near us the likes of Esso match the supermarkets so you can get branded fuel for the same price.

I-LOV-MONEY

Our nearest Esso is always more expensive than the supermarkets. Asda sell at 126.7 about 500 yards up the road is a Shell garage which sells at 128.9.

John_Pierpoint

People keep coming on here and claiming that supermarket fuel is some cheap old !!!! of doubtful origin.
I have seen all sorts of branded tankers, as well as ones seen delivering to supermarkets, going into my local refinery.

When there was that trouble with some idiot putting anti froth agent for diesels into the petrol a year or three ago, it become obvious that all the supermarkets except one (Asda?) were getting their fuel from the same depot.

So please can those stating that expensive diesel contains magic additives that will prolong the life of ejectors etc. please link to a report from an organisation of record that demonstrates that our supermarkets are responsible for a small fortune of damage to engines, not to mention probably nasty health effects from pollution.