Petrol, supermarket or one of the big names?

[bridgedino]

Over the last few weeks I have heard one or two stories about supermarket petrol being of a poorer grade than the fuel supplied by the big names.

99% of my fuel is from Asdas or Tescos, so, am I doing any long term damage to my engine / fuel system.

False economy?

Just wondered if anyone has views or experiences?

Cheers

[Kickstart]

Hi

I use the supermarkets 95% of the time. Can't see I can find any difference between them.

All the best

Keith
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[Sable]

Doubt your doing damage to it. What were the stories you heard?

Only thing I notices is mileage wise, a difference of 25-30km a tank between Shell Premium and basic petrol from else where.

[Wonko The Sane]

quality can vary, in the summer I tend to stick with shell as my bike seems a bit happier on it and starts easier.

Generally all fuel sold in the UK meets either a British standard or an international standard that sets out the maximum amount of things such as ethanol that can be added to the fuel to pad it out a bit and minimum octane level to be classed as 95 unleaded, so in theory you won't be doing damage, however, a fuel bought from BP or Shell or another fuel company, may have some additives in that help preserve the pipes etc of your bike's fuel system better than the supermarket stuff.

[Pol Anorl]

In my old xj i always used tesco, then one time my bike started running like utter wank and cutting out constantly, carried on with tesco fuel for around a week and it carried on so i went else where and problem was solved.

dodgy batch maybe.
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[Ja7]

[Wonko The Sane]

[Nexus Icon]

Tesco's 99Ron or V-Power in the car. Any old shit in the bike.
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[Copycat73]

if your engine runs right with supermarket fuel then thats what i would put in,some engines don`t like it, some times its because they have after market exhausts or air filters or are a high performance engine... every petrol engine i`m running now regularly fills with supermarket 95 ron. so-far so-good.
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[bridgedino]

One explanation was from an AA mechanic who attended a broken down car I was involved with. Apparently it was due to an excessive build up of a wax type substance getting into the fuel system due to 'supermarket' fuel

The 2nd tale was a similar problem of a poorly running car, again the mechanic in the garage repairing it stated that it was due to 'supermarket' fuels

And of course when I asked what they meant it was claimed that there are less 'cleaning' and 'protective' additives within the supermarket fuels

Maybe it's just one of those urban legend things

[Kwakki Si]

On fifth gear they did a test and found better results using branded fuel like Esso or she'll etc.
My sisters car broke down and the mechanic said it was dirty fuel and she always use to get tesco for the clubcard points...
I think the supermarkets don't put as many cleaning additives in their fuels.
My bike ran like shit on tescos but now I use Esso super and it runs and starts better.
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[bridgedino]

I'm riding a Honda CRF250L. I have had no running issues at all myself

[Rogerborg]

[kawakid]

Absolute bollox, due to my work I've visited lots of refineries in the UK and Europe. If you go to one you will see tankers from all the major firms filling up in the same area. Any additives that differentiate are minuscule, the petrol is refined exactly the same.

I personally fill up at Asda, because it's chip and pin, it's always the cheapest or not much in it and it is on my way home.
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[weasley]

I was sitting talking with one of the industry's leading fuel development and formulation specialists just this week.

You're right; the amount of additive added to fuels is minuscule, but minuscule differences in these additives can make a huge difference. The base fuel comes from the refinery, blended to a certain spec (sometimes 'general', sometimes specific to a particular customer) and the additives are added during filling of the trucks at loading from the terminals and this is where premium fuels get differentiated.
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[Clutchy]

Meh I mix it up a bit, depending on where the nearest station is, don't really notice much of a difference, if any.

Same with using 99 fuels etc.
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[andys675]

I have also seen a test where BP came out the best VFM for furthest mileage for the same amount bought

personally I fill up where it's cheapest for the car, but don't fall into the trap of travelling miles for the cheapest (why do folks do that?)

the bike only holds £20, I like to use BP where possible, but never supermarket fuel
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[bikertomm]

Shell whore here.

Can keep helmet on, get shell points, I'm absaloutely certain V-power spruces up my 125 as she feels more responsive and vibrates my bollocks more

And for the extra 20p it's definately worth it..

Also got a £6 off fuel voucher the other day just for using my shell card.. I'll take that
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[goodlifefarm]

I know Morrisons diesel has 7% bio-fuel, Tesco 5%. Supermarket fuel used to have a percentage of ethanol, so you were getting 95% petrol, 5% ethanol, which I thought explained the lower price.

As for it coming out of the same refinery, I used to deliver breakfast cereal. I'd collect a mixture of regular stuff, smart price stuff, and Weetabix's own, all from the same factory, yet with slightly different ingredients. Surely this can happen at a refinery, ethanol in one tank, petrol in another, and when filling the tanker, you change the percentage depending upon who the retailer is who will be selling it?

[stoke-gaz]

And i thought petrol was petrol, flammable stuff that smells nice........

Guess you really do learn something new every day.
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[Tomzo47]

use the cheapest and the closest.
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[Furrybiker]

Dunno, but today filled my 'Storm with BP, usually it gets Sainsburys, after 40 miles I noticed the tickover had gone up from 1200 to 1500 and the bike was running hotter also engine note had changed....

Perhaps the exhaust is about to fall off

[Polarbear]

As said above......

The base fuel might be similar but the additives are not. Oil companies spend a lot of money on what they stick in their fuel and lets be honest, they are playing with their reputation here. Shell, BP etc. would be absolutely fucked if it was proved their fuel was the same as Tescos and everything they say was a myth.

Supermarket fuels will have everything done with them to make them cheap but within the specification so they can be sold in UK. Ethanol additives are the norm which as far as I know is not the case with the oil majors.

I don't think supermarket fuels are going to fuck your bike, lets be honest some of the fuels around the world are utter shite and the vehicles there still work. However I usually fill my bike up at a Shell station and the car gets filled up at Asda cause I love my bike
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[GrumpyGuts]

I really only use Shell to fill up my bike as it's on the way to work (literally on the road going towards Northampton). I've found that with Tesco fuel, the bike actually runs the same as the shell. Now I have the Hornet, I may conduct an experiment between the two fuels.

But when I can, I prefer the shell for the reasons as mentioned
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[Musketeer]

Local, the nearest supermarket for me. I no longer pay for high RON petrol either.
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