Is supermarket fuel good enough?

Halcyon · 24-03-2011, 22:04

I fill my car with Petrol at Tesco and some people have been saying that every so often I should fill up at a station such as Shell, BP, Texaaco, etc as the fuel is better and it is good to give your engine some better quality fuel.

How true is this?

Is the higher octane stuff such as that offered by Shell any better for the engine and prolonging my cars life?

Thanks,

halcyon.

**Paul M** · 24-03-2011, 22:08

Sounds like complete bull to me.

Peter_ · 24-03-2011, 22:09

If I remember correctly the fuel supermarkets buy is no different from Shell, Esso or Texaco as they buy the cheapest on offer and use their own tankers.

The High quality fuel is supposed to be more beneficial for use in high performance vehicles but considering the price difference I would stick with standard fuel as with everyone else.

More answers here.http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question...7021537AA9SNSx

martyh · 24-03-2011, 22:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halcyon

I fill my car with Petrol at Tesco and some people have been saying that every so often I should fill up at a station such as Shell, BP, Texaaco, etc as the fuel is better and it is good to give your engine some better quality fuel.

How true is this?

Is the higher octane stuff such as that offered by Shell any better for the engine and prolonging my cars life?

Thanks,

halcyon.

I have been told the same thing by a mechanic , i use diesel and use a diesel additive which does improve performance in my van .As for using named brands then yes i would agree that they are better quality and since supermarket fuel is priced the same (shell is actually cheeper at the moment near me i use shell and don't need the additive

Halcyon · 24-03-2011, 22:12

Thanks. I definately think I'l stick with supermarkets then if it makes no difference.
It's a lot cheaper than the other petrol stations.

Arthurgray50@blu · 24-03-2011, 22:12

I have never so much crap in my life, I buy fuel from various garages, including supermarkets.

Its like saying, don't take a rolls to Tesco's as they do a better fuel than if l took a Ford to Shell.

Osem · 24-03-2011, 22:17

I saw an old Fifth Gear episode today in which they compared BP Ultimate, Shell Optimax and regular supermarket unleaded. They tested each fuel on each of 3 cars (a family runaround, a mid range car and a high powered model) under controlled conditions and found the higher priced fuels made no difference to performance in the low spec car but did make a significant improvement to power output and torque in the higher powered cars.

Halcyon · 24-03-2011, 22:27

So by not having a high performance car (my little 1.25 Fiesta), it will be fine on the supermarket stuff then. Yay

martyh · 24-03-2011, 22:37

The main difference as far as i know is the additives that shell ,esso, texaco ,ect put in their fuel ,they all have a secret formula .Carbon build up on the piston heads is much less with premium fuels (especially with diesels)

There is however a "urban myth" that supermarket fuel is sold so cheap because it is close to its sell by date .I know that petrol does lose some of its octane power with storage but i wouldn't imagine fuel is stored that long so i have no idea as to the validity of this myth

heero_yuy · 25-03-2011, 08:57

Higher perfomance (petrol) fuels will only make a difference if the engine management features an advanced anti-knock system. Then the computer can alter the ignition timing to make use of the extra octanes in the fuel and give more power and economy.

For the average user in a normal super-mini don't waste your money. However, if your car only does short journeys, then it is beneficial to occasionally give it a good run at speed to help blow out the "cobwebs" and keep the battery charged up. Helps keep the fuel economy up as well.

Pauls9 · 25-03-2011, 14:02

Would the occasional use of injector cleaner or other additive be of use in the average runabout?

Welshchris · 25-03-2011, 14:06

i dont think a runabout has that kind of injectors, they do have antimatter injectors tho..

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Danube_class

:-D

Pauls9 · 25-03-2011, 14:11

Thanks mate

Hom3r · 25-03-2011, 17:20

I've been using supermarkets to get my fuel for at leat 15 years and have never had any problems.

I think it is just a ploy by the oil companies to scare you in buying from them.

Tali · 25-03-2011, 19:58

Petrol is petrol is petrol. I used to work in a supermarket petrol station and we used to buy our petrol from Texaco, Amoco and Total. It all comes out of the same pipe at the terminal. The supermarkets are able to charge a little less because they (well used to) market it as a loss leader.