Supermarket Fuel vs Premium Diesel

[Bailey 15]

Who only uses premium diesel rather than ordinary diesel?
Any difference do you think ?

Who don’t buy their fuel from supermarkets ?

Just a thought as recovery guy said he wouldn’t touch supermarkets fuel

 

[gus-lopez]

At present I always use premium diesel as A= it is only 1c dearer than the cheap stuff where I buy &
B) it is far & away the cheapest fuel in the area. It is just a standalone ,serve yourself 2 pump place That have been popping up over the last few years.

they aren’t driving Euro 5 or 6 spec diesels…

why would you?

Egr valves are no guide to engine problems. Early ones might have been but now they are made out of internal plastic & they then add water cooling to try & stop the rubbish melting.
When I bought this van a new egr had just been fitted. It threw a fault after 500miles. Reset & it went on for 6000 miles until I returned when it promptly stuck open as the plastic had melted. new one fitted under guarantee. That lasted 11 months & same thing happened. I then deleted it along with the insides of the catalytic converter.

 

[CazPaul]

But another fuel delivery driver in this very thread said in effect that with the exception of Shell it's only ever the 'premium' fuels that have the additives. To say that base diesel that fully meets the internationally agreed specification and for which 99% or more engines have been designed to run on is somehow 'inferior' is simply untrue unless you are prepared to always pay out for the premium versions at inflated prices. Yes highly tuned engines in performance cars generally need a higher octane petrol, but for the other 99.9% of everyday vehicles, you may as well replace the engine with a steam boiler and engine, and burn the cash.

Your body will still function to some degree on McDonald’s, fries, crisps, cream buns and white bread, but it will function much better on nuts, seeds, avocados, rye bread, sweet potatoes, watermelon and fruit

 

[Morning Major]

I think you are right if you were talking about the bodies exhaust system

 

[jinxsy21]

No one seems to mention additives... I use to use ARCHOIL in al my diesel vehicles being MOTORHOME, VW TRANSPORTER, MERCEDES... it's now been super seeded by OILSYN, it comes in a 1ltr very easy to use plastic container, the recommended mixture 25mm to 25 ltrs etc, that's 1000ltrs to 1ltr, the costings are £25 but there's sometimes promotions on with 20% discount that's £20 that's 2p per litre... Iv'e been buying additives for many years, and i purchase mine from a company called POWER ENHANCER and there's a chappy called ANDY very Knowledgeable, have a read up on the benefits of using OILSYN... (red bull for the tank)

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[Otter Spotter]

I haven’t used Supermarket fuel for around 6 yrs, as my last motor a Nissan Pathfinder hated it, it would run rough and on at least 2 occasions it needed a flush. I have been lucky in getting a Esso fuel card when I bought the van so I get 4p a ltr discount and apart from a Nox sensor issue in the van it’s run very smooth for 64000miles in 5 years

 

[Peregrinator]

It's all biodiesel of some form, you can't buy anything else at the pump. It's what the E10 stands for... 10%

Never put E10 in your diesel tank, Only use B7.

 

[Peregrinator]

Who only uses premium diesel rather than ordinary diesel?
Any difference do you think ?

Who don’t buy their fuel from supermarkets ?

Just a thought as recovery guy said he wouldn’t touch supermarkets fuel

I fill up with Premium diesel every third fill, reason is they have additives in the diesel fuel, which break down deposits like soot, carbon, and gum, and this works out cheaper than buying Fuel System Cleaners, I add Forte Advanced Formula Diesel Treatment bottle of Forte Advanced Formula Diesel Treatment once a year, just to give it a cleaning boost, on very rear occasions a forecourt tank maybe nearly empty, and with a faulty gauge, and can feed water from the bottom to your tank, but it is rear.

I buy fuel where ever it is cheaper, Fuel in supermarket forecourts is the same as on any forecourt, most fuel are from the same Refinery, like that at Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery in Immingham. and forecourts are regulated by the same laws & regulations, Each diesel fuel has a specific type i.e. B7 (Diesel), B10 (New diesel type), XTL (Synthetic Diesel) The same markings are used all of Europe.

Just remember, don't believe all the fake tales you may hear about fuel, as long as you use B7 in a diesel engine, don't store for long periods without taking it for a run, and when you do, give it a thrashing for at least 20 minutes to burn off the soot, if you have a CAT, then most likely needs 30 minutes to reach temperature to burn off.

 

[meanders]

Your body will still function to some degree on McDonald’s, fries, crisps, cream buns and white bread, but it will function much better on nuts, seeds, avocados, rye bread, sweet potatoes, watermelon and fruit

Oh no it wouldn't.................................... I have a nut allergy!

Besides that, in one case we are talking about an engineered machine, and the other a a living being.

 

[CazPaul]

Oh no it wouldn't.................................... I have a nut allergy!

Besides that, in one case we are talking about an engineered machine, and the other a a living being.

Regardless it’s what you put inside something that determines how it functions, regardless of whether it’s a person or a machine. It’s the same principle re-fuelling a machine or a person, that’s why athletes, tennis players etc etc have nutritionists. Do you think the likes of Novak Djokovic or top athletes eat garbage?

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[gus-lopez]

Your body will still function to some degree on McDonald’s, fries, crisps, cream buns and white bread, but it will function much better on nuts, seeds, avocados, rye bread, sweet potatoes, watermelon and fruit

Yes it will .You won't live longer it will just feel longer

 

[meanders]

But going back to vehicles, our old Rover 90 ran very happily to over 250000 miles on the equivalent of two star leaded petrol 88 RON. I wouldn't have dreamt of putting 4 star in. The user manual said it would run on anything above 85RON IIRC. With an engineering background myself, I trust the design engineers to give me better advice than all the rumours and snake oil salesmen that want to lighten my pocket further. Plus as I mentioned, when Trading Standards did lab testing of supermarket fuels to the other outlets, they could detect no difference except the 'freshness' of the fuel' as throughput in the supermarket was higher.

 

[CazPaul]

Yes it will .You won't live longer it will just feel longer

You’ll live a lot longer on average it’s a scientific fact, you might not be as happy but you’ll live longer

 

[TR5]

I use supermarket fuel all the time, with the occasional injector cleaner added. The only vehicle I particularly use super in is a classic car, which would have been designed for 5 star. I also use an octane booster and valve seat protection in that one.

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

An interesting observation as on the fuel side of things, you get less for your money buying fuel when it’s warm.

Is it density of air (warm vs cold) youre driving through being thinner providing better fuel efficiency? No idea?

Edit: I’ve googled and warmer weather = better fuel economy!

Presumably as cold air is denser the engine management lobs more fuel in.

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[Carpmart]

Presumably as cold air is denser the engine management lobs more fuel in.

Yep cold damp air = more fuel = bigger bang!

 

[The Coops]

What about the electric vehicle debate, is Norweb electric better than Scottish Power or is cheap off rate better for the vehicle? Discuss! It has about the same conclusion as the past 5 pages!

 

[Tony50]

Here in France we fill my V8 3.6 Range Rover Sport 250k, my wife DS5 1.8 170k and our Fiat based Burstner Motorhome 40k with supermarket diesel and we’ve never had a problem. I don’t believe there’s any difference in quality unless you want to. All these so called experts usually have a vested interest. If you constantly pay extra for premium diesel you must have money to waste.

You are also paying for the additives

 

[Smithster]

Premium for me.

 

[Clemmo]

My Brother is a tanker driver working out of the Kingsbury Oil Depot near Tamworth. He reports to me that the Diesel they deliver to Morrisons in Tamworth is identical to the Diesel they deliver to Shell on M42 services which is then sold on to us at 11p/litre extra.
Guess where we fill up?

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[BusDriver]

Who only uses premium diesel rather than ordinary diesel?
Any difference do you think ?

Who don’t buy their fuel from supermarkets ?

Just a thought as recovery guy said he wouldn’t touch supermarkets fuel

The dealer that sold us our van recommended putting premium in at least from time to time to help maintain engine performance, ie clean. What I’ve found is that I get better consumption on long motorway distances when using premium.

 

[Daffy64]

My Brother is a tanker driver working out of the Kingsbury Oil Depot near Tamworth. He reports to me that the Diesel they deliver to Morrisons in Tamworth is identical to the Diesel they deliver to Shell on M42 services which is then sold on to us at 11p/litre extra.
Guess where we fill up?

Ask him if he uses the same key/code at the gantry for Morrisons and Shell, if they’re different then he wouldn’t know what was being put in his tank apart from diesel…

 

[ArchieDog]

You are also paying for the additives

I never said I didn’t? Nor did I imply such.

 

[Jonno1103]

Never put E10 in your diesel tank, Only use B7.

Yeah I know... not bad though, 56 and my first mistake!

 

[davejen]

Yeah I know... not bad though, 56 and my first mistake!

Could have been a very expensive one too!
Cheers, Dave

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[Markman]

Refineries are quite complex beasts. And no two crudes are the same so the yields of valuable products (gasoil and gasoline, both far higher value than fuel oil, kero (JetA1), LPG, etc) so its a full time job optimising the blends to minimise product quality giveaway (i.e. get the Cetane Index, as close as possible to the EN590 spec, but never over) ditto CFPP (Cold Filter Plugging Point), etc. The Flash Point for gasoil/diesel is 60 C, if a blend is going to be 62 then add kero to get it down to as close as possible to the spec using in-line Quality Measurement Instruments (QMIs). So all ex-refinery products are on-spec.

if you buy fuel south of London it all comes from Esso Fawley, in the north west from Essar (ex Shell) Stanlow, Yorkshire from the two on the Humber, Bristol from Valero Pembroke and Scotland for a few months more from Ineos Grangemouth, and in London from any of them via the pipelines and the Buncefield terminal or Rotterdam via terminal in Coryton, Essex (flattened Shell refinery).

Premium = additives except Shell V-Power (as mentioned by

It is usually a completely different blend. Shell Vpower for instance is a blend of traditional fuel and synthetic GTL (Gas to liquid) fuel. Not used it for a while but it is usually paler in colour and with a different odour. These fuels have higher octane/cetane numbers and are well suited for high performance vehicles which is their main market

GtL is made in the plant in Qatar from natural gas using the Fisher-Tropsch process (the same as the German WW2 process but better catalysts today) so has less aromatics and other ring structures and gives different burning properties and less soot.

So standard diesel = standard diesel.
Premium diesels use different additive packages defined through R&D to support marketing claims.

 

[Tony50]

I never said I didn’t? Nor did I imply such.

"O " but you said it's a waste of money

I never said I didn’t? Nor did I imply such.

How do you know it's a waste of money ? Have you been involved like I have in dealing with oil companies and their products?

 

[Deputysherrif]

Who only uses premium diesel rather than ordinary diesel?
Any difference do you think ?

Who don’t buy their fuel from supermarkets ?

Just a thought as recovery guy said he wouldn’t touch supermarkets fuel

 

[Deputysherrif]

Premium fuels, both petrol and diesel, are designed to be used in high performance motors. By that I mean those used in, for example, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Audi R8, etc. This is because of the high compression ratio they achieve compared to standard motors. If you look you can see that high performance fuels have a higher octane rating compared to standard fuels, which allows them to resist ignition until they reach a really high compression.
This high compression is what is achieved in really high performance engines. Standard engines don't need this, so using premium fuel in them is a total waste of money - premium fuel does not improve performance in anyway whatsoever.
What is required is a good run out every now and then to enable the diesel particulate filter to reach sufficient temperatures to burn itself clean! I also think that sufficiently high temperatures are required to keep catalytic converters working properly.

 

[CAB96]

but isnt that supposed to be the supermarkets tactic.

When fuel prices went upto £2 a litre,it was £1.80 at costco. So clearly somebody is ripping us off eh?

Yes, but Costco aren't trying to make a profit, they just need to cover their costs apparently.

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[BouncyBoatFolk]

Yes, but Costco aren't trying to make a profit, they just need to cover their costs apparently.

Yep,loss leader.Customers generally drive to such outlets due to the bulk buying, it's a good additional pull to sweeten the experience with cheaper than normally available fuel.
Mike.