I never use supermarket petrol, i use shell petrol and if im desperate i use total. When i use shell petrol i get more MPG, plust its cheaper than supermarket crap round here.

David_1984 said:

Think I'll try Shell V Power when I have to fill up again, I'll post on here how many mpg's and miles to a gallon I get.

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You need to run a couple of tanks through to get it pure vpower and not a mixture of normal and super.

I only use Morissons fuel because its the cheapest fuel in my area, or so it says on PetrolPrices.com

punto_matt said:

You need to run a couple of tanks through to get it pure vpower and not a mixture of normal and super.

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I'll do that. Might do it a few times.

I think I'll wait until my fuel is running low, but not too low, as I think it would be a waste of money if I fill up when my fuel is 1/2 full.

David_1984 said:

I had my MOT done yesterday and when I picked the car up the guy asked me where I go for fuel. I said that I go to Morrisons, he said that I should use branded fuel like 'Shell' every now and again to keep the car in good shape in the longer run.

The emissions test failed and I think he said that the catalytic converter was a little plugged up. (It was sent away and was cleaned out).

Has anyone found this to be a problem in their car?

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I consistently refuel at ASDA to take advantage of the -2p a litre using an ASDA card. At the end of the month (Feb) this will be adjusted to -1p a litre.

Not aware of any problem with ASDA fuel & averaged 55mpg with my Mk2B on Firestone Fuelsavers - dropped to 53mpg on fitting chunkier tyres. Now getting a little shy of 50mpg with my GP 1.2/8v - but then the GP is 17% heavier than the Punto.

I had it in mind that all fuel (of same spec) came out of the refinery - but recall somewhere (can't cite a ref.) that the additives are actually added by the tanker driver at the delivery drop. Anyone got any data on this?

punto_matt said:

morrisons petrol is ****e tescos is good.

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From the same source??

Supermarkets face £10m bad fuel bill
Supermarkets face legal action from thousands of motorists affected by contaminated fuel amid claims that the stores knew about the problem more than two weeks ago.
Tesco, Asda and Morrisons yesterday pledged to compensate customers who can prove their cars were damaged by the fuel, which contained traces of silicon.
But they refused to guarantee cover for loss of earnings by salesmen, taxi drivers and others whose jobs depend on their cars.
Morrisons said it had not yet confirmed that it had sold contaminated fuel.
The total compensation bill for parts costing up to £2,000 per vehicle - whether voluntary or through claims in the civil courts - could be to be up to £10 million.
Asda claimed yesterday that some bogus compensation claims were being made.
The contaminated unleaded petrol has damaged oxygen sensors in thousands of cars.
Garages said they had reported the problem to supermarkets and trading standards officers from February 18 - ten days before Tesco admitted there was a problem.
The three supermarket chains have decided to drain petrol from 221 affected forecourts - 150 of them at Tesco stores - "as a precaution". They are also considering legal action against their suppliers.
On Friday the silicon was traced to a chemical additive used by Harvest Energy, which supplies Asda and shares a storage tank at West Thurrock, on the Thames in Essex, with Greenenergy, a supplier of Tesco and Morrisons.Telegraph 2007/03/04

Only use shell fuel..i work at asda and know thats its full of crap so its not worth he hasstle...loads beter mpg with shell and its th same as asda's price as its just down the road so cheapest around aswell ....also my friend filld up with bp for ages and then had a tank of asda fuel and broke down....might be a co-incedence but i keep away

Caravadossi said:

I consistently refuel at ASDA to take advantage of the -2p a litre using an ASDA card. At the end of the month (Feb) this will be adjusted to -1p a litre.

Not aware of any problem with ASDA fuel & averaged 55mpg with my Mk2B on Firestone Fuelsavers - dropped to 53mpg on fitting chunkier tyres. Now getting a little shy of 50mpg with my GP 1.2/8v - but then the GP is 17% heavier than the Punto.

I had it in mind that all fuel (of same spec) came out of the refinery - but recall somewhere (can't cite a ref.) that the additives are actually added by the tanker driver at the delivery drop. Anyone got any data on this?

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Just as it happens I have 2 of these tyres for my front wheels, I also have Arrowhead tyres on the back. Shame I can't change the back one's as I have only just bought them. I also bought the Firestone tyres last week for my MOT.

I used to use BP, only when I got my Punto the nossles don't like my fuel tank very much and make it a bugger to try and fill the tank!

But now I use Tesco all the time, purely because I get 5p off a litre which is lovely. Plus it's cheap and just around the corner. My boyfriend always goes to Shell though because he can only run his Alfa on high octane fuel, and rates Shell over any other garage.

All fuel has to pass a British Standard or equivalent. Most fuels that claim to be different just have different additives or detergents in them which can obviously help.

Shell, some years ago had to pay compensation to some Vauxhall owners cos their super duper fuel damaged their cars!

And I suspect that Tesco's and Sainsbury's etc. do not have their own refineries so they buy their fuel from the same places as a lot of the major Oil companies. It's what happens after the initial purchase of product that affects it quality.

I believe that all petrol is essentially the same, ie, fine to use (it has to be, legally, British Standard and all that) until you chuck your detergents and additives in it, whereby improvements may occur, extra mpg, cleaner emmisions etc.

When I worked in Trading Standards in the early nineties, you could be testing the pumps at Tesco's and a BP tanker would turn up to fill their tanks. Tesco bought their petrol from the cheapest supplier at the time, on the open market.

Personally I fill up at wherever I am about to run out (!) and have noticed no significant difference from anywhere I have bought it from, though I don't buy super or improved fuels, just the standard ones.

Hope these comments are of interest. Good thread, this.

Caravadossi said:

From the same source??

Supermarkets face £10m bad fuel bill
Supermarkets face legal action from thousands of motorists affected by contaminated fuel amid claims that the stores knew about the problem more than two weeks ago.
Tesco, Asda and Morrisons yesterday pledged to compensate customers who can prove their cars were damaged by the fuel, which contained traces of silicon.
But they refused to guarantee cover for loss of earnings by salesmen, taxi drivers and others whose jobs depend on their cars.
Morrisons said it had not yet confirmed that it had sold contaminated fuel.
The total compensation bill for parts costing up to £2,000 per vehicle - whether voluntary or through claims in the civil courts - could be to be up to £10 million.
Asda claimed yesterday that some bogus compensation claims were being made.
The contaminated unleaded petrol has damaged oxygen sensors in thousands of cars.
Garages said they had reported the problem to supermarkets and trading standards officers from February 18 - ten days before Tesco admitted there was a problem.
The three supermarket chains have decided to drain petrol from 221 affected forecourts - 150 of them at Tesco stores - "as a precaution". They are also considering legal action against their suppliers.
On Friday the silicon was traced to a chemical additive used by Harvest Energy, which supplies Asda and shares a storage tank at West Thurrock, on the Thames in Essex, with Greenenergy, a supplier of Tesco and Morrisons.Telegraph 2007/03/04

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That was an isolated case(in a sense) from nearly 2 years ago. Suppliers change all the time so there is nothing to say they still use the same company now as they did back then.

punto_matt said:

That was an isolated case(in a sense) from nearly 2 years ago. Suppliers change all the time so there is nothing to say they still use the same company now as they did back then.

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A valid point - but it does show clear evidence (at that time) that the additives were common to ASDA, Morrison & Tesco (& flowed from Harvest Energy & Greenergy).

Given your point - it would be useful to know of any supply chain changes following the "legal action" statement. Who currently supplies Tesco (Top Valley/ Hucknall??) with their fuel?

only shell when i can help it

Caravadossi said:

A valid point - but it does show clear evidence (at that time) that the additives were common to ASDA, Morrison & Tesco (& flowed from Harvest Energy & Greenergy).

Given your point - it would be useful to know of any supply chain changes following the "legal action" statement. Who currently supplies Tesco (Top Valley/ Hucknall??) with their fuel?

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I couldnt tell you mate, i dont fill up at either of those 2 stores anyway its mansfield, chesterfield or Sheffield tesco stores for me and its super unleaded aswell.

Pandabloke said:

Hope these comments are of interest. Good thread, this.

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Yep they are interesting. I'm glad I started the thread

punto_matt said:

... its mansfield, chesterfield or Sheffield tesco stores for me and its super unleaded aswell.

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That would seem to point towards Greenergy (25% owned by Tesco) & 99RON (5% bio-ethanol).

SimonUK said:

i only use shell... the only time i use supermarket petrol is when i need it and there is no shell garage around...

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Same here. I prefer branded fuels. Supermarkets are only interested in the lowest price and the highest margin.
But I have also had my card cloned, and I strongly suspect it was at the Shell station. Some of the people are a bit ahem,"dodgy" to say the least.

I always use Shell / Texaco / BP - never supermarkets. (90k on my S Reg Sei and never seen the injector warning light yet)


My wife used to use supermarket petrol in her Cinq and I'm sure it was the cause of a few faults including needing a new Lambda.

GeorgeDamper said:

My wife used to use supermarket petrol ...

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Gentlemen - there is some evidence of not comparing like-with-like. It is not valid to make comparisons between (say) Morrisons 95RON & Shell 99RON.

Honest John this morning submits ...

Trait modern
My wife took her 2002 Toyota RAV-4 for a service, which was uneventful. A few days later, however, the engine management light came on, so back the car went. The garage reported that the blame lay with one of the oxygen sensors and suggested the contemporary trend for supermarket fuel could be the root cause. That’s possible, because my wife is averse to spending money (a trait I admire). Should we claim against the supermarket? A.G. via email.

If a car is used for short runs, it needs fuel with the highest octane and the best detergent. I use Shell V-Power, even in my Fiat 500. You have no grounds to sue the supermarket. Your wife paid for cheap fuel and that’s what she got. On some occasions you’ll be lucky with 95 Ron supermarket petrol, on others you won’t. It depends where it has come from on that particular day. If in doubt, you can always use Tesco’s part-bio 99 Ron fuel.

Telegraph/motoring 2009/02/21

I never use supermarkets for petrol and I always pay cash for petrol never ever card.