Shell Optimax

[Trancendental]

Nike or Adidas? Shell or Asda? Premium or Normal?

Adidas, Shell, Premium thanks

Asda states the standards that their fuel meets and the detergents used.

The fact is simple as this: Shell, BP or whoever wouldn't make their bog standard fuel any better than anybody elses and not market it as such.

They may have the same detergents but who takes more care of the tanks your fuel is coming from?

Shell specialise in Petrol, Tesco specialise in cabbage... I know I probably wouldnt trust a cabbage from Shell... then again I wouldn't trust a cabbage full stop.

By the simple test of.. Fill up with one type, drive car, feel difference, is it noticabley good or bad then try another and do the same will make up my mind as to what I will try and find when im in reserve and that light on the dash stops flashing and stays on.

 

[The Negotiator]

They use filters within those tanks, all of which are probably made by one or two companies. Secondly, why would shell take care of their tanks better than Tesco (for example).

Shell service stations exist to make money, as do tesco service stations. Shell haven't got to the position of where they are by giving away lots of freebies and not marketing them.

 

[Trancendental]

Well I see Shell and Esso plastered all over race cars... can only wonder why I don't see ASDA/TESCO Fuel on touring cars etc

 

[The Negotiator]

Because asda and tesco don't make fuel, Shell and BP do.

 

[G Spag]

Gotta remember though, for it to be a fair test when trying to feel the difference in fuel, you gotta keep the main factors the same.

Temp has to be the same, especially when starting.

Roads driven down has to be the same.

Speed and driving style.

Keeping these the same will give you a good idea of the main differecnes between different brands of fuel and different types. Having said that, I don't really see the point in doing these tests as it'll most probably be a waste of money. I personally have never noticed a difference in regular fuel wherever I go. I believe to a certain extent that premium fuel is somewhat cleaner.

Has anyone thought that premium fuel may have a better effect after say 5 years of constant use compaired to a similar car filled with regular? Most of the opinions here (Including my own) are on a short time scale.

Just a thought!

 

[NumanR]

I could explain why "quality" fuels are better for your engine but the real evidence is from my customers. I have managed to get them to try differing fuels and only one (out of probably 70) didnt feel the difference, and he thought I was taking the p..s and I dont think actually tried it. The expensive part of petrol is not the fuel itself its the additives, and its the additives that control the burn inside the engine. Modern multivalve engines need good quality fuel, put rubbish into it and you cant then complain to Fiat for poor running.

 

[NumanR]

Sorry should have added this as well, remember that fuel companies put out different fuels at different times of year, you may not know about it but the mixtures change that are distributed for different temperatures.

 

[The Negotiator]

I could explain why "quality" fuels are better for your engine but the real evidence is from my customers. I have managed to get them to try differing fuels and only one (out of probably 70) didnt feel the difference, and he thought I was taking the p..s and I dont think actually tried it. The expensive part of petrol is not the fuel itself its the additives, and its the additives that control the burn inside the engine. Modern multivalve engines need good quality fuel, put rubbish into it and you cant then complain to Fiat for poor running.

Not quite sure what that means...it's broad and general.

The only reason difference between summer and winter petrols is the volatility.

 

[sumplug]

can i just say,that all petrol comes from a few refineries in UK. The trucks that leave full no matter whats written on the side whether shell,BP,esso,tesco etc.its all the same fuel.whats the difference,its the additives the companies put in.this is added to the tanker.how it mixes iam not sure,but optimax def works.a few yrs ago,shell had an advanced fuel where the additive was added to the tanker.it was not mixed properly and so some cars got a lot of additive in their fuel.this resulted in burnt exhaust valves.mainly effected maestro's and montego's.it got withdrawn after court preceedings.

 

[HP]

.....The only reason difference between summer and winter petrols is the volatility.

Don't they still do Summer and Winter Diesel?

I remember a few years back reading something about this, to do with the summer fuel forming wax on the surface if it got too cold.

 

[The Negotiator]

Sorry, I meant fuels, I blame the fact that most people say petrol instead of fuel

This whole issue will be answered for everybody in about 7 or so months times, for good, I hope at least. I have several friends off to work in the oil industry and each one will be forced to find out specifically for me whether the "additives thing" is an urban myth.

 

[Hellcat]

Sounds like a plan!

 

[JonnyBoy]

haha, looking at the first post on here, complaints that Optimax cost 80.9p/litre... if only that were still the case!

Oh, and just seen a post I made about this time last year, just after buying the Capri, and I was p***ed off at paying 79.9 for fuel oh how times change!

 

[thefishdude]

what ones of them cars have a knock sensor?

sorry dave i missed that part, they were basically saying that the more sportyier the car the better designed it was for making use of the extra bits in the petrol

torque was also up alot but cant remember them figures, bp ultimate gave increased bhp but not as much as the optimax


the tests done were very controlled the cars were drained of all fuel then refilled with fresh regualr, ran stuck on dyno and other fancy stough i not seen before even the rolling road was not a roller in floor it was something bolted to wheel. anyway after test all fuel was drained everything cleaned refuilled with the fancy petrol and tests repeated.

 

[NumanR]

The technical people on here who drive lots of different cars will be able to tell the difference fairly quickly of what fuel has what effect on an engine. I drive probably 70 cars a week and can usually tell if a vehicle has certain brands of petrol in the tank, I cant tell diesels I am afraid. Normally with cheaper makes of fuel the burn period is not well controlled so the idle speed can be lumpy or irregular, it also tends to make the gentler acceleration less smooth, full throttle acceleration is less easy to tell the difference, although slight differences can be felt on pick up at low revs with full throttle.
Sometimes a faulty lambda can give similar results (apart from full throttle) so to help prove the point tha lambda sensor is disconnected to eliminate this signal.
It is also fair to say that the smaller multivalve (16) engines suffer badly from short journeys on low quality fuel with excessive carbon build up on valves and pistons, if a good quality fuel is used then this is normally greatly reduced. One last point to make is that your engine ecu learns the settings for the fuel you use and does its best to retune your engine as best it can. Therefore before judging a fuel you should always run a complete tank through the car to allow the ecu to fully adapt to the quality of fuel you are using. Currently I recommend Texaco and Shell, and to a lesser extent BP, and like I say I have many happy customers that have smoother running engines just by changing brands of petrol.

 

[The Trooper]

Am i being stupid here or what.

Petrol is petrol, whether you buy it from tesco/asda or whereever. Its all psychological!

I've used petrol from loads of places and it doesnt make a blind bit of difference.

I'm not talking about posh petrol here before someone goes off on one

Ever thought Asda petrol is cheap because they sell so much of it?!

I'm not an expert on petrol, I'm just going by the fact that I'm sure I've read supermarket fuels aren't to the quality of premium brands. This may not be the case, who am I to know, it's what I've read, and therefore by the fact that supermarket fuel is cheaper, I logically thought that it may be because it's not up to the standards of other brands. I can't say I've really looked into it in any detail. I've read of many cases where people have filled up with supermarket fuel and have reported poor engine response or poor mpg, therefore I was surprised that Asda's fuel seemed so good.

 

[G Spag]

I've started to become a lil confused. I passed a Sainsburys yesturday that was joined with Shell, but there is another Sainsburys down the road that either isn't advertising it's joined with Shell, or it simply isn't (most probably the latter one)

Supermarket fuel could be cheaper due to them buying off the suppliers in bulk? Don't forget that they can afford to sell fuel cheaper as it's not their only source of income. Due to the fact that pence per litre, it didn't cost them half as much as it's being sold for. So there's alot of room to move when pricing. The same applies for your regular station but it could be a psychological thing, i.e. their fuel is more expensive making it better than a supermarket one as they're specialists? Then again, I have no idea what I'm talking about and mearly speculating!

Could the additives used in the premium supermarket fuel be only up to the standard of the regular you find in a normal petrol station?

 

[minislapper]

....whether the "additives thing" is an urban myth.

Other half works for the biggest additive company in the world......I'm sure if it was an urban myth, he would be out of a job !!!

Only fuel I've had problems with is Morrisons fuel. Every car I've filled up there has driven like a bag of spanners on their fuel.

 

[The Negotiator]

Sorry, didn't mean literally an urban myth, of course there are additives, what I am saying is whether there is a different in the amounts used etc.

As I have said a million times, if Shell/BP/Esso/Exxon-Mobile/Chevron-Texeco etc. produced better fuels than supermarkets it would be marketed throughout the land. Why? You shouldn't need to ask.

 

[sumplug]

i will say it again.all fuel comes from a refinery. so any tanker that fills up from an oil company whether its BP,shell,texaco,chevron etc,its all the same.where i live in manchester,the refinery is in cheshire.all fuel has to pass a british standard which is marked on each fuel pump.