It’s a hotly debated topic, and the last time PetrolPrices did some simple desktop research around the issue, around 40% of drivers thought that supermarket fuel was an inferior product compared to branded fuels, some drivers even mentioning that they can feel a difference as soon as they fill up.
But is that really the case? Or is there an element of the placebo effect?
For clarity, we’re talking about the absolute standard fuel, no special blends or high octane ratings, no ‘super’ or ‘premium’ tags and no claims to special additives to cleanse, improve, repair or cure anything; standard unleaded or diesel fuel – generally the cheapest at the pump.
Engine efficiency
It’s long been known that car manufacturers were prone to being a little optimistic when it came to claims of fuel efficiency, power or emissions produced, but the reality is that a minor shift in environmental conditions could significantly change how an engine worked.
Air pressure, density, temperature and humidity can all play a part, and to counter those variables, a modern fuel-injection system uses a vast array of sensors to measure, check and adjust the engine accordingly; gone are the days of having to ‘re-jet’ the carb for particularly fine-tuning – the FI system does it all.
This, in theory, means that you could drive your typical car from here to the heights of Mt. Everest and then onwards to Timbuktu without having to change a thing, both in terms of environmental changes and petrol quality – the system will optimise the fuelling using short and long-term adaptive mapping.
Consistent fuel quality
All fuel sold within the UK is governed by national and international standards, and all petrol stations use the same base fuel, whether that’s at the largest supermarket petrol retailer (Tesco) or independent fuel retailer using ‘branded’ fuels – the base fuel comes from the same refineries.
Whilst it’s true that additives are used in all the fuel blends, including the ‘standard’ unleaded or diesel, these additives are an industry secret, but you can be sure that they’re all similarly … low-grade, or they’d come under the super fuel bracket, and advertised as such (with an increase in price to reflect the additives).
There is an argument for fuel going ‘stale’, in that it loses some of its volatility over time, but this really only happens when exposed to the atmosphere; the hygroscopic nature of fuel drawing in moisture from the air – a totally sealed container of fuel should last almost indefinitely. But this means that fuel tanks that are replenished more frequently should (in theory) be less likely to cause a problem.
Perceived value
Perhaps part of the problem is psychology; supermarkets are experts at taking branded products and making them their own – a premium breakfast cereal, for example, is no longer “Crunchy Super Nuggets” but “Nuggets of Super Crunch” – could it be that drivers feel supermarkets are doing the same with fuel?
The fact that they’re generally cheaper than the competition would help that thought process along; they’re paying less than the branded version, therefore the product is similar, but doesn’t quite live up to the same standard?
We’ve also heard reports of some supermarket chains occasionally buying their fuel from elsewhere in Europe, bringing it across by the tanker load. And whilst that could alleviate a supply issue, it’s doubtful that it could ever be financially viable to make it a long-term solution, and yet the fuel would still be covered under European regulations.
Actual difference
There is no doubting that some fuel consumers have had problems after filling up at a supermarket, but these problems are one-offs, not an everyday occurrence. Despite holding fewer petrol retailing sites, the supermarkets actually account for 45% of all fuel sales; when the figures are corrected for sites-vs-litres sold, they actually have the majority of sales.
Due to the nature of modern fuel-injection systems, it’s entirely possible that a vehicle could alter the fuelling strategy per tank of fuel, but under normal circumstances (assuming the fuel quality was typical), this would only be noticeable under extreme loads, not through typical driving.
The only way to give an absolute definitive answer would be through expensive and extensive testing, using a controlled-environment in a dynamometer test-cell, where all influencing factors could be controlled and repeated 100%. Owners claims that a vehicle loses performance, increases mpg or runs differently can really only be treated as hearsay – industry insiders will tell you that a ‘seat of the pants dyno’ will only really notice a 10% difference – nowhere near accurate enough to gauge the quality of fuel.
Do you think supermarket fuel is inferior to branded? Have you noticed a change in performance when filling up with either? Or are you just paying an added premium? Let us know in the comments.
This reminds me of a tale from years ago when we all drove Company cars. It was believed that fuel from the garage nearest to the office was of a “poor grade” as when people filled up, they got less MPG.
After some thought, I ran my car virtually “dry”, took it in and filled it up – and the pump said I had just put 12 gallons into an 11 gallon tank!!!!
The garage owner was later found to be selling short measures . . . . (and yes I know, these days it would be virtually impossible to interfere with the fuel metering system in the pumps).
So it’s not always the obvious that is the culprit.
can’t recall the precise details but a friend looked into this and it seems garages are allowed somewhere between 5 & 8% variance on the product sold and the meter reading so yes we can still be short changed!
Supermarket due appears to be better than it was a number of years ago but appears to still be inferior to branded fuel. Certainly Shell makes claims about Fuel Save 95 octane which must have some validity.
The largest concern is now bio-content. Bio-ethanol now constitutes 7.5% of BS:EN228 95 octane petrol since spring 2018. Bio-ethanol not only needs a much richer mixture (roughly twice as much per unit of air obviously divided by the 7.5%) but it also quickly undergoes phase separation to produce water. Obviously this is not good for fuel systems and requires greater quantities to be transported etc but nonetheless it was done to reduce some sort of emissions and is under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (which I largely a load of BS). Not only does this stuff produce water, need a richer mixture but it is also more acidic!
Diesel is also affected by bio-content. Diesel bug, or the fungus which consumes constituents of diesel appears to be promoted by bio-diesel. In fairness, it has been known about for years but was the preserve of fleets of HGVs. That changed when diesel became largely sulphur free as it was the sulphur which was a natural biocide. A byproduct of diesel bug is black jelly in diesel fuel systems. It clogs fuel filters. In cars, diesel bug tends to exist in older cars driven for maximum economy. The diesel stinks and when burnt through a diesel engine, the funk can make eyes stream. It has a very distinctive foul smell. I always overtake anything with diesel bug ASAP rather than choke in the toxic smog. Ask any MOT tester about how some diesels fill the workshop with choking gas- that’s diesel bug.
Why hasn’t this been covered in news on this site? Investigative journalism. Remember that?
Anyway, there have been changes which have gone through which are bad for us, bad for our cars and bad for the planet all under the guise of environmentalism.
BTW, super unleaded; BS7800 does not fall under this crazy directive as yet and as such contains far less bio-ethanol.
Spot on. I can immediately tell if I have to fill up with supermarket unleaded compared to say shell v power. The ethanol content is a nightmare and I can notice the difference from the engine. Furthermore the Americans tried introducing 15% ethanol in the name of environmentalism. Within about a fortnight it was withdrawn due to damaging vast amounts of vehicles. Ethanol should simply be removed full stop.
Comparing V Power 99 ron to standard supermarket 95 unleaded is ridiculous. My BMW M5 really struggles on 95 ron fuel period no matter where its from. My old M3 was even worse.
At the very least you should compare V Power to say Tesco Momentum which are very similar.
thats becaus the BMW M cars are tuned for 98/99 rather than 95 octane. im pretty sure it tells you this somewhere either on the car or in the manual. back in the day when unleaded first came out, i worked in a car dealership. we often ‘converted’ cars that were fitted with suitable (hardened) valve seats. this involved retarding the ignition timing (so the engine makes less power) by 4 degrees (on a mk3 escort) on carburettor equipped models, and 6 degrees for cars with fuel injection. so whilst your ECU takes these things into account, basically its doing the same thing, hence your car seems to ‘struggle’
In Mexico (I believe) a their cars are run on ethanol because it’s derived from their sugar plantations. They don’t have any problems!! And yes, I’m a qualified chemist!
I’ve been to Mexico…where nearly every car is a Beetle that quite possibly wud run on tap water with a sugar cube dropped into it !
Try putting it in a 1970’s classic, then watch the fuel rubbers and seals through the system rot away.
Why do it then?
they also have to change the fuel hoses to ones resistant to ethanol
Running a car on ethanol is fine, providing it is set up to run on it in the first place. Cars post 2005 are normally OK as they were designed with this in mind however older vehicles will struggle.
To run ethanol you typically need larger injectors, a more agressive fuel map as more ethanol is required than petrol and ethanol resistant plumbing from tank to injector. So if you run an older vehicle on fuel which has a higher ethanol content than it did previously (they don’t tell you when the standards change) then you will absolutely notice a difference!
I have three cars, a 98 Petrol, an 01 Diesel and an 09 Petrol, so the only one that will easily adjust to modern fuels is the 09.
It’s Brazil
Well they even run on full ethanol but they have special designed engine units for this by brands like fiat, wolkswagen and more. So they have this not because eco or green but just by the local independent economy and strategy. So today we have bad fuel E10 on the name of eco right… And on second hand auto market strategy buy and scrap every three years.
beyond belief to compare standard supermarket (or anywhere else for that matter) petrol with v-power or momentum.
if you buying something that needs 99 ron petrol, it’s likely to use plenty of it too, so don’t put tripe in the tank of a weapon, whilst don’t waste your money putting high octane petrol in a granny carrier.
Lead-free E-10 petrol in France is at least as efficient as ordinary petrol (and cheaper)
But they all have to meet the same standard!!! It’s all psychological!!
Phase separation is a documented phenomenon. Any motorcyclist in this country who does not run the bike over winter is aware of the rust which develops in the fuel system over the winter months.
Also, incompatibility of seals has become known and their are lists of cars which are known to have problems but apparently this is all psychological because you are a chemist!
Thanks for that Alasdair. I run (very occasionally) an old classic that was designed to run on 5 star leaded. Our car club recommends that we use Shell Vpower or BP & other equivalents as there is less bio which can affect seals of older manufacture. I also add lead replacement for unconverted engines although I believe this has nothing to do with performance.
I didn’t know about phase separation but always try to keep my petrol moving in my classic car rather than standing for several months.
Interestingly, my day car which is a phev will automatically run the petrol engine if I’ve used only electric power for a month or 2. It will run the engine until I put in at least 10 ltrs.
I understood that the lead replacement is to lubricate the older softer grade valves & seats. This is not necessary, once an engine has been converted to run on unleaded, by inserting hardened alternatives.
Meeting a standard is a far cry from exceeding a standard.
Ah but the standards don’t stay the same, while I don’t with fuel I do work with British Standards an when they are updated they don’t pop a note out to all concerned telling them of the change you have to check for yourself.
So if something in the standard were to change, for example an increased ethanol content, and you run an older car which won’t easily adapt then you will notice a difference.
Also the standards will usually have tolerances, which give a defined field that a fuel must meet and there will be a better end of that scale to be on.
Margaret please stick to chemistry and leave mechanics to engineers and people who know what they are talking about. E10 petrol and biodiesel means you use more, so more tax and duty for gov.uk.
this is supposed to be about basic petrol and diesel not high performance, just saying
Where diesel is concerned, the supermarkets are all working on the basis of buy cheap and sell quickly using the fuel price to hook in customers to their stores; they don’t put additives into their fuel because they think that it will be sold so quickly that any biological contaminants will be long gone. True enough, but it is us poor end users who end up with diesel bug contaminated vehicles!
Branded garages on the other hand are using the fuel as an actual product and therefore need that product to be of good quality. Branded diesel therefore contains detergents to keep water in solution in the fuel, and biocides (or at least biostats) to prevent diesel bug from thriving in their tanks. It may also contain cetane boosters and agents to make the fuel atomise better in the engine, which is about the best way to boost diesel engine performance.
The bulk fuel is the same, the additives are different and do make a difference even at the high dilutions in use.
I would therefore say that if you’re going to use supermarket diesel, use Miller’s diesel additive all the time, and keep a bottle of diesel fuel tank cleaner (concentrated detergent and biocide) for those times when you get diesel bug in your car fuel tank. I’ve had this twice now, and both times it was supermarket diesel.
These people really do not know what they are talking about. I am a tesco fuel tanker driver and we deliver DieselRE (Diesel with retail additive) EXACTLY the same as BP, Shell etc. There is absolutely no difference, it comes from the same terminal, the same tank and through the same arm as everyone else. In certain instances the fuel could be split between say a BP garage and a supermarket garage and there is no difference whatsoever. No one has a branded product anymore when it comes to the base fuels as none of the oil companies refine their own fuels any longer.
On the subject of Super unleaded, Tesco Momentum 99 is a branded product in the same way Shell V-Power or BP Ultimate is – again this often comes from the same terminals, tanks and arms.
Supermarkets sell more fuel than branded garages and therefore there is a higher turnaround of the fuel – this is true – but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t the same fuel with the same additive as everyone else. If supermarket fuel is that bad, why are the 10000s of people queuing down the road to fill up their cars with it not all breaking down like an epidemic?
Lee. Supermarkets can not use the same additive pack as Shell otherwise Shell fall short of being legal with advertising claims.
Jo, I suspect She’ll couldn’t care a less if they do fall short of being Legal, they are making tens of millions with there advertising BS.
Lee, my nephew has the same job as you, has exactly the same opinion as you, these are facts, as you have stated, fuel comes from the same source, same tank, same additives, people believe the hype, advertising, of main fuel companies.
Combustion engines are crude and old fashioned things. I put about 6 litres of petrol into my diesel car a number of years ago. I waited an hour for the tow truck but eventually, after reading a load of posts just pushed the car back to the pump and filled it to the cap with diesel. Ran like a dream.
All this talk of runs like a dog and engine is a nightmare is balls. If it needs 95 or 98 that is different to whether or not it’s got a splash of “detergent” in it. I always though the engine used oil to lubricate the moving parts!
Petrol will damage seals in a diesel engine, and will damage the injectors, and pumps, the filters also get clogged by petrol, but adding significantly higher level of diesel will certainly dilute the petrol a lot, and will have less damaging effect on the seals etc
The engines moving parts are lubricated by oil, but the cylender, pistons, and valves are lubricated by what is added to fuel, lead used to be in petrol as it is an effective way of lubricating the one pelarts, by removing lead they had to add something else , silicates have been added, along with many other additives, none of which are as effective as lead.
Supermarkets have the same fuel as branded pumps, for example esso used to have a deal with tesco where you could collect tesco club card points when buying fuel, similar for other Supermarkets.
It all comes from the same place, and same manufacturing plants , and while they are claiming 7billion a quarter in profit from fuel sales we should be more focused on why this is happening, and why has the government not stepped in.
Even if we paid £1.00 per litre for fuel they would make a profit, with daily sales in excess of 9.6 million on average, and that is just 1 company, imagine how much fuel is sold by all the other sales outlets.
I am just confused as to why we are having to pay the highest price for fuel in the developed world.
There should be a maximum profit line on all fuel, be it heating oil, petrol, or diesel, and there should be limitations as to when they can just hike the price up in case, after all the price of oil coming into the UK only blipped up for about 3 weeks before returning to lower levels again. But we are still paying extortionate prices at the pumps.
Perhaps we should be moaning about this issue, instead of moaning about old wives tales, all fuel is equal at the pump, and that is a fact, the prices are determined by the marketing departments, and fat cats at the fuel depots.
well this may all be true but i work in a garage that services tesco delivery vans they are serviced at the required intervals but we get a hugh number of pump and injector failures all fuel related on there vans they use there own fuel but see very little trouble from folk who use the major brands so something is going on
That’s because of the poorly specced Bosch injectors Iveco use, don’t get it on Sprinters who use Bosch as well.
Some years ago I was working near to the Ellesmere Port refinery and was in clear sight of the fuelling station for tankers, during a break I watched as a line of tankers of various fuel brands were filled from the same rig, these included major fuel companies as well as supermarket brands. The only difference as I could see with the end product was the price at the pump. As a matter of interest I drive a Saab which is designed for regular unleaded, it has a 2ltr petrol turbo-charged engine and as I can usually maintain comfortable constant speeds on the motorways using the cruise control I am able on long runs to obtain mid to high 40’s MPG using supermarket fuel and I have never found any difference in performance or MPG if I have had to use any other brand.
All the cars I have owned have used supermarket fuel since it became more widely available in the mid 1980’s and none have had any fuel related problems even though they were subjected to relatively high mileages in a working environment.
Seeing as most of the supermarket fuels are supplied ex-rack at the refineries, it therefore is the same fuel as other users of the refinery. Go to any refinery in the UK and not the different companies loading fuel.
Fuel
i have a car with stop start and this only works when down to half a tank with fuel from the supermarket
Sorry Alan, but the level of fuel in your tank has absolutely nothing to do with the start stop system of your vehicle.
Alan, are you doing short, solo, journeys? Full tank = greater load and you Engine management would detect the load and may elect to inhibit the start -stop to prevent the engine cooling down and reducing the cats efficiency.
Several years ago, when I worked for a UK multinational oil company, we were told by the automotive fuels development team that there was a great difference between supermarket fuel and branded fuel. The main difference was in the detergents used by the oil companies to keep the engine clean, specifically to prevent carbon build up on the valve stems. Supermarket fuel just met the target “AA Seal of Approval” of less than 800mg carbon per 100k miles while branded fuel from the oil companies reduced the carbon build-up to less than 50mg carbon per 100k miles. Things may have changed since then with improvements in car engine design of course. On a more personal level my Mark 1 Ford Cortina always returned a better mpg using branded fuel.
I remember well in the 70s / 80s, Shell got into all sorts of trouble with their super dooper additive which caused massive engine problems costing Shell lots and was then quickly abandoned.
Formula Shell caused accelerated valve seat recession.
… painful! Is there a cream for that?
and now?
At last someone highlighting the main issues. It’s not a question of whether or not a standard RON fuel will work in any one vehicle, its about the quality of the entire combustion process! be that by direct or indirect fuel injection or even via carburettor delivery. But the key to the quality issue is one of detergents & additives that prevent/slow the formation of carbon deposits around any engine be it modern or vintage. To somehow presume that all oil producing nations somehow end up pumping their fuels into single point storage facilities is ridiculous. Certain countries (eg Libya) are recognised for the exceptional quality of the oil they extract. Its almost like suggesting all tyres are the same because they’re made of rubber!
For what I’m saving in fuel over 100,000 miles (about £700) by using supermarket fuel rather than branded fuel, I’d be pretty happy to live with the extra 0.8 grammes of carbon on my valve stems after that mileage!
Maybe not when the bill arrives for de-coking the engine……..
About a month sooner than it would if using branded fuel?
I used to fill up my vectra I had. Morrisons all the time for 5 years. It ended up needing new swirl valves, ecu was starting to mess up and the egr valve was clooged like anything and needed reolacement. In total, the bill was going to be ridiculous to get back on the road and I was forced to get rid of it. I was told this was due to very poor quality fuel and my mechanic said to me that he could tell where I filled up, and he said supermarket! I do remember getting 700+ miles when I first bought the vehicle. That dropped to 500+ when I let it go. Never ever will I put supermarket fuel in any of my cars again. My car I have now also reacts better on BP than shell so I always try to use bp now rather than any other fuel.
I have just retired from a field service engineer job. I have consistently driven 28 – 35 k miles a year every year for the last 30 years. Nearly all of it Diesel, starting with an Izuzu powered Astra est. To a Kia Carens4. I have consistently kept an eye on fuel consumption and never noticed an unexplained increase in the life of a car,
I say unexplained, as I did notice about 7% increase on a scenic when the delivery tyres were changed from eco pilots after 30k. I can’t remember what they were changed to, but I do remember that the lease company did not approve the eco as they were more expensive than mainstream..
Rubbish. I am located near to the Piccadilly oil depot in North Warwickshire and watch everyone’s tankers filling up from the same outlets. If you don’t believe me just go along and watch. You’ve been conned by a myth.
Incidentally I filled my car at a Morrison’s outlet, give or take the odd fill, for fifteen years without a problem of any sort.
Same outlet yes but not necessarily the the same tank
Spot on Ian, I use vpower for my mondeo diesel, i put supermarket fuel in the first week i got the car then the dreaded engine malfunction light came on and i had to keep stopping the car every mile to restart the car because of the limp mode, so filled it up with shell vpower and the car has run without fault since, it costs approximately an extra £2 per week (£100 per year) for me to fill up with vpower which beats any garage bill for new egr valves, turbos, clogged up this and that, you get what you pay for
Another one – you are comparing a Super unleaded product with a higher octane and no ethanol content, to a standard unleaded fuel with standard additive. Try using Tesco Momentum 99 and you’ll find your car is exactly the same as it is when filling up with Shell V-Power
Thats more likely a Vectra problem than the fuel, they just aren’t reliable cars.
I’ve been driving a variety of cars and motorcycles over the last 50 years, from standard family saloons to performance sports cars and always (where possible) use supermarket fuel. I’ve never, ever had any problems with the fuel or the running! In fact I tested a tankful of BP “special” which supposedly gave more mpg (at an extortionate increase per litre) and it made no difference whatsoever, other than to my pocket!!
Yep, I have a very similar story with my Insignia. Recently cost me £300 to replace the EGR valve due to carbon build up. The mechanic asked me where I bought my diesel, Sainsburys! Advised me to buy branded fuel, BP, Esso or Shell.
I filled my Esccort at Tesco all the 15 years that I owned it, from new. At 125,000 i got rid of the car through rust. The engine was fine never gave a moments problems in all that time, but I serviced it properly of course. All fault in cars are down to mechanical/electronic issues but it is easy to blame the petrol so garages will do so rather than find the real cause of poor fuel consumption.
Since then my Mondeo has been tried on all sort of brands and there are no differences whatsoever. Cars must be maintained correctly and I think that is the answer as some drivers save money on servicing and as the use supermarket fuel the gets blamed unfairly.
Your problem is that you’re driving a vauxhall
Ian, could it be that your old Vectra was crap?
The supermarket stuff is cheaper so any hype from petrol names has to be paid for with every litre.
It would have to be very very significant to make any useable difference in mileage.
I use both.
Supermarket in cars and Branded Superfuels in my bikes.
I don’t care if it’s psychological, I need all the help I can get to beat the competition out there.
🤣
I generally fill at my local ASDA… (Actually because it is closest!)
Never a prob with cars. But carburettors on my bikes need bi annual strip and clean to stop them giving lumpy power delivery..
A tip I am trying is to put them away in winter with ASPEN in the carbs after draining the carbs of ordinary unleaded.
I do not perceive any disadvantage in the use of “supermarket” fuel versus “branded” fuel products.
An incident such as the “silicone contamination” that affected defined supermarkets some years ago must be seen as an exception as such an incident could happen to any refiner/blender due to human error.
Quality and performance of oil lubricant is, in my view, a more important topic where “non branded and own label products” are more likely to offer have inferior wear performance than “branded products”.
All fuel sold has to meet the relevant British Standard and will be allocated a BS verification number. It will be stated on the pump. The fuel is accepted by the manufacturer of your car and this is covered in the car owners handbook. Don’t get excited about words like Excellium and Supreme, they are marketing lingo.
As I said above, meeting standards is not the same as exceeding standards.
After few years I decided to not refill at the shops fuels station
The reason for it was the quality
Low on power, higher consumption
What a hopeless No story. Just a waste of my time reading it.
So what is the answer then??
Buy your fuel where you want. Pay the money take the chance. Buy fruit and veg from the German supermarkets, then moan about the quality of fuel at British supermarkets. Now there is a thought?
I do but the other way round poor quality n size in UK compared to Europe apples n cabbages way smaller.. go to an eastern European shop and see tomatoes the size of swan eggs lol apples much bigger too.I went to Greece and Poland and produce is way better.As for fuel well buy from whoever so long as it gets you from A to Z
so it looks like tiny veg after no deal brexit?
we can always grow our own !!! veg that is lol
Yes fruit and veg grown in the UK in 2018 is smaller because of the lack of rain, they all need rain to grow.
Lack of rain Maggie?? What part of the U.K. are you from??
What has Germany got to do with the argument? Petrol is refined the same everywhere, Cheaper prices are brought about by negotiation and quantity!
Totally agree with Paul,,answer a question with a question,,,very political
im with you Paul just wasted 20min of my life!
You must be a slow reader, or does that include the comments?
Like a lot of their “comprehensive” articles.
Likewise your comment.
For years I believed the “hype” of the branded fuels, then followed a tanker, from a fuel station toward my home, it had filled up my preferred station then as I followed it pulled into a supermarket and filled their tanks.
Same tanker, one station branded next station Asda!
Same stuff, don’t be fooled again, I’m not
You can fill different pots with different products
There can be up to five pots on a tanker
6 pots in modern artic tankers
You’ll find it can be upto 8 pots on certain tankers
How do you know it came out of the same compartment on the lorry?
Do you really think that a tanker goes from one refinery to another to fill different compartments of the same tank?
Base petroleum is the same. The additives are not. Comes from the same tanker? Obviously someone has to deliver the stuff. Perhaps some sort of understanding if logistics and contracts should be the next area of study.
Well said Michael..The only problem I’ve got is that some super markets are not passing on the proper value of the fuel onto their customers but are still higher than other petrol stations just outside of their areas..Which I was told by one attendant In Tesco if there’s no competition within a mile then the prices stay as they are…
That explains why my local Tesco charges 5p per litre more than other Tesco’s. There is no other Supermarket selling fuel within 6 miles, so they get away with charging extra.
Same here, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland.
I used supermarket fuel when I drove and regularly got 600 miles out of a 44 lire tank of petrol for a 1.4 Polo. there was no difference when I had to put in a premium brand, like shell,BP or Esso, on a motorway, apart from paying a lot more per litre the quality of the petrol was the same. The cheapest fuel is always the supermarket it is at best equalled by other stations but rarely beaten.
No difference whatsoever, as usual consumers being fooled & duped by the big brands via pure commercialism
I run my Range Rover on the least exspensive fuel regardless of which make and never have a problem with the drive or efficiency. We live near a refinery and all makes of fuel tankers come out of the same place.
You’ve had a real result: something with those badges and no problems – I assume the Range Rover’s a garden ornament?
When the tanker arrives at its refilling terminal, the driver is given a code and info re which tank section and customer, he enters code and connect filling hose to ie tank one. The petrol which is identical to any other fuel is then pumped into tanker plus any extra ingredients required by ie Sainsbury’s or Asda .. these additives are mainly to keep your engine free of carbon and run smoothly. So basically it’s the same stuff the goes bang and whoosh
Right, so all brands use the same base fuel from the refinery. That’s not news. I could have guessed that. But then each brand has its own additives. That’s where one brand could *potentially* be different from another.
Have any tanker drivers delivered some fuel to a supermarket and then some fuel to a branded fuel station *and filled both from the same pot in the tanker*? Or are they always from different pots – one for Tesco with whatever additives they add, and one for Shell with whatever additives they add?
Martin, I am a tanker driver. I have delivered on lots of different contracts in the industry. A tanker will never split a pot because they have no way of metering it off, it is either loaded or unloaded. That is the only reason. A tanker will often carry different grades such as Diesel, Unleaded, Super unleaded and Super Diesel but it will not carry 2 or 3 different types of Unleaded or Diesel for instance – the only variant is the Super or Standard. I 100% guarantee this.
All load retail grade base fuel. The only difference is some commercial sites like bus garages or transport yards that may order Diesel without the retail additive BUT this will generally not be carried on the same tanker as one delivering to retail petrol stations.
I’m sure there is having spoken with a Ford specialist who said that my Fiesta would run much better on branded fuel I tried it. I’m now getting several miles per gallon more than I was before!
I run my Range Rover on the least exspensive fuel regardless of brand. We live near a refinery and see all the tankers from different manufacturers leave with the same fuel
Ask Honest John for his views!
Yes, Honest John in the Telegraph has been adamant about the difference for years and always recommends premium fuel: why is he so wrong?
He also recommends left foot braking when driving an auto!!
Probabbly has shares in the local fast fit station!
Left foot braking is the most dangerous thing I ever heard of
☹️
Left foot braking is a common basic skill used in motorsports for years!
what a load of crap all racing and rally drivers left foot brake as do i its much more natural not so in my manual transit right foot there as steering column in the way
This article clearly excludes “super” and “premium” fuels for the comparison. In recent years I have bought Shell VPower diesel on 90% of fills, in accordance with HJ’s advice, because it has additives to prolong the life of the engine. I have also found an improvement in consumption, but that may be because I changed my tyres to Goodyear All-Seasons.
Honest John sometimes recommends “super unleaded” compared to plain “unleaded”. This is normally for high power “performance” engines. Honest John makes no differential between petrol premium brands (Esso et al) and supermarkets fuels. Diesel fuels might be different.
I have read some of the technical comments here which are surprising if true. I monitor my fuel consumption very closely and drive fairly consistently in terms of distance, speed and style. I drive a petrol Q3 and consistently get 40 mpg or better and a 2001 Mustang using standard grade for both as per manufacturers recommendations. I notice no significant difference in performance or fuel consumption between BP, She’ll, Sainsbury, ASDA or Tesco. European petrol with 10% ethanol might be a different story though. I suspect the most significant difference is garages playing with the volume, I do notice occasional short measure but it’s difficult to prove.
So BP garage prices of petrol sold consistently at significantly higher prices presumably means that BP are a bunch of profiteering crooks!
Correct!
What purpose does Petrolprices serve? Their articles are either plagiarsed or use many words to say nothing. A complete waste of time and money!
Whilst the base fuel and additives is the same where the difference lies is the frequency that supermarkets clean their tanks. Supermarkets have a really high turnover of fuel and allow the tanks to run really low thus dragging all the c**p from the bottom.
What purpose does Petrolprices serve? Their articles are either plagiarised or use many words to say nothing.
Must serve some purpose, look how many comments are on this topic. Something to do over the Chrimbo holidays?
Absolutely right. What purpose indeed?
Yes. I’ve also found that with a Basic account I only get price comparison on a few of my local stations with some shown as “locked” and quite a few not shown at all. Utter waste of time. Rather than pay to upgrade I’m thinking I’ll just cancel my subscription.
I have had repeated problems over a number of different vehicles with a single supermarket garage, so I no longer use them, no problem!
However, the same has been true of a couple of mainstream garages in the area who other locals know about. Therefore I am guessing that the difference is just down to poor ‘housekeeping standards’.
The only reason I can find that fuel differs from other same name garages is if they have a slow turnover or chose to keep there tanks low . If the tanks are kept low , evaporation could alter the ( could we say) makeup of the fuel they sell. I found out by chance that a garage was keeping its tanks low by chance.as whilst refuelling my van, the pump seemed to be wanting to switch off. Was told the tank was low. I sed ( all the time) mmmm
No difference whatsoever in branded or unbranded I drive both petrol an diesel I have not even noticed any extra miles from premium branded fuejs at pumps either, so don’t waste your money an full up wherever you feel like it as it’s all the same
On 2 occasions over the last 3 years I have experienced a worsening of around 15% in fuel consumption on a 220 mile journey made immediately after filling up at Morrison’s. I make this journey 1 or 2 times a month by the same route on the same of day at the same time and generally my fuel consumption varies by less than 5%..
So you made between 36 and 72 journeys, possibly up to, 16,000 miles. A problem twice! Change your shoes. No wonder the Aussies call us whinging pomms!
was the wind stronger on those days? or blowing another way? or needed lights on, heater blower? wipers. all exert a drain on engine and hence fuel,
The tankers all fill up from the same storage tanks at fuel depots. So therefore all fuel at all the different petrol stations is the same. A Branded tanker will draw fuel from the same fuel depot storage tank as will Joe Bloggs for Asda, it’s the same fuel, same storage tank, different tankers. Delivered to a supermarket it’s sold for less, delivered to a branded service station the price at the pump is increased. The price at the pump is the only difference.
Not so. You are forgetting that the tankers have up to five different pots, all filled separately and delivered to petrol stations separately, thus enabling different compilations to be supplied to different outlets, albeit apparently from the same source.
I ask again, is it really likely that a single tanker will travel to various refineries to fill different compartments? Of course not!
Of course not but a refinery will have different grades of fuel which are all piped to the same loading bay so a tanker doesn’t hav eto run round to different places to fill different compartments.
And you know this because you have the proof, right ? Thought as much…justify your statement with facts before you ridicule others. Oh, and it is true, a tanker does have more than one fuel compartment.
Not so, I work at an oil refinery in Immingham and the tankers fill up the pods all from the same supply tank. This then goes out to both supermarkets and shell/bp garages, so each gets identical fuel. The only difference is the price at the pumps. Any doubters should come along to the refinery and watch the tankers filling up.
So, after reading the hopeless original article and all the interesting but differing points of view that follow, is this the definitive answer?
I’m not convinced you’re as informed as you believe you are! Have a chat with someone at the depot who has a clue; they’ll educate you (if they’ll even talk to you – from your comment, you probably clean their toilets.
Correct, I always notice since we have add bio, if I go to the big Sainsbury near me it’s always busy so new fuel everyday nearly, car runs better an does 2-3 more miles per gallon. So just go to the most busy garages for the newest fresh fuel an don’t worry who it it is!
Correct , but with different additives or detergents for ie. Tesco or shell or whoever
I regularly find that I lose 10-15 not when using TESCO fuel – this has been evident in 2cars – 1 elderly and the other 12months old. In contrast I have reverted to Asda fuel and week in week out get in the late 50mpg from a 1.2 Note with a mix of town and rural driving which does not very each week and the performance is excellent and the price always good.
I’ve used supermarket fuels for over 40yrs and never had a single problem, ever. Inferior fuel is an urban myth
I’ve never noticed any difference between branded and supermarket fuel.
I think you need to be specific about which supermarket s the issues are occurring. Then you may be able to include or exclude the idea that individual supermarkets are abusing the fuel.
I had a Ford Galaxy for some 16 years…. never had a problem anywhere in the UK or EUROPE re fuel. THE only problem when I occasionally refuelled with Tesco petrol……………………… the vehicle would misfire…. never happened with Asda ,Sainsbury or any other supplier and never happened with any other vehicle I’ve owned over the last 30 years or so.
Having been a British Standards assessor of fuel companies I can assure everyone that there is no difference between any of them They all draw from the same refineries and have to meet the same British and European standards. Additives may vary between suppliers but they are mostly marketing hype and make no noticeable difference to performance, unless sold as premium brands. Even then the claimed improvements are dubious, and mostly based on manufacturers’ own (usually undisclosed) tests.
Personally I always fill up with supermarket fuel.
Well that says it all. Suggest Dave’s comment is used to replace the non article and we all move on 😁
Glad I’m not the only one who read that article and thought it was a waste of time 😁
I always use just 1 Tesco fuel supplier as since I found out the reason their fuel is always cheaper than anyone else locally is because they actully own the freehold of the site and don’t pay any rent for same which as I understand reflects in the pump price they charge.
True. However buy in bulk, sell cheaper than an independent?
I also believe Tesco buying power enables them to buy in bulk at reduced prices enabling them (one hopes) to pass this concession on to the customer at the pumps. Those who choose to pay as much as 20p per litre extra just because it is Shell, B.P. or Esso and rumoured to be better, only have themselves to blame for fuelling the unofficial rumour machine. This extra works out to over 90p per gallon extra.
I used to work for tesco in the petrol station. Tesco petrol is esso fuel anyway
Tesco, BP, Esso, all the same from the same storage facility. Only difference is the additives in Big Branded Companies.
good to know, even though I always fill up at Tesco too because 1st its usually the cheapest, and 2nd the closest to where I live and 3rd I get the Tesco points. sometimes asda is cheaper but by the time I drove there and back it would prob cost me the savings +some LOL
I think you will find Asda is cheaper by 3 p in plymouth at £1.14 a ltr
You are lucky, Asda diesel in Great Yarmouth £1.27 a litre
You will find the 1.14 is for petrol not diesel. Diesel is taking a huge hammering at the moment price wise….
You get what you pay for, Peter!
Stupid comment
Thanks to Mr Mills for confirming what most us thought.
Thanks David. I generally buy from whoever is cheapest and that usually means supermarket forecourts but occasionally buying from regular branded forecourts. Had both petrol and diesel vehicles over the last 10 years and never really noticed a difference.
Can anyone tell me whether the fuel at Costco is a different quality or again is this just an example of the bulk buying strategy? Apologies if it has been mentioned elsewhere
Not sure about the standard petrol but you can get premium from there at the same price as standard on the supermarket forecourt
Over the years I’ve tried the occasional tank of major oil company premium petrol to see if there was any obvious difference in MPG performance, as compared with standard supermarket fuel. I have to report that nothing vaguely noticeable showed up on my car’s MPG dashboard display. So, I continue to fill up at the local Asda station and save a bunch of money!
Just wasted 5 minutes of my life reading this article, draws no conclusion, what is the point, utter garbage writing by Jamie Rogers, the name says it all.
True… utter rubbish….. kept reading thinking an answer would be given… Me too wasted 5 Minutes of my life reading that rubbish article … uffff
please read david mills above
what else would you have been doing
What else would they have been doing – with the other hand?
What part of his name says it all? Jamie or Rogers
David Mills summed it up in one paragraph. I will never get those 5 min back
Why the hate? If you can’t say anything….
Excellent contribution that offsets an exceptionally uninformative article that’s wasted most readers’ time!
Well water has managed to get into the Morrisons petrol in High Wycombe
It’s not an uknown phenomena to have water in any fuel supplier’s system! I recollect BP and Esso having this issue locally in the last 2 years!
All tanks are vented. So as the fuel is dispensed from the tank or it cools down, it draws in (humid) air. as that air cools further, some of the moisture condenses out and collects as water in the bottom of the tank. This is not usually a problem as most tanks are underground and the temperature does not vary much, and the fuel is drawn from just above the bottom of the tank, avoiding any water in the bottom.
Problems arise when a tank is very empty, when it is refilled, because the incoming fuel stirs up the tank and mixes the water with the fuel. If fuel is dispensed, before it has time to settle, you may get some water in the fuel.
That is why old fashioned fuel pumps has a sight glass in the elbow, so the garage and the customer could see if there was water in the fuel.
When was this / is this a current issue at this site? Thanks.
When was this and where was it reported?
I have seen Asda once put more additives in the unleaded away back in 2012 yet ever since I have used Tesco’s
In the 70’s I worked as a tanker driver and we were often contracted to do work for fuel companies running out of Immingham refinery. All brands came out of the same line, only difference was different line for different octane rating as in those days fuel had a star rating. I have never had a problem with supermarket petrol or diesel, I only buy standard fuel grade and add my Millers addative which I purchase in 5 litre can to keep costs down.
I used to work for an oil company and can confirm that all the companies use each others distribution depots to supply their own branded service stations and the same fuel tanker will distribute to supermarket filling stations as well as chains and independents. If you’re buying in the west London area the chances are that your fuel is coming from the Esso terminal at Heathrow whether you’re buying from Esso/Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Shell, BP etc.
Agree, used to work in IT for Shell. We used to create invoices for Asda for fuel provided by Shell tankers to Asda. Also in Scotland Shell tankers refuelled Esso sites, and in other places vice versa, as was more cost efficient for both companies than sending 2 tankers long distances to remote areas.
Working in IT invoicing for Shell MSD does not necessarily mean that you understand the fuel supply chain and marketing. Yes, the base fuel is perhaps from the same refinery/depot, using differently branded trucks.
However, additives and basic branding considerably differs for wholesale consumers who prefer to add premium differentiations.
Having said that, since I am in the same trade as John, I can say that 3-4p extra charge by BP/Shell is going to their franchising costs.
Personally my diesel car runs a lot better than when running on Tesco s**t diesel. IT started to have a lot of problems and since I have started using other fuel suppliers it runs far more smoothly and the service engineers also have noticed a difference this year. So it maybe the local Tesco’s is just running with dirty tanks.
Hi can you tell me the difference between standard and the more expensive fuel. I have been told to use the better diesel as it is better for the car. Is this true or am I spending an extra 20p pl for nothing? Thank you
I accidentally filled up with premium diesel rather than standard diesel. What was infuriating was that I’d driven past several more expensive garages until I found one advertising fuel that was a few pence/litre cheaper – and then went and chose fuel that was about 10p/litre more expensive 🙂
I wondered whether the car ran slightly more smoothly and had slightly more acceleration, but I’m sure some of this was psychology and an attempt to justify to myself that I had got *some* benefit from the “gold-plated” diesel.
However I did not get significantly better mpg – any slight improvement over the average was lost in the “noise” of variations from one filling to another.
The article is *not* a waste of time. It examines various perceived benefits and finds no evidence for them. That is a valid conclusion: “no significant difference” is just as valid and useful a result as “significant difference”. Would you have preferred an article which simply said “People think there’s a difference but we couldn’t find one” or an article which went into detail and justified the conclusions that it reached?
It would be nice if one of the motoring websites or TV programmes paid for exhaustive tests of different brands of fuel, but that would cost money. In the absence of anyone paying for the tests, all we can go on is vague “I get better mpg” or “the engine runs more smoothly” opinions; or numerical results from people like me who record brim-fill to brim-fill readings, which are subject to differences in pump cutoff point and with variations in driving conditions from one tankful to another.
From David Mills (above)…
Having been a British Standards assessor of fuel companies I can assure everyone that there is no difference between any of them. They all draw from the same refineries and have to meet the same British and European standards. Additives may vary between suppliers but they are mostly marketing hype and make no noticeable difference to performance, unless sold as premium brands. Even then the claimed improvements are dubious, and mostly based on manufacturers’ own (usually undisclosed) tests.
Personally I always fill up with supermarket fuel.
Exactly spot on
All I can say is what I measure in MPG from fill ups at typically Tescos and Esso, BP, etc. On a tank of Tescos I get nominally 45 MPG from a tank of BP etc I get a nominal 52 MPG. Measured over the same trip run from the South Coast up to Milton Keynes – Trips where the M25 is blocked and it is an hour or so car parked are lower but of BP only by 2mpg and the best is 55mpg being gentle and dropping speed to 65mph rather than the normal 70mph.
It is as scientific as I can get same car, 2 litre Estate Focus, same run done return, etc with some local thrown in. So there would seem to be something the Focus does not like with Tesco fuel but likes about BP, Shell Esso. All the standard basic diesel.
What purpose does Petrolprices serve? Their articles are either plagiarised or use many words to say nothing. Dreadful journalism.
When I changed to branded petrol for my old Avensis which had done 100k miles it definitely “felt” different, it was certainly quieter and I definitely got an increase in mpg. Since changing to a diesel car the benefits aren’t as obvious but it seems to be quieter when using branded fuel.
I fill up at Asda and found it runs just the same on their fuel as branded fuel, and considerably cheaper
A friend has a Golf GTI with about 80K miles on the clock, his car went into the garage for repair after the cambelt failed which resulted in a head off job.The garage called him to come and see the head and pistons before starting the repair. They asked what fuel he used and told them it was Tesco basic. Their comment was that the build up of carbon deposits were more consistent with a diesel engine rather than a petrol and they advised him to change to a super fuel such as Shell VPower to significantly reduce these carbon deposits.
On the feebleness of this article I am unsubscribing. Assuming all articles are as “good” as this, reading any more will be a waste of time.
My 2012 Focus 1.6 diesel has let me down and gone into limp mode several times using supermarket diesel, it just will not run on the stuff. I’m not sure if it has a higher bio diesel content? Runs well on Esso, Shell, BP etc – so somethings different. Read about it on a Ford forum and didn’t believe, but for me it’s true, the Ford Eco diesels do not like supermarket fuel
My previous car had a sporty turbo charged engine and did not like ASDA fuel at all. It used to pop which caused a slight delay when I accelerated hard. So since having my new car, also with a sporty turbo charged engine, I avoid ASDA at all costs. Other fuel from Tesco and Sainsbury’s I find doesn’t cause any performance issues.
I use both supermarket and BP and Shell petrol and diesel basic grade fuels and have never noticed any difference. On occasions I have bought 99 octain unleaded from supermarkets for a high performance race engine and again no difference. On trips across Europe I occasionally fill up a Jeep Wrangler with high grade diesel and carefully measure fuel consumption in the expectation of vast improvement. To be honest I can’t say I’ve noticed any difference.
Long story line, but NO substance, make your mind up or shut up!
I’ve used whatever unleaded was cheapest and never had running issues. I service my own cars on schedule yearly and weekly checks are done. My VW Passat 1.6 fsi specifies super unleaded of which i again use the cheapest but once a month i do a full tankfull of Shell Optimax at a Princely sum of course and i will say there is a marked diffirence in power. Nothing major but running just feels even more smooth. I use it for the cleaning effect rather than expecting miracles.
Well, you’d have trouble finding Optimax, because it hasn’t been sold for at least 10 years!
So as usual no answer why read this . IF YOU NOW THE ANSWER you would be shouting from the roof top I’ll unsubscribe
Wast of time
It would have been interesting to have covered the Esso/Tesco tie-up.
If you fill up at an Esso station, you get Tesco Clubcard points. If you fill up at Tesco, it’s their own brand. Is it the same fuel?
Load of rot
My car, a Suzuki Alto, does less mpg when I fill it at my local Tesco. At first I thought this was a one off so I tried several times alternating between Tesco and Sainsbury’s but my car did consistently less when filled at Tesco. I now only use Sainsbury’s.
Reading the comments posted there is still no clarity for an everyday consumer, with equalling arguments for & against.
I would imaging the age/performance type of your vehicle could also have a part to play in how comparisons are derived. Personally I avoid the franchised local stations irrespective of Brand BP/Shell/Jet & stick to the supermarkets on the basis of several “coincidental” debit card fraud issues over the years.
Minimum standards mean just that. If you have to buy a first aid kit it contains the minimum parts under law. So, if you use just one safety pin it then becomes illegal. The analogy is if 95 octane is the minimum 97 must be above the minimum. I’ve run my jaguar xtype on only supermarket fuel for 3 months and then shell vpower and my mpg increased by using she’ll vpower and the engine runs smoother and quieter. My journey routes are the same and in the same traffic.
“The analogy is if 95 octane is the minimum 97 must be above the minimum”. The “Octane” rating of a fuel has been irrelevant since the introduction of unleaded fuel. The rating is offered as a guide to the ‘anti-knock’ properties of the fuel and has no influence on engine performance unless you have a high compression engine. The engine manufacturer recommends the rating of fuel to be used and that recommendation should be followed. If I remember correctly, the research carried out when we made the switch over to unleaded fuel indicated that the additives in unleaded fuel were far more harmful to health than the tetra-ethyl lead in leaded fuel they were designed to replace.