Fuel - Supermarket or Branded?

[S60D5-185]

Originally Posted by Bashy

You've misunderstood, it says they have to be fitted from 2009, that does not mean they can't be fitted before then ;)

Absolutely Correct. If your Volvo D5 engine is a Euro 4 ( around 2006 onwards ) it WILL HAVE a DPF and Swirl flaps.

My 2006 Volvo S60 Euro 4 D5 185 was first registered on the 1st March 2006 and had a DPF plus swirl flaps.

The reg was OY06FFH if anyone wants to check that out.

[Bashy]

I think mine was Nov 06 and deffo has the swirlies too, ive twiddled with it

[BigMonty]

Cherry all the way

[Davebbass]

I used to find that diesels were more sensitive to the fuel I put in them. Especially the newer ones, so I started running them on branded fuel, though I'm self employed and have a fuel card for both Shell and BP, so I've always had Shell diesel as it came in a tiny tiny amount more than supermarket diesel. Cars always ran really well for it, put a couple of tanks of supermarket through my "old" 2012 Avensis I had back in 2016 out of curiosity, and noticed a drop in performance and economy.

As for the V60 I've got now which is petrol, I fill up at the supermarket and it seems absolutely fine with it. Got a friend who used to work for Shell and he drives an Aston Martin DB7 GT... he knows the mechanics of it inside out, and runs it on Tesco Momentum. If it's good enough for an Aston...

[Briggo]

If it's good enough for an Aston...

Thats because the quality of fuel between supermarket and branded is the same, it has to be sold to the same minimum quality.

The difference is additives etc.

This discussion has been had on many forums over many years, you'll always get those who swear blind branded fuel is far superior and others who don't. Maybe its down to the cars themselves, maybe its a placebo effect.

[S60D5-185]

I've always just used bog standard diesel from whatever outlet was available ( usually Tesco ) and have never had an issue.

Out of curiosity, a few years back , as a result of a similar thread, I ran with three tanks of the expensive diesel back to back to give it a fair chance and honestly couldn't tell any difference in the way the car performed.

Down to whatever makes you happy i suppose.

[Cull06]

I had the then new RS Focus between 2017-2019 which as one would imagine was highly tuned to get 350 bhp out of a 4 pot. Fantastic car, but it was interesting how it would respond to different fuels.

Shell V Power would definitely have a smoother transition between gears. Whereas Tesco Momentum (both 99 RON) would feel more jumpy in the change but with a more ‘explosive’ surge in acceleration feel to it. If that makes sense.

Someone who knows more about this than me told me at the time it was because of different alcohol contents or something. But there was definitely a noticeable difference there.

On the current car however, I haven’t been able to distinguish a difference between V Power and Momentum. Either because the ingredients have since become more similar or the Volvo engine simply works the same with both. So I try to use Momentum when I can as it’s cheaper!

I haven’t got around to compare 95 Ron vs 99 Ron in the current car. But as the advice from Volvo is to use the higher Ron and the engine is still a highly tuned engine again as a 4 pot pushing an suv with a supercharger and turbo on it; I’ll just stick with the 99. Though tbh I seem to be burning most of it through the aux heater these days...!

[Auto Addict]

Originally Posted by Robbie34

DPFs were introduced in 2009.

Are you sure about that ? My previous 2004 BMW 530d had a DPF as did the 2006 320d I owned after. I also had a 2007 SAAB 9-5 TiD with a DPF and they were introduced to that range in late 2005.

[Forg]

Originally Posted by Cull06

On the current car however, I haven’t been able to distinguish a difference between V Power and Momentum. Either because the ingredients have since become more similar or the Volvo engine simply works the same with both. So I try to use Momentum when I can as it’s cheaper!

The ECU is probably just tuned more conservatively ... the RS was probably on the brink of exploding all-day-every-day. You're probably using a tad more fuel with the cheaper stuff, but the variations in driving from day to day are probably large enough you'd not really notice.

Those RS engines are time bombs, a workmate has one & it died at about 12 months, spun a main bearing (officially oil starvation at that point - he had someone look at it 'cos the dealer were blaming my workmate and refusing to honour warranty) & the only thing anyone can find that might POSSIBLY have caused it is the dealer having put Mustang Turbo oil in it (it's something like 0W-30 vs 5W-30 or some-such) ... that's living on the edge, if that amount of difference spun a bearing ...

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Robbie34

DPFs were introduced in 2009.

That's incorrect, for Volvo anyway.

DPF's were introduced in Volvo's with the euro 4 engine in 2006 & have been used since.

If your car has an older euro 3 engine (pre 2005), then it doesn't have a DPF.

Basically if your car is 2006 or newer, then it'll have a DPF.