Is it my imagination

[oldgreybloke]

I usually by fuel from Morrisons (I know, I know). However, before returning from Devon on Sunday I decided to give the old girl a treat and filled up with Vpower. Not only does it seem to run more smoothly and quietly, it used less fuel on the return journey despite similar conditions and weight. The fuel usage is objective but am I imagining the better performance (in order to justify the exorbitant cost perhaps)?

Use both sides of the paper and show your workings. Go.

[capt jack]

Not sure about petrol, but when I had my LPG V70 it would definitely run better and give more mpg when I filled up with "branded" gas as opposed to supermarket gas.

The technician who serviced the gas system once told me that he could tell the difference between cars run on cheaper supermarket gas because their LPG filters were always more clogged up with sediment. (He used a more descriptive term rhyming with "hit"!).

His theory was that the big oil companies refined their own product and so had better quality control, whereas the supermarkets bought any old rubbish from anywhere, just as long it was cheap.

Not sure if the same applies to petrol, but it kind of makes sense.

The other thing is, BP, Shell and the like do all market their premium products as having performance and economy benefits. And it is illegal to make claims for a product unless they're demonstrably true.

Others may post answers that argue that petrol is all made to a standard, and others will argue the opposite and produce science to prove the point.

But I'd tend to agree with the notion that the premium fuels do indeed have benefits.

Jack

[AndyJudge]

Vpower is a better quality fuel than standard so not really comparing like with like.

When I used to have my Scooby I could tell & it was proven on a rolling road that running it on supermarket standard fuel gave less bang for my buck than running Shell Vpower, however Tesco Momentum 99 was very very close to Vpower.

Not sure on Diesel not tried it yet, maybe something to do during my 600mile round trip at the weekend.

I would add that I live nearby the Fuel depot at Jarrow & see tankers for numerous different branded & Supermarket retailers leaving & arriving. The fuel all arrives by train.

[dhr90]

I found the drive home from a camping holiday on several occasions I would use noticeably less fuel and the engine seemed to fun better even just on standard Shell petrol compared to the supermarket fuel I usually use.
Have yet to test whether the same occurs with diesel, but hope to find out soon.

[BigMonty]

For my little lorry, I fill her up at the local haulage yard at cost. ( good friend of mine) I pay £1,11.
Got caught out about a week ago and had to fill up with shell at a proper petrol station at £1.35. I wondered if it would run at all with all the tears that fell into the tank while I was filling her. But by jove it ran lovely. Noticeably more power. Was it better quality derv or the addition of salty tears?

[Marty Dolomite]

yes there will be a deference. cheaper fuel is just basic blended fuel where Vpower and other branded premium fuels are cleaner and have added chemicals and cleaning agents which raise the octane and help them burn cleaner.

[Harvey1512]

Originally Posted by AndyJudge

Vpower is a better quality fuel than standard so not really comparing like with like.

When I used to have my Scooby I could tell & it was proven on a rolling road that running it on supermarket standard fuel gave less bang for my buck than running Shell Vpower, however Tesco Momentum 99 was very very close to Vpower.

Not sure on Diesel not tried it yet, maybe something to do during my 600mile round trip at the weekend.

I would add that I live nearby the Fuel depot at Jarrow & see tankers for numerous different branded & Supermarket retailers leaving & arriving. The fuel all arrives by train.

I used to work at the oil depot in Sunderland. That has now closed I believe so Jarrow supplies the whole of the NE. Yup, everyone. Shell, Esso, BP, Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Murco etc. All out of the same tanks, same fuel. It used to come in by enormous barges, I suspect some still will do along with trains.

You are dead right, Vpower and equivalent is a different mix so it is not comparing like with like. There has been loads done on this. Vpower, usually takes 2-3 full fills according to Honest John to properly work, will give a better mpg but it is cancelled out by the extra cost. No negative, it cleans your engine, in using it other than to your wallet.

Loads of nonsense spouted about supermarket fuel. I mix it up between regular Shell and Morrisons as they are the two in my town. Have done for donkeys years. Predominantly Morrisons and that is giving me 52mpg in my 2.0d auto Superb. That will do for me.

I hadn't read Tony's post before posting this but I would echo his post. The idea of Morrisons or anyone, buying the dregs of fuel is pub talk.

[AndyJudge]

Totally Agree Harvey1512 there seems to be an almost constant movement of all types of tankers in & out of the depot.

The dregs must indeed be pub talk as the other day an Asda Tanker entered directly behind a Shell one & the place isn't big enough for all the vendors to have a specific tank.

Agree the additives may well be added at the manifold at the time of filling, I guess the delivery of the fuel is all computer controlled so tanker A gets additive A,B & C because it's Shell & Tanker B gets a different set because it's ASDA.

As far as I know the fuel pretty much all arrives by rail, I think there's 3 trains a week that Trundle along the freight only branch to Pelaw.

[AndyJudge]

OK I did the run at the weekend.

Saturday filled up with £60 of Derv at Morrisons & then drove 165.1 Miles to Grantham, according to On-Call App I used 4.3 Gallons & got 37.5mpg for the run at an average speed of 68mph (Cruise set to 75 on A1 & stuck to limits where required)

Sunday did another 64.8 Mile run from Stevenage to Southend & the App is showing as 46.1mpg (I didn't go above 70 the whole drive).

Sunday Evening Topped the tank back up with Shell Fuel Save at a Garage on the A1 (Just Near Wittering) did a Single run of 191.3 Miles home, On-Call reports using 4.9 Gallons at an mpg of 38.5 but I would add the average speed was a bit higher than the long trip down.

So the non-Scientific outcome was I was getting marginally better Mpg on the Shell Fuel Save stuff, I also got it at a fairly good price 131.x p/l.

Vpower diesel was 141.9 p/l & I don't think the cost would outweigh any benefit from it.

In conclusion the Shell Derv is worth putting in the car if the cost of it is reasonable.

[Tamworthbay]

I have used Morrison’s almost exclusively for twenty years, they are 800yds away. Never seen any difference on the occasions other stuff is used. Did a spell of recording on fuelly and no difference whatsoever with the odd tank of BP and Shell here and there.