Premium Fuel v Supermarket

[NigelG]

What the' general feeling amongst you all, around premium fuel (such as Shell V Power), compared to standard fuel (normally get mine from ASDA or Morrisons).

Specifically looking in relation to your A3's (8Y). Is the price premium for Shell V Power for instance worth it over supermarket pumps. Does the car run smoother, quieter, better MPG? (I know what they all claim to do, but do they) .. SO thought I'd ask the experts! Is it worth giving the car a few tanks of premium from the get go (I have mine delivered next week), before switching to supermarket, or stick with supermarket and give a premium a blast every now and again to clean the pipes?!

Thanks all !!

 

[AdamInKent]

What the' general feeling amongst you all, around premium fuel (such as Shell V Power), compared to standard fuel (normally get mine from ASDA or Morrisons).

Specifically looking in relation to your A3's (8Y). Is the price premium for Shell V Power for instance worth it over supermarket pumps. Does the car run smoother, quieter, better MPG? (I know what they all claim to do, but do they) .. SO thought I'd ask the experts! Is it worth giving the car a few tanks of premium from the get go (I have mine delivered next week), before switching to supermarket, or stick with supermarket and give a premium a blast every now and again to clean the pipes?!

Thanks all !!

There is a middle ground, which is the standard E10 fuel from a premium (non supermarket brand).

 

[Terminator x]

I have used T99 in all my nice^ cars, can't fault it.

TX.

^RS3, RS4, M5C, M2C.

Sent from my BBB100-2 using Tapatalk

 

[NigelG]

There is a middle ground, which is the standard E10 fuel from a premium (non supermarket brand).

I always thought E10 was E10 and whether it's from a Shell garage or a Tesco forecourt, it's the same thing from the same tankers?! (I am sure that since the switch to E10, i dont get the same performance in MPG)

 

[abmat]

From my experience, I get worse economy on supermarket fuel.

There were cases a few years ago where it was destroying land rover engines. AFAIK supermarket fuel is fuel that is coming to the end of its life, so has more additives in it to make it saleable, hence poorer quality. There are exceptions though. Tesco momentum is pretty good when compared against V-power.

E10 gives worse economy, so you have to fill up more so quite how this is supposed to help the environment is beyond me.

 

[Mastachaz]

From my experience, I get worse economy on supermarket fuel.

There were cases a few years ago where it was destroying land rover engines. AFAIK supermarket fuel is fuel that is coming to the end of its life, so has more additives in it to make it saleable, hence poorer quality. There are exceptions though. Tesco momentum is pretty good when compared against V-power.

E10 gives worse economy, so you have to fill up more so quite how this is supposed to help the environment is beyond me.

All is that eco bul… nothing elese

 

[KXL]

My experience only from 2 different VAG 1.0TSI (higher tuned one, 110-115bhp), Seat Ibiza and (current) Audi A3 30TFSI MHEV.
Using Jet, Shell, Esso, BP, Texaco, 95RON, no distinction at all, 'same' mpg, same driving feel, same 'power' feel.
When it comes down between Esso 97 (back in the day), Shell Vpower 99, and Tesco Momentum 99. Esso gave the smoothest engine, Shell Vpower gave more mpg (enough to break even with the cheaper 95RON), and Momentum 99 'felt' like it gave me more top end (rev range) oomph. So I only pump those when I have some Clubcard points, or Shell App rewards (£ off V Power).
My limited experience on filling up with Supermarket fuel, engine a bit grumblier (like it's still feeling cold). MPG didn't notice much difference.
Onto E10 Ron 95, gave me maybe 1-2% poorer MPG. Not sure if it's a quirk of E10 (since I got my car around the time it swapped to E10, so not sure if E10 quirk over E5, and as it was my first 1k miles, I didn't redline engine), but when doing a traffic light GP, when it downshifts from 1st (near the redline) to 2nd, there's a momentarily gap that felt like there isn't any power and it's not in 2nd gear yet.

Then again I guess if you have the 2.0TFSI (either in 40/45 guise) or the S3, then you would need to put in 97-99 RON fuel, and any 95RON would make it 'worse.'

 

[AdamInKent]

I always thought E10 was E10 and whether it's from a Shell garage or a Tesco forecourt, it's the same thing from the same tankers?! (I am sure that since the switch to E10, i dont get the same performance in MPG)

According to Which? each of the brands uses a unique blend of additives. Whilst all brands must conform to UK standards, my assumption has always been that you get what you pay for and that cheaper brands will be meeting the minimum standards for detergents and lubricants whilst the more expensive 95 RON fuels will contain better performing additives. As a result, I personally tend to avoid using supermarket brands.

I agree that E10 fuel reduces range. My car's mpg has dropped by 8% (from an average of 43 mpg to 40 mpg) in the switch from E5 to E10. (Tracked using the Road Trip iPhone app, though the difference could be exaggerated as, like KXL, the fuel mix was changed soon after I bought my car so I mainly used E5 for a few spring and summer months whilst running in the car before E10 was introduced, and I've been using E10 ever since (including through the winter, when fuel economy is worse). I'm running a 1.5l MHEV with lots of short commutes.)

 

[KXL]

@NigelG sorry, completely forgot to answer your Q, I would stick to the actual petrol companies fuel, Shell/Esso/BP/Texaco/Jet E10 petrol (one day I might try Gulf, or Applebees (doesn't instill much confidence the name), and perhaps once every 2k miles or so give it a tank of Esso Supreme / Shell VPower. Supermarket fuel for emergencies only. Also I meant to say in my post (now I can't edit) it was 1-2 mpg poorer, not 1-2% poorer. My current long term average over 2k miles is 47mpg, and on E5 would have been approx 49mpg, thus 5% poorer mpg for 30 TFSI MHEV (light foot usually).

 

[tonyp03]

I don’t think there’s any scientific tests to prove that supermarket fuel is inferior - if there is please share. Whilst there’s likely subtle differences in the fuel, we’re largely influenced by marketing. Unless you are running a high performance car I don’t believe it matters too much.

 

[KXL]

I don’t think there’s any scientific tests to prove that supermarket fuel is inferior - if there is please share. Whilst there’s likely subtle differences in the fuel, we’re largely influenced by marketing. Unless you are running a high performance car I don’t believe it matters too much.

I guess we can use the beer (or jaffa cakes) analogy. Why do people buy branded beer and usually stay away from supermarket branded beer (or jaffa cakes). Are the supermarket branded beer worse? Beer is beer after all. Then again, why would companies like Shell & Petronas (only these two come to mind for now) invest millions in motorsport and R&D, if their fuels they supplied were no better than standard supermarket fuel? I read awhile back (not sure if still the case) that actually Tesco's Momentum 99 is supplied by Greenergy. Then again factual data is difficult to come by (maybe industry secrets) between fuels. Maybe only the Fifth Gear petrol comparison videos show that branded fuel (95Ron) gave more power vs supermarket fuel (but gains were very small on normal cars).

Saying that however the other day when I walked to my local tesco, saw a Lambo Aventador, Nissan GTR and BMW M2 at the petrol stn. They must be from the same group, I wonder if they did fill up with standard 95 or not, as I think they might have been looking for Momentum 99, which my local tesco has stopped.

 

[NigelG]

Thanks all for the replies. I did succumb and having taken delivery of the car yesterday, I've filled her up with a tankful of Shell V Power E5 as a treat (at 202p p/l I won' t be doing that very often!) .. I'll then stick to Shell/BP E10 as they're the nearest stations past Morrisons.
Appreciate all the pointers!