I'll say it again, I've yet to see any hard evidence to suggest that there is a jot of difference between supermarket and branded fuel except the price.

My last car was a Mondeo Tdci 130, and I don't know why but whenever I put supermarket diesel in it it used to run a bit rough and misfire occasionally. If I filled it up with Shell or a similar "branded" fuel it ran fine. This led me to the conclusion that supermarket fuel is lacking in something so stopped using it. I ended up putting Shell in it and Millers Diesel Power Plus - it loved that combo! Since I've had the Octavia I never have and never will put supermarket diesel in it. No Millers additives either. Runs like a dream on straight Shell.

Bob.

My last car was a Mondeo Tdci 130, and I don't know why but whenever I put supermarket diesel in it it used to run a bit rough and misfire occasionally...

A misfire on a Tdci. So you're saying that fuel was injected into the cylinder and failed to ignite on the compression stroke - I don't believe it.

If diesel car fails to run correctly on any EN590:2009 brand, then it would be defective. There is no difference.

I live in Wirral Merseyside, we have a the Stanlow refinery very close. The fuel comes from the same place. There's a Shell garage across the road from the local super market. I bet you get the same fuel. Was thinking today about does the red x work?

There again i have a 1.9tdi(with only 900 miles on the clock) I don't have the same problems with the short journey's that the 2.0lt tdi guy's, or so I'm told.

A misfire on a Tdci. So you're saying that fuel was injected into the cylinder and failed to ignite on the compression stroke - I don't believe it.

If diesel car fails to run correctly on any EN590:2009 brand, then it would be defective. There is no difference.

When EN 590 was set up, it didn't address the level of detergency in diesel fuel. The additives are in the ppm range, but there is no doubt that detergents in the fuel can reduce the rate of fouling of injectors and combustion chambers. Here is a short summary: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/car_clinic/article2025403.ece

I know that Millers EcoMax for Petrol does in 1,8 TSi, & their Powersport 4 did too in my VW Golf.

Edited 3 October, 201015 yr by Evening Star

There is no such thing as 'synthetic diesel'. All Diesel sold in Europe must meet EN590:2009. This defines a minimum Cetane number and maximum levels of ash and sulphur (10mg/kg). Diesel can currently contain up to 7% biodiesel under EN590, usually its a lot less.

The idea that engines smoke and run rough on supermarket Diesel is laughable and shows the power of suggestion.

Shell Vpower Diesel contains a proportion of GTL synthetic diesel.

Shell Vpower Diesel contains a proportion of GTL synthetic diesel.

In other words Biofuel, all diesel sold in the EU has a proportion of it and has done for several years now since the EU dictated that it must contain it to reduce our use of the real McCoy.

Also from the wikipedia article.

In some engines however, particularly well-tuned common rail turbodiesels, very little effect can be seen or felt.

In other words, in most cases it makes no difference at all.

I live in Wirral Merseyside, we have a the Stanlow refinery very close. The fuel comes from the same place. There's a Shell garage across the road from the local super market. I bet you get the same fuel. Was thinking today about does the red x work?

There again i have a 1.9tdi(with only 900 miles on the clock) I don't have the same problems with the short journey's that the 2.0lt tdi guy's, or so I'm told.

I also live on the wirral ,and when using the " oil sites road" as a shortcut you go right past the road tanker filling facility at Shell Stanlow , and yes, you very often see Sainsbury, Tesco and Morrisons tankers filling up there.

Also, I have driven diesel cars with work for the last 20years or so . From the first rattly Mondeos through to my Octy VRS, covering about 35000/ year.

I have tried to convince myself that the branded "ultimate" type of fuel is better, but i`ve never noticed a jot of difference!!!

Bob.

Supermarket fuel at any time.....never ever would pay the additional money shell + co charge....my 1,9 TDI now hasin excess of 60000 kms on the clock and no issue with the DPF whatsoever...

In other words Biofuel, all diesel sold in the EU has a proportion of it and has done for several years now since the EU dictated that it must contain it to reduce our use of the real McCoy.

Also from the wikipedia article.

In other words, in most cases it makes no difference at all.

GTL has nothing to do with biodiesel. GTL: the clue is in the abbreviation, Gas To Liquid. Thus, methane converted into diesel. Never seen a rape seed on it's travels, nor palm or soya:)

Not sure about Diesel but with Petrol there are definate differences

My last car ran terribly when cold on Tescos 99, perfect on V power & better mpg as well

http://www.thorneymotorsport.co.uk/media/Auto_Express_Fuel_Test_-_January_2010.shtml

Personally I feel there is a difference between some supermarket and Oil company fuel brands. Where I used to live my closest petrol stations were Sainsburys, Esso, BP, Shell and Asda and I would use all but the BP regularly (due to cost). With my BMW 330d (E46) I would find that it would run very roughly especially when idling and would feel very lumpy when ever i used asda fuel. Admittedly I used to use ASDA or Esso in the early hours when on the way to work as they were the only ones open and would usually just put in £15 or so until I could get to Shell or Sainsburys but the Esso fuel never seemed to cause the same problems.

With my vRS I routinely fill up with shell diesel or sainsburys diesel and never have any problems. However I have once put in Tescos fuel. the car immeadiately became very lumpy, with a really rough idle and the power distribution was horrible. There is no way that this is coincidental.

I've also tried BP ultimate, all i an say is that it burns like petrol, gives very rapid power distribution an works very well with the dsg box giving enough power to reduce any lag on the gearbox when pulling away. The only problem is the extra 7p a litre cost and what seemed to be a vastly reduced mpg (dropped from 44 to 34)

Currently run a Seat leon 2.0 tdi dsg, until my Octavia VRS CR DSG finally arrives (31 weeks from order to delivery so far). I used the new shell diesel and my car started to smoke like a steam train, so bad it was embarrasing. Next fill up was with Waitrose fuel and problem went away. Tried shell again so far ok. Wonder if the first batches were suspect?

Perhaps I'll give Shell another try then...

Supermarket fuel at any time.....never ever would pay the additional money shell + co charge....my 1,9 TDI now hasin excess of 60000 kms on the clock and no issue with the DPF whatsoever...

I didn't think the 1.9 had a DPF....

I didn't think the 1.9 had a DPF....

Some do, the 105PS Greenline does.

Some do, the 105PS Greenline does.

Isn't that a 1.6 though?

Isn't that a 1.6 though?

http://www.whatgreencar.com/view-car/22778/skoda-superb-manual_6-speed

http://www.whatgreen...-manual_6-speed

OK, but as we were in the Octavia forum I wasn't thinking about the Superb...

I'm also new(ish) to Skoda and VAG in general so don't know if there was a 1.9 Greenline prior to the 1.6 model

Edited 4 October, 201015 yr by Raglits

Currently run a Seat leon 2.0 tdi dsg, until my Octavia VRS CR DSG finally arrives (31 weeks from order to delivery so far). I used the new shell diesel and my car started to smoke like a steam train, so bad it was embarrasing. Next fill up was with Waitrose fuel and problem went away. Tried shell again so far ok. Wonder if the first batches were suspect?

The newer diesel has more detergents, can it be that the car was regenerating and the newer diesel just got rid of all the soot it built up before?

My VRS was definately regenerating less often with V-Power diesel or Ultimate than on normal diesel (with my driving profile).

Update:

I have it on very good authority that:

1) yes, the stock component is basically the same what ever brand you buy - it is a set standard re engergy content and cetane

2) all diesel contains bio-diesel. This can be of varying quality and origin. It can cause engine components to gum up and leave deposits

3) the additive packs for different brands does vary significantly in the quality of the additives (basically detergents). So much so that an engine using a leading brand, when dismantled was almost spotless inside, whilst a similar engine using a budget brand was found to be very gummed up, sooty and contained a lot of deposits in the combustion chambers.

It seems that the better quality fuels help to burn of or offer cleaner combustion of the bio-diesel part of the fuel by using more advanced detergent packs in the mix.

My source does research into diesel engines at a University for major car manufacturers. I trust him and believe what he says. I'm converted! Long term it is better to use a better brand of fuel. The odd tankful of super market stuff wont do any harm if it is used infrequently.

There you go.

Who do you think makes supermarket fuel? . :wonder:

I dont see many Sainsburys/Asda refineries near the big ports. They get their fuel from the same refineries as Esso I believe, just with slightly different quantities of additives.

Edit: Tesco - Esso : Sainsburys - BP : Most filling stations, irrespective of brand, North of the border use BP as there is a massive refinery in Grangemouth

I agree i had a call at the Minworth tanker depot earler this year , Most brands were there , and it all comes out of the same tanks .

I personally always use Shell. I started this when using the fabia, I started by running it on what ever was cheapest which I did for some time, then after reading a few comments I started using BP which I found it was smoother but seemed to use more fuel, for example instead of 450 to a tank around town it dropped to 420. I then started to try shell. I found that on shell it run smoother and returned very slighty better mpg than the supermarket stuff. Add this to the fact that the Shell garage I use is 99% of the time cheaper or the same price as the local supermarket its a no brainer.

I now only use Shell unless there is not one to use, at which I will put in the bare minium to get me to the next nearest Shell garage. After the whole Tesco diesel issue and after my praises about shell fuel my dad switched to Shell in his Xainta diesel, he said that after a few tanks the car seem to start better and generally run better.

Of course this is not based on science or any techincal testing just purely on what I've experience.

My 2.0PD 140 DSG also has a dislike for the new shell diesel. I ran 2 tanks of it to be sure, and all the way through the car had really bad warm starting problems. Now back onto Sainsburys City Diesel and normal service has resumed.

I've always been a fan of supermarket fuel and a firm believer that there is no difference between it and the branded stuff.

Mileage on my Scout is set to decrease rapidly since the birth of our first child so I'm tempted to try a couple of tanks of BP Ultimate diesel.

Drove past a Shell station earlier today and couldn't see a premium diesel?