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Supermarket or Shell Petrol


bradfordfabia

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Use Shell Nitro+ all the time. Doesn't make any difference but doesn't do any harm either. Main reason, hardly ever a queue at local station in the town but cars in there. Sainbsburys usually rammed so would need to wait a while. For a quid or so, not worth my time. I believe there are merits to using a fuel that supposedly helps keep the engine cleaner. Never had an issue so far on both cars.

With the 1.8TSi Oct'y, that definitely feels crisper on Nitro +.

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  • 2 years later...

If it's of any interest, I had to make a return trip to London (from Yorkshire) in our 2015 75PS Greentech.  I filled up with Tesco Momentum for the trip down - possibly some 8p more expensive then their "cheap & cheerful".  Apart from the initial 20 miles on country roads (uncluttered but not fast) the bulk of the remainder of the 240 mile trip was on Motorways.   On most of the motorways ,excepting the arbitrary lower speed limits (of which the A1M & the M11 have in Spades) was between 70-75, & consumption showed at around 65 mpg.   This dropped radically when slogging through the remaining gridlocked (even though it was a Saturday lunchtime) 15 miles from the end of the M11 to journeys end.  The tank showed between 3/4 - 1/2 when I'd arrived, but on the return journey, I slapped in bog-standard Shell (or it could have been Esso) & returned with 63 mpg showing.   The return journey was (with the usual exceptions) mostly between 65-70 mph, as being a Monday, the roads were heavily congested with HGV's.  End result was the trip computer showing 63+ mpg over the whole journey, & the guage again showed between 3/4 - 1/2 full.

The car felt totally no different with either loads of fuel - it purred along at around 75, & only needed a slight flex of the toes to be eagerly hitting 85.

SO, on balance, with a Citigo, there seems to be NO difference whatsoever between using Tesco's so-called 99 RON & bog-standard run-of-the-mill 95 RON from one of the "biggies".   Having said that, there may (just "may") be a noticeable difference between the 95 RON from one of the Biggies & the Supermarket variety.      And both VRS Mike & MikeA are probably spot on by saying use the

cheapest available - motorists driving these cars in the Eastern Bloc countries probably don't have much in the way of options, & they seem to survive.

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Tesco Momentum 99 costs 5 pence a litre more than Tesco 95 octane unleaded at Tesco Filling station.  So not 8 pence more.

 

How much more did the Shell or Esso Unleaded 95 ron you bought cost than the Tesco Momentum or was it the same.

The ESSO will likely have come from a Greenergy Depot where the Tesco Unleaded & Super Unleaded came from.

http://greenergy.com/uk/independent 

 

You get some lovely fuels winter and summer on Continental Europe, Central or Eastern, and nice higher octane, 

super unleaded at more than the UK's 97 or 99, 100 plus octane but then no point in it if your vehicle can not benefit from it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating 

 

Vehicles in countries where there are lower octane fuels are usually mapped or have engine management set to suit.

(I used to have a Ural and Jawa (Jupiter 5) Motorcycle that could run on Aero Fuel & Transformer oil, it was wonderful in winter, and crap in a UK summer.)

 

The test results linked below might well show that the type of engine you have has no emissions reduction using super unleaded from any supplier, 

or from Greenergy, co-owners of importation and storage facilities with Royal Dutch Shell.

6ca06d648b9541e78fa838fece4a1a23.pdf

388380a097b04fe693a8c27db8bb4974.pdf

Edited by AwaoffSki
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 Oh dear (sigh) there's ALWAYS someone who can't refrain from arguing the toss  - aka as airing their knowledge & indulging in pure semantics!!!!  I merely passed my thoughts for anyone who may be interested - they're not written in Stone.

And if one reads my Post again, I said that the Momentum was "possibly" (I say again POSSIBLY) 8p more - I didn't make a lap of honour studying all the different prices before I filled up, I merely bunged the fuel in & shelled out.  Just as I didn't make a note (mental or written) of what I paid for Shell/Esso (whatever) in London - again, I simply bunged in what I'd opted for, in.  In the interests of sheer economy, I could have possibly returned to Yorkshire on what was left in the tank & not paid London prices, but I opted  not to, and emphasised that decision with my wallet. However reverting back to the Momentum point, it is just "possible" that Mr Tesco DOES NOT  offer the same price range across the whole of the UK?

And again, I speak simply as I have found - I lived abroad for some 8 years, & I also spent mega time in Germany with BAOR.   I travelled extensively through some of the areas of Eastern Europe, & in some of the more remote areas (in downtown Yugoslavia for example) even my Zippo lighter was reluctant to maintain a flame on their version of petrol.   Times doubtless have changed though.

 

I didn't (repeat DID NOT) fill up with Tesco Momentum in the hope that I may reduce emissions (in all honesty, I don't give a stuff what people inhale), I simply decided to give the car a slight treat on a longish run, by shoving in a 99+ RON. QED.

 

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Fully understood, it is just normal if comparing MPG or price per mile etc to look at the Price paid and look at the brand bought or the filling station you are in.

Maybe look at the Min Octane of the fuel being put in the car on the pump you are using, because it will not be 'so called 99',  it will be by law that as a minimum.

But if you are happy doing as you are doing then that is fine i would think.

 

Tesco does offer 95 ron at a difference of 5 pence less than Tesco Momentum across the UK,

or as they say, Momentum 99 5 pence more than Tesco Unleaded 95.

(I buy it all around the country, look at the pumps and if there was not only 5 pence difference i would be the fisrt to complain, and post online.)

http://www.tescopfs.com/our-stations/faqs 

 

Tesco Express Filling Stations that might have Super Unleaded 97 Ron from ESSO might well be more expensive than the 95 ron they sell.

Not all Tesco Express have Tesco Momentum 99 as the Super Unleaded they stock.

 

PS 

Producing less emissions usually means a vehicles engine running efficiently, which means less fuel consumption and longer lasting consumables can come from that. ie Spark Plugs last Longer, that can mean ignition coils last longer.

But maybe not, drivers find out over time.

 

It shows on the Pump if it is Tesco branded Fuel, 95, 99 & Diesel,

or Esso fuels, 95,97 Diesel & Maybe Premium Diesel. Or Texaco or other fuels.

 

DSCN3268.JPG.f7da764379e03812e8b2744bd091a8cb (1).JPG

image.jpg

Edited by AwaoffSki
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There was a sensible answer to a similar question on Honest John website, which stated that the benefits of using 'so called ' 99 RON ( probably is 99 RON...or it wouldn't be marketed as such) are that the mpg may improve by using the torque /performance derived at lower revs from the better fuel. Secondly the additives and cleansing agents may protect the internals to better effect. Strange that whilst people will pay a fortune for a decent car, they will scrimp on a few pence to protect the most expensive component of the vehicle. The price difference between 95 and 97-99 RON probably pays for itself in the long term. 

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Never used 99 Ron in either of my Citigo’s, always use Tesco or Morrison’s 95 but always got minimum high 50’s , low 60’s on a tankful. Best recently was 72 on a tankful on a long motorway journey, satnav gave average of 49 mph on a journey that took in minor roads, M25, M3, A303 in both directions.  Can’t see the reason for spending on 99RON when handbook and fuel filler says 95 is recommended.

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I'm in Australia so different types of fuel and I run a mk3 Octavia 1.4tsi, but at one time I ran several consecutive tanks of 98 Octane fuel (Our highest generally available) at the recommendation of the local dealer's head mechanic to fix an intermittent cold start jerkiness.

I did not record any perceptible improvement to consumption, or detect any improvement to engine smoothness or power delivery... and my intermittent cold start jerkiness was not improved either. So I have happily run on 95 Octane ever since.

Our local fuel prices go through a 2 to 4 week cycle where the price can vary by 30%, so I always fill when at or near the low point and from the cheapest, tidy garage.

Not just from ordinary meanness, but from the logic that cheaper stations also have higher fuel turnover.

 

Others will swear that their vehicle runs better on premium brand X or whatever, or that a certain brand of additive adds x% to  their consumption and if they are convinced and happy with that then fine. 

Personally I'm a sceptic, I don't accept advertised claims at face value especially when they are qualified with the words 'may', 'might' or 'could', however it is worthwhile trying out a few tanks of higher octane fuel, or a different brand to see whether it works for you or your car.

I'll just add that in the pharmaceutical and medical world it is mandatory to conduct double-blind tests on a significant horde to gain any credibility for a drug to eradicate the placebo effect.  Just don't try filling up with a blind fold on, it is not the same thing :)

 

 

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The nice thing in the UK is that if you pull into the likes of Sainsbury , Sostco or Tesco there is the same 95 ron as in the well know 'Majors' filling stations for less cash money,

& the Super Unleaded in 97 or 99 Octane will possibly cost the same or less than the 95 ron in the Shell, Esso, BP, Gulf, Texaco, Gleaner and other stations.

For a 32 / 35 litre tank if you were paying 5 pence a litre extra it is all of a £1.75 extra, so the experiment is not an expensive one.

 

Also nice is if you just buy the cheapest 95 ron you could be saving £1.75 or even more over the tank fill up at the Majors and you are not 

getting substandard fuel.

Edited by AwaoffSki
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On 25 November 2017 at 18:36, SteveJP said:

Never used 99 Ron in either of my Citigo’s, always use Tesco or Morrison’s 95 but always got minimum high 50’s , low 60’s on a tankful. .......  Can’t see the reason for spending on 99RON when handbook and fuel filler says 95 is recommended.

 

Perhaps a 75 Bhp Citigo won't benefit, whilst more powerful engines could. If a car will run on 95 that's fine. If it will run on 95-99 RON and obtain slightly better mpg and internal component protection, as claimed, then the additional cost to benefit ratio is probably justified. If you lease a car and rack up high mileage, you probably won't care. If you are buying it for long-term ownership and don't do high mileage , you may want to pay a little extra. I would have thought that most engines but particularly smaller capacity engines producing >130+ Bhp would benefit from better fuel.

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3 hours ago, Redboy said:

 I would have thought that most engines but particularly smaller capacity engines producing >130+ Bhp would benefit from better fuel.

You would think so wouldn't you but I usually reckon that the manufacturers have invested a lot of research into this sort of thing so I tend to follow their recommendations. 

Ignoring those fuel options with ethanol added, Australian fuels from South East Asia are basically 91Octane (with very high sulphur content) and the 95 and 98 Octane (with substantially less sulphur but still well above the Euro 5% max levels).

Rule of thumb is that most Japanese and Korean petrol engines are designed to run on our basic 91 Octane, even if turbo charged. The same applied to those vehicles that until recently were manufactured in Australia.

I'm not sure that European manufacturers do not even recognise 91 Octane as fuel, but they usually recommend the 95 unless the engine is more 'exotic' when 98 will be specified.

 

Two interesting cases are:

The new Mazda CX9's 'SkyActive' 2.5L turbo will run on our 91Octane and is the only recent case I can think of where they also quote a power output 12kw higher if 98 Octane is used.

The other case concerns Toyota who recently withdrew from manufacturing in this country. The new, now Japanese made Camry has just been released here with the same 2.5 Litre non-turbo engine as previously used but specifying 95 Octane instead of 91 Octane and with no increase in power or torque. I found that surprising.

 

It is heavily rumoured that our 91Octane will soon be dropped and 95 and 98 fuels brewed to Euro and US standards to reduce emissions. Prices will of course increase.

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Owners manuals have the story on the Octane in the World Region with different engines.

 

The EU tested engines are for running on 95 ron, up to anyone if they use higher, and same if they needed to use lower if there was lower where they are, 

VW Group have owners manuals for Europe & neighbouring countries.

The Filler Flapo sticker shows the Minimum fuel you can use and the recommended higher or higher if that is prescribed.

1390 cc 132-136kW Twinchargers are recommended to be run on 98 Super Unleaded, but obviously run on 95 and meet the 132-136 kW on 95 ron.

http://volkswagen.co.uk/need-help/owners/Fuel 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating 

Edited by AwaoffSki
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  • 4 weeks later...

Just browsing and came across this thread so here's my two penn'eth. 

I find my 74 ps so economical I never look at the price of fuel but just fill up.

 

My local is BP and I use Premium if I can get to the pump that has it, otherwise 95 RON. Why do I use Premium? well I just feel it keeps the engine cleaner and I also feel the car runs longer and better, but I never check the mpg so it could all be psychological ;)

 

I never have used Supermarket fuel ever since they had the major cockup  with their Diesel fuel years ago leaving some engines ruined. I suppose that was a one off error but I've fought shy of them ever since.

 

Harry

 

 

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Here in Greece fuel quality can vary from station to station, even though they are part of larger chains. About a month ago I filled up at the station close to my girlfriend's place and the car immediately lost all spark and became sluggish. As soon as I put some good petrol in, it started behaving like its old self again.

 

Like others, I also like poring in Shell V-power every once in a while to keep the new engine clean, but last time I pored it in a gas station that I don't frequent and had reasonable prices, I noticed that the engine has become quite louder.

 

Eventually, I plan to gift the car to my father in Serbia and the situation there is horrible. Every petrol you buy there will have more or less water added to it.

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