supermarkt vs branded diesel

I normally fill up my car at either Asda or Morrisons filling stations, based on slightly lower price and local convenience. (I do have a shell garage down the road but I really don't trust the people behind the counter with my card details! )

Last Friday, due to me being an air head and bypassing my usual fill up, I had to stop at a Shell garage on the way home from work to refuel.

It cost me about £5 extra to fill up from empty to brim than going to the supermarket station.

Things ive noticed are:
1. Average economy is down about 4-5mpg
2. Car seems more responsive, smoother and quieter


Has anyone else seen these characteristics ? I know supermarket fuel is supposed to be lower quality than a 'proper' filling station but I would have expected economy to be the same or better using a premium brand.

(07-02-2017 12:24pm)RogB Wrote:  .......I do have a shell garage down the road but I really don't trust the people behind the counter with my card details!.....

Rog
I use Shell fuel quite frequently and I treat the car to the V-Power fuel every now and then. I find I get better MPG with that but it is a little more expensive. I prefer to user premium branded fuel in my premium branded car!

If you don't trust the staff in your local Shell with your card details and you have a smart phone, why not sign up to the Shell 'Fill up & Go' service? I use it every time in Shell stations and it's great - no card needed. Just pull up to the pump, sign in via the app on your phone from inside the car, enter the pump number, get out, fill up and just drive off. No more queuing up to pay for fuel behind those paying for a weekly grocery shop. Receipt is usually with you minutes after leaving the station and you pay by linking your phone app to either your Apple Pay or PayPal account.

Download the app onto your phone or just look here for more details.

http://www.shell.co.uk/motorist/shell-fu...nd-go.html

cheers Steve Ive installed and registered that so I may give it a go.
£5 extra a tank for me will equate to about £20 extra per month but if im losing 4-5mpg in the future it wont be worth it.

The only difference between supermarket and branded fuels is the additives the brands add but generally the fuel from a supermarket forecourt comes from the same refinery/ storage as the branded forecourt's. I have only owned two Land Rover's that have definitely run better on branded fuel than on supermarket and they both had the 3.6ltr V8 Diesel engine, they both ran rougher on supermarket fuel so I used branded, usually Shell as that is the nearest branded forecourt to home. All fuels have to comply with BSI and International quality standards however the local Morrisons to me had to pay out lots of compensation for damaged Diesel engines when it was found their tanks were storing diesel with a significant quantity of water in it................ and it was proved that the water was not getting in from drains leaking into the tanks or condensation in the storage tanks..........

I can only speak from my experience, but in the small town where I live, there are four petrol stations, one being a supermarket court. I've watched the fuel tanker truck pull from one, to the next, and so on until all the stations have been serviced. Same fuel, different prices. They all have their own additives, but I believe they are all the same additives; just have different nomenclature by the different brands. Incidentally, we have two refineries just out of town, (Tesoro and Shell), and they combine their petrol and sell it from one facility. The Shell and Tesoro stations seem to charge a dollar more a gallon than the supermarket; but that is probably because the Shell employees only patronize the Shell station, and the Tesoro employees only patronize the Tesoro station. They can charge whatever they want for their product.

I worked for a company that produces oil - both for its own brand and for supermarkets.
The base oil was the same, but the additives formulation was unique to each customer.
Best bit is if you make a c*ck up then the disposal costs can be prohibitive - so what do you do?
You blend it to make a 20/50 or 5/30 and sell it as cheap own brand oil - regularly it was fully synthetic with too much of an expensive additive.

Tankers have several compartments, so they can hold different blends for different customers, so it is possible for a "Shell" tanker to drop off at a supermarket with fuel that is not up to shell's normal standard.