BP petrol

[Wiz201]

Put in some BP ordinary unleaded yesterday as I had overestimated and didn't top up before my trip to Lincoln. Is there any pros and cons between using them and ordinary supermarket petrol?

[TomdeGuerre]

Don't quite get the point of your question: "Put in some BP ordinary unleaded yesterday ............... Is there any pros and cons between using them and ordinary supermarket petrol?"

[Wiz201]

Sorry I'm asking if its better to use BP petrol rather than just topping up at the supermarket.

[marty_c83]

Won't make any difference, for most cars normal unleaded is fine supermarket or not. Performance and or imported cars sometimes require higher octane fuels such as my scooby must be run on super unleaded, but my Avensis has been run on supermarket petrol for the last 12+ years with no ill effects

Sent from the moon using telepathy

[FROSTYBALLS]

The difference between standard branded (BP, Shell, Esso, etc) fuels compared to supermarket fuels boils down to the additive package added to the road tanker when fuel is collected from the depot. Supermarket fuels tend to have a more basic package than the branded fuels and may not keep one's engine as clean internally.

[Plob]

Been a long time since I heard anyone saying they spent the weekend giving their engine a 15k decoking because of the low grade fuel they've been running on?!

There was some scandal a few years back about fuel below spec being pushed on supermarket forecourts, (tough some independents and big branded franchises were also affected), this did give a large part of the population the impression that you could avoid trouble by spending more! Not necessarily true as the fuel all comes through the same refineries...

If you have a high performance engine, Ron and additives may make a difference, but Fifth Gear did some testing a while back and determined that standard road cars were seeing minimal if any difference!

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

19 minutes ago, Plob said:

...... as the fuel all comes through the same refineries...

If you have a high performance engine, Ron and additives may make a difference, but Fifth Gear did some testing a while back and determined that standard road cars were seeing minimal if any difference!

The OP wasn't talking about the premium, high octane fuels such as BP Ultimate with Active Technology or Shell V-Power Nitro+, but BP unleaded, Shell FuelSave, etc.

Yes the basic product that comes from the refinery is the same product. However, the additive package that is added to the road tanker on collection of the basic product, and which varies from company to company, does make a difference.

Why else does Tesco advertise their premium Momentum petrol as having their best package of additives?

[Ethanedwards]

OK let's be case specific here.

I ran my Yaris HSD on 99% Supermarket meths. No problems for three years fifty thousand miles. I did run it occasionally on higher spec fuel and got up to 10pct better MPG but it cost more than 10pct more. So I stuck with El cheapo supermarket stuff.  

The Aygo well I refuse to believe it's a highly stressed racing engine that has very refined high spec requirements. 

So again I'm running it on Asda's and Tescos fuel with zero problems. ..so far!

[FROSTYBALLS]

For me, the difference in price between supermarket and branded is 2.2 pence per litre - Asda unleaded currently 114.7, Tesco unleaded 115.9, and Shell FuelSave 116.9

[eygo]

i have to say for the difference per litre between the major brands and supermarket fuels

i would rather go for the major brands as there are more cleaning aditives in the fuel so

overall a cleaner engine.
 

 

[rajivrattna]

 I once stopped at a petrol station here in Sweden to fill up my windscreen washer fluid and saw a big tanker filling petrol in the underground tanks at the station. I went to the driver of the tanker and asked him if his petrol was specific for this chain of petrol station and he laughed and said he was responsible for filling most of the stations on that route, so not specific at all. Perhaps they add the additives afterwards to make it special!

[FROSTYBALLS]

A colleague's husband is a tanker driver for Shell. In the UK, the specific oil companies tend to use their own drivers and tankers. Supermarkets often use contractors - most of Tesco's deliveries, whether fuel or food are now handled by Stobarts (often using Tesco liveried vehicles). Additives are added by the tanker driver.

As an aside, in the UK, Shell require their tanker drivers to use specific routes for fuel deliveries, the routes have pre-determined times, and the drivers are required to complete their deliveries within the specific times, otherwise they lose money.