Has supermaket fuel the same quality as others?

[Thrustyjust]

After a hugely expensive repair bill on our Audi,with new injector pump and tank pump,both said by my mate to be totally destroyed,he questioned supermarket fuel as to the probable cause.Can anyone help by saying if it is a reputable quality or should I go an get BP or Shell etc.

P.S the westies fine,it runs on Optimax

[cng1]

All fuels are sold to the same BS standards.  Your mate is talking out of his posterior.

[pistonbroke]

I seem to remember reading somewhere about supermarket fuel being old stock, past its sell by date sort of thing

afair something to do with the octane rating degrading with age

dont recall what the consensus of opinion was though  

[Bob Green]

All fuels are sold to the same BS standards.

I agree with cng1 here.  If Tesco is selling fuel with a BS and RON number, it has to be exactly that.

[Lurksalot]

It gets a bit complicated but as I undersatnd it your standard fuel is blended in batches and the difference at the pumps are the additive packages that are introduced when the fuel is collected from the refinery. eache company has a different blend and the named fuels shell, bp etc use their latest spec addittives and let the supermarkets have previous specs.

fuels like optimax are specially blended to the required characteristics and rely less on additives but have various levels of cracked base fuels to give it its ratings hence the price

All the fuel at the pump should be suitable with the corect BS and ron numbers

Ive heard similar claims of supermarket fuel by our vauxhall van service dept after they had to change fuel pumps on 2 of my vans

However it seems they were fiting dodgy pumps but didn't recall

I'm sure the fuel is fine.

similarly with the newer movano clutch master cylinders .they fail regularly but will change under warranty  ,but wait for it to fail on you

[Barry Ashcroft]

I do quite a bit of work on Fuel Tankers mostly at there depots and can tell you there are all makes on the side of the tanks Major ressellers and supermarkets and they all draw from the same nozzel linked to the same tanks.

[dern]

Even if there were differences between the fuels in terms of how they work in the engine I can't believe there's any difference between them from the perspective of a fuel pump.

Mark

[Thrustyjust]

Even if there were differences between the fuels in terms of how they work in the engine I can't believe there's any difference between them from the perspective of a fuel pump.

Mark

I think my mate was talking more about the loss on internal lubrication,causing a shortage in lifespan for parts.Seems strange that a part that should almost last the life of the car has failed far earlier than we ever hoped and just wondered about what aditives are put in to 'allow' lubrication.There has been talk of differing quality on Honest Johns website.Just want to know if with the new car we carry on using Tescos and not the BP or Shells of the world.Can't afford 2k for a car fix very often!!!

[dern]

I think my mate was talking more about the loss on internal lubrication,causing a shortage in lifespan for parts.Seems strange that a part that should almost last the life of the car has failed far earlier than we ever hoped and just wondered about what aditives are put in to 'allow' lubrication.

The petrol isn't going to go anywhere near the area of the pump that required lubrication though. Surely the bearing parts which are lubricated are kept seperate from the petrol aren't they?

[Bryan C]

One thing to watch when buying fuel is to avoid purchase if the delivery lorry is near-by.

The filling of the underground tanks causes all of the sediment that has previously settled to the bottom to be churned  up and comes through when you next fill up.

I only believe what I have read but it makes sense to me.

Obviously, supermarket fuels have a high turnover so it is possible that the fuel might be a bit more 'gritty' buy it's never been a problem to me.

Regards

Bryan C

[Bob Green]

Obviously, supermarket fuels have a high turnover so it is possible that the fuel might be a bit more 'gritty' buy it's never been a problem to me.

I don't think the supermarkets will run such a risk.  Think about the potential litigation claims.

[pistonbroke]

I think the fuel is filtered before /when  it leaves the pump so the fuel tanker thing is a bit of a misnomer .

personally I cant do with driving round in circles to "save"  

1- 2p on a litre of fuel  . I go where its most convenient

Asda and 3 other suppliers nearby , but the one that wins is the shell place cause the pumps are always clean and well stocked with disposable gloves etc .

Another Major factor the air and water always available "free" with a digital readout on the airline

[Ted]

FWIW I have found that I tend to get more mpg from the tintop when I fill up with diesel at the local shell garage than when I use the local supermarket diesel. No idea why but this has been the case with 2 separate cars now.

 

Ted

[pistonbroke]

perhaps because you drive 20 miles to the nearest supermarket  

[PhilH]

There was a guy on here about 12 months ago who worked in the industry and it made a very interesting read on this subject. Maybe a seach will find it.?