Super Supermarket Fuel And Why Not To Be A Skinflint
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:01 pm
I've banged on about petrol for years, and how the stuff supermarkets get is inferior, dirty crap that isn't worth the so-called 'saving' you make in the price over the big name brands.
There has always been strong opposition from people who say it's exactly the same petrol that they sell, I'm being a picky snobbish twat, and even if it did make a difference I wouldn't be able to tell.
Now I defend this by tests I've done using different types of fuel over the years which have shown that I get better mileage, and that far outweighs the price saving of the cheaper stuff. I've found there is a hierarchy with Shell at number 1 which I think makes an audible difference (and please note here that I'm talking about high octane 'Super Unleaded' fuels for all of this blog - I'd rather piss in my tank than put 95 RON crap in my bikes), with BP a clear second, and Texaco and Esso following up with not so big a gain to be had.
Things could have changed - so a few weeks ago I decided to put it to the test again. OK, so I got some fuel vouchers for Tesco and decided to use them. Whatever.
I put 3 tanks of their finest Super Unleaded in the bike for their bargain prices.
After a few days the bike started to run like toad. A flat spot developed low down in the rev range, which meant pulling away suffered big-time. Then shortly afterwards several more of these flatspots started to appear higher up the rev range, showing up when I was overtaking.
The bike started to feel down on power overall.
I figured it could be a bad batch of fuel, and so put some more in.
Here I should also say that normally I'll get 120 to 125 miles from a tank until I have to switch to reserve. With Tesco Super Unleaded? 110 miles.
So with the second tankful in all the problems remained. I started getting paranoid about the bike. I know some things ARE due to be serviced, and it all continued to run like crap. I started planning stripping the bike or paying huge bills out to let a garage do the work on the valves and carbs as I put in the third tank of Tesco's fuel...
Results were the same, so I was feeling a bit meh even as I finally switched back to Shell V-Power fuel last night...
Well bugger me if all the flat-spots haven't disappeared!
The bike is back to running smoothly and perfectly, starting much easier, and just generally being better!
The price difference is around 10p per litre extra, but with a 17 litre tank it's hardly worth crying over, is it?
I haven't tested the mileage I'll get yet, as I only filled up last night, but I'm 100% sure already that it will be much better once again.
In conclusion - suck my bawbag if you think supermarket fuels are the same! They're inferior cheap toad and will end up costing you more than the so-called 'expensive' fuels, if not in mileage then in servicing!
Don't bloody use them!
There has always been strong opposition from people who say it's exactly the same petrol that they sell, I'm being a picky snobbish twat, and even if it did make a difference I wouldn't be able to tell.
Now I defend this by tests I've done using different types of fuel over the years which have shown that I get better mileage, and that far outweighs the price saving of the cheaper stuff. I've found there is a hierarchy with Shell at number 1 which I think makes an audible difference (and please note here that I'm talking about high octane 'Super Unleaded' fuels for all of this blog - I'd rather piss in my tank than put 95 RON crap in my bikes), with BP a clear second, and Texaco and Esso following up with not so big a gain to be had.
Things could have changed - so a few weeks ago I decided to put it to the test again. OK, so I got some fuel vouchers for Tesco and decided to use them. Whatever.
I put 3 tanks of their finest Super Unleaded in the bike for their bargain prices.
After a few days the bike started to run like toad. A flat spot developed low down in the rev range, which meant pulling away suffered big-time. Then shortly afterwards several more of these flatspots started to appear higher up the rev range, showing up when I was overtaking.
The bike started to feel down on power overall.
I figured it could be a bad batch of fuel, and so put some more in.
Here I should also say that normally I'll get 120 to 125 miles from a tank until I have to switch to reserve. With Tesco Super Unleaded? 110 miles.
So with the second tankful in all the problems remained. I started getting paranoid about the bike. I know some things ARE due to be serviced, and it all continued to run like crap. I started planning stripping the bike or paying huge bills out to let a garage do the work on the valves and carbs as I put in the third tank of Tesco's fuel...
Results were the same, so I was feeling a bit meh even as I finally switched back to Shell V-Power fuel last night...
Well bugger me if all the flat-spots haven't disappeared!
The bike is back to running smoothly and perfectly, starting much easier, and just generally being better!
The price difference is around 10p per litre extra, but with a 17 litre tank it's hardly worth crying over, is it?
I haven't tested the mileage I'll get yet, as I only filled up last night, but I'm 100% sure already that it will be much better once again.
In conclusion - suck my bawbag if you think supermarket fuels are the same! They're inferior cheap toad and will end up costing you more than the so-called 'expensive' fuels, if not in mileage then in servicing!
Don't bloody use them!