I have noticed in other posts on this site that people seem to believe that the quality of fuel from supermarket service stations like Sainsburys seems to be inferior to the fuel from retailers such as BP. My local station is a Sainsburys and I don't seem to get more that 24mpg (Diesel) Should I be filling up at a BP/Shell or Esso to get more MPG or are the fuels all basically the same? 2005 Zambezi TDV6 - Gone but not forgotten
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I use Sainsbury's fuel all the time VA, am getting 26-28mpg and haven't experienced any problems. I have been advised by the local dealer to try filling up at other sources (even other Sainsbury branches) now and again, but they wouldn't tell me why! 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Supermarket fuel is renowned for being "not up to scrath" & I have witnessed this 1st hand. My wife had filled her TT up with such fuel & within the day her car had started to "Pink" we could'nt wait to use the fuel inorder to refill with some quality fuel. But this may of course change from one supermarket to another. 
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Hmm, I never really got why supermarket fuel seems to perform worse than that from BP/Shell etc... it's not like the supermarkets have their own supply chain surely? I'm assuming their fuel comes "rebadged" from other fuel companies? But I agree it does seem to behave badly...

I wonder if Sains fuel is worse than say Tesco fuel, or Asda? 

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VA, supermarket fuel is cheap for a reason. Although it comes from the same refineries as BP/Shell petrol, it doesn't have the additives that these 'better' fuels have in them. A large engined car like the RRS I would only use the branded fuel. Your engine will be better for it in the longer term.


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but is it worth the additional price?

Sainsburys and Tesco seem to be the same price near where I live, Asda is cheapest at 89.9p/ litre and then if you want BP you pay at least 3 or 4 pence per litre more!

I've used supermarket fuel a lot in the past and still do and have to say I have not noticed any real difference.

It's also hard NOT to fill up at Tesco when you have a 5pence off per litre voucher, and when you're pumping 80 litres in, it all adds up! L319 D4 HSE

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I suppose it's worth it if it makes a difference to your car's performance.

Over stretches of time I've used both supermarket and branded fuels in various cars. Dependent on the car, I'd see a difference or not. On cars that have been more "sporty" in nature I'd notice a difference when driving hard through the gears with much less eagerness from the engine higher up the power band. I'm assuming that would be down to the lack of these additives that Gazzer refers to. I had a vague recollection those additives were more about keeping the engine clean as opposed to increasing the stored energy in the fuel - but I'm no chemical engineer. On other more sedate cars that I've had it hasn't seemed to have made a difference however the car was driven.

That 5p voucher is also mighty tempting....  

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Shmoogle - Sainsbury's are doing 5p off a litre too at the moment...... for shopping over £40. I put 85litres in the other day BEFORE shopping so that I could cash in the Nectar points instore. Then I found the 5ppl offer instore and wish I had waited! Win some loose some, but 5ppl off is more use than getting about £1.50 off my week's shopping, and worth more too! 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

To get that we'd have to start shopping in the supermarket which we almost never do We do our shopping online with Ocado and have a little man come and bring it into our kitchen for us! But even so, there is a Sainsbury's nearby and I could conceivably go in there a buy, say, £40 worth of Guinness and walk out with the voucher right? That would make diesel cheaper than petrol around here.... Excellent idea, Tim!  

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How nice to be able to shop online, no snotty, screaming kids to meet in the isles. The local Tescos here do online shopping but I refuse to shop with them after a major bust-up over customer courtesy!
The other alternatives are a crap Morrisons which was a very good Safeway before the take-over or the nearest supermarket to me which is Sainsbury's and the local branch don't do on-line shopping. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

A trick my mum does is buy over £50 worth of clothing in Tesco, get the voucher, then take it all back the next few days and get refunds, but you've still got your petrol voucher to use!

Sneaky is my mum L319 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB

OK guys here is a letter that is in the December '05 What Car about go-juice:
Quote "Q - I know that diesel fuel has to adhere to certain standards, but do supermarkets reduce the additives in unbranded fuel in order to sell it cheaply? From Dennis Chester, Coventry"

Answer "According to the Petrol Retailers' Association, there is absolutely no difference between the standard petrol and diesel you buy from either a franchised fuel station or a supermarket forecourt, in many cases the fuel is sourced from the same refinery and is sometimes delivered in the same tankers.
Supermarkets are prepared to sell their fuelat very little profit in order to tempt shoppers into the supermarket. The theory is that shoppers will think that if a supermarket sells cheap fuel it will also sell cheap food. (Who are they fooling? TIM). Specialist or premium fuels such as Shell Optimax and BP Ultimate contain additives to improve the performance of car engines. When you buy these fuels, you pay extra for the special ingedients"

If it is in What Car? then it must be true!!  2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

I suppose that doesn't surprise me.... so are we looking at a situation where we're bred to believe supermarket fuel's a bit like a placebo but in reverse? We think it sometimes performs badly because we want it to?  

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Again..... to mention a friend of mine who even gets all fuel paid for by his company , still ( often ) takes his Bentley Anarge T to his local supermarket and fills up with the cheapest stuff ( 95ron ), & he's seen no fall off in performance.

If you go to buy your next car and it isn't a new one, will you check the inside of the engine to evaluate what grade of fuel it has been running on & if it has been of any detriment to the engine? I bet not and further more when you come to trade it in - the dealer wont ask either!

So I'm off to sainsbury's armed with a nectar card & an empty boot

Ps. where is Sainsburys & what does it look like  
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Just for your info guys. Supermarket fuel often comes from companies such as Shell, BP or Esso. The difference is that Shell and BP put in an additive to enhance cleaner burn. As a result you will get a marginally better performance but the engine will stay cleaner from deposits and therefore enhance MPG to your advantage.

If anyone has Premium fuel for central heating it will burn hotter and leave no deposits and give more efficient burn, but you pay more, same difference.

Me, I never touch supermarket fuel as an owner. If I was a company car driver, yes hello supermarket, here I come.

Hope it helps.