Does quality of petrol vary from different companies?

jesta

jesta

jesta

Soldato
Joined
19 Dec 2004
Posts
3,887
Hey, Just wondering is there any difference in quality of petrol at different petrol stations?I normally use ASDA to fill up (cheapest at 102.9) but was wondering are there any difference in quality from say...BP or Shell?My mate seems to suggest supermarket petrol station's petrol is not as pure(or good,cant remember what he said).

Thanks.
 
Comes from the same refinaries, and the trucks from the different stations generally fill up at the same places.

The only real differences are between "special" fuels such as V-Power, Ultimate, etc etc.
 
AFAIK although the base petrol does come from the same refineries, each tanker has a certain amount of 'additive' added to it, which varies from company to company and this accounts for any difference in the overall 'quality' of the petrol.
 
i've heard supermarket fuel is crap, is this true? they even sell low sulphur city diesel whats all that about??
 
DannyW said:
i've heard supermarket fuel is crap, is this true? they even sell low sulphur city diesel whats all that about??
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Yeah my mates old man is a Diesel engineer and he is always going on about how crap Tesco diesel is and what a poor grade it is. I know there have been instances recently of cars having issues with the diesel at my nearest tesco but much like the Unleaded problems a while back I just put it down to a bad batch :D

I myself wonder if they are buying the same quality of fuel?
 
DannyW said:
i've heard supermarket fuel is crap, is this true? they even sell low sulphur city diesel whats all that about??
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I know and talk to quite a few fuel tanker drivers, all of them do not buy fuels from supermarkets which should tell you something. ;):D

Its also fairly common knowledge that BMW's are not particularly fond of the same, my Dad certainly has had issues with his e39 & Tesco fuel.

Rather than being an efficient type & researching my local cheaper garages, I tend to use whatever's nearest be it a garage or supermarket! :o

As far as diesel is concerned, Shell seems to be the choice of my employer although I bet they get a discount with a 350 truck account! :eek: - I can't honestly say I've noticed much difference if any between brands, certainly with regard to my 10 years of truck driving, and not yet since I've had my diesel Mondeo.
 
I've not used supermarket fuel for years. Historically my cars have run rougher, done less MPG, and generally not performed as well on supermarket fuel (mainly Tesco)

Thankfully the local Shell station is the cheaest in the area and my car certainly runs noticeably smoother and I get an average of around 50miles more to a tank.
 
For regular unleaded the base stock should be very similar between all stations as they all have to achieve BS EN228. There are significant differences in the additive packages though which include cleaning agents and burn enhancers amongst other things.

For super things are slightly different as BP Ultimate 102, Shell V-Power and Tesco 99 all use their own unique base stocks which are quite different from the normal super unleaded. Again there are also substantial differences between the additive packages as well.
 
I won't use supermarket Diesel - car runs rougher, doesn't like starting and I lose a good 5mpg average. The local Shell is within half a mile of Sainsbury's so 90% of the time it costs the same.
 
Adam_D200 said:
Apparently my local sainsburies uses BP fuel according to a relative who works at the local refinery/fuel storage depot.
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Why (and how) do BP get away with charging 3-4p a litre more than everyone else? Buy ultimate and you might as well just burn £10 notes.
 
Sainsbury's have a contract with BP to supply their fuel, so buying from Sainsbury's is the same as buying from BP (they even get it delivered in BP lorries!).

Tesco (and I believe ASDA as well) source their petrol from Greenergy, who use a blend of 5% bioethanol + petrol. See here.
 
ASDA petrol made my car 'pink' under hard acceleration, I've not had it since I started filling up with forecourt petrol.
 
York said:
Sainsbury's have a contract with BP to supply their fuel, so buying from Sainsbury's is the same as buying from BP (they even get it delivered in BP lorries!).

Tesco (and I believe ASDA as well) source their petrol from Greenergy, who use a blend of 5% bioethanol + petrol. See here.
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This is what I've been told by semi reliable sources too.

Its still worth remembering that BP may use different additives to the stuff you get from Sainsbury's pumps.

I tend to stick to Sainsbury's, Shell and BP after having fuel that made my 306 not quite as smooth as it should be from Morrisons, Asda and Tesco in the past.
 
York said:
Sainsbury's have a contract with BP to supply their fuel, so buying from Sainsbury's is the same as buying from BP (they even get it delivered in BP lorries!).

Tesco (and I believe ASDA as well) source their petrol from Greenergy, who use a blend of 5% bioethanol + petrol. See here.
Click to expand...

So when I couldn't find a shell and filled up with Sainsburys 97 RON t'other day, this was... Ultimate?
 
It's the same fuel, just with a different additive mix dropped into the tanker as it leaves the storage facility.

So some could well be better on pumps etc.
 
Alibaba99 said:
Maybe, but it won' have the same additive package as that sold at a BP garage (the additives are added to the tanker once its destination is known).
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Fair enough the base stock should still be decent though :) I personally only fill with Vpower and don't mind the extra expense :)
 
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