BP Ultimate over Shell V-Power (Diesel) ?

[Scania]

I’ve been chatting with a workmate who’s got a 1.6tdci Focus Titanium X diesel like mine, his is a hatchback mines the estate, his a 62 plate on 165k mines a 61 plate on 111k, I bought mine a couple of months back and we decided to compare economy over time.

I know mines heavier given it’s the estate but it’s done 54k less miles and has a full and upto date Ford history, his has no history at all and he said it’s not been serviced since he’s had it (2+ years) so I’d expect mine to be at least the same if not slightly better on fuel.

He’s currently averaging 55mpg, I’m getting 48mpg - checked by brimming and dividing fuel added by miles covered since last refill rather than the optimistic fuel computer readings - we both do predominantly town driving (his OBC average speed is 20mph as is mine)

I was puzzled by this, on talking further with him he said his was a lot worse on Supermarket fuels and he only gets good mpg from BP Ultimate, to be fair there is a sticker on the fuel filler saying Ford recommend BP fuels, I’ve been using Shell V Power diesel since I bought it (my old e38 was a good couple of MPG better on V Power petrol so I continued using Shell when I got this)

The obvious answer is to switch to BP Ultimate and see if I notice any change which I suppose I’ll try I’m just surprised there is so much apparent difference between two supposedly premium fuels.

Of course this is hugely subjective, he might have a wholly different driving style to me (I consistently better his trucks MPG in the office league table so doubt that) equally there may be some issue with mine that I’m unaware of.

From what I recall my partners old 12 plate tdci Focus averaged around 55mpg also but fairly sure she put whatever fuel was available in and didn’t stick to any particular brand, she had a longer commute to work as well whereas mine rarely gets a run of any distance.

TLDR - anybody noticed a variance between using Shell V Power and BP Ultimate diesel?

 

[Scania]

Does he live next door to you and only ever drive to the same places at the same frequency?

If not, the comparison is meaningless.

I’m well aware of that, but, I’d expected a little more, not much granted, 48mpg on predominantly town driving is fine, just wondering if it could / should be doing better, I know how to drive in a very fuel efficient manner and was just wondering if there was a difference.

Your analogy of driving to the same places is interesting though, we have six identical trucks at work doing very different work and routes, all are within .5mpg of 11mpg....

I’m happy to use the premium fuels as they don’t produce anywhere near as much soot as regular imo - when I bought the car it was quite smoky, after 1200 miles of V-Power it’s not smoking at all,bearing in mind it had done 110k when I bought it.

I’ll stick with V-Power and my Shell points.

 

[Scania]

For me, VP (diesel) is not about performance gains (there isn’t any) it’s about reducing soot - to preserve the DPF - which from what I’ve seen it’s very good at, I was wondering if I’d gain any economic benefit from changing to BP but it’s not a biggie given I’m getting 48 around town already.

 

[Scania]

I just can't get over the fact that someone goes to the expense of fuelling their car with the most expensive fuel available but then doesn't bother to service it

Asked him this morning, he said it had been serviced just before he bought it and has only done 8k Miles in 2years so wasn’t too bothered, he said he might replace the oil in the summer but he’s not bothered about the car it’s purely a work hack his pride and joy is a 1989 20V Audi Quattro which I didn’t know about which he’s owned for over 20 years - this is serviced a bit more often!

 

[Scania]

why is he using premium fuel?

Uses premium on both his cars (petrol& diesel) and in his bike.

As per my OP, he said he gets better mpg from using BP Ultimate (in the Focus) not that doing 4K p/a mpg would concern him tbh.

 

[Scania]

With this thread in mind I asked at work what fuel our trucks use as I’ve noticed our Scania’s don’t seem to regenerate at all and the non DPF equipped older MAN trucks (which on average have north of 900,000km under their wheels) don’t seem to smoke at all, I was told it was a fuel with detergent additives from their bulk supplier, the equivalent of VP or BP Ultimate, and - interestingly - they said the higher purchase price per litre was more than offset by increased mpg across the fleet but more so by DPF issues with the Scania trucks in 2015 when they started buying the brand being resolved by switching to effectively premium fuel.

 

[Scania]

Id go for 5l of BP Ultimate to be safe.

Apologies for high-jacking but i've got to change the oil in my Audi A4. It states that it takes 3.8L, could I put in 4L and get away with it?

I’m a bit puzzled as to why you’ve put this in this thread, but I wouldn’t worry about an overfill of 200ml in the grand scheme of things.

Radical idea, if it says it takes 3.8litres, put 3.8 in not 4.

 

[Scania]

Well, a few months into my ownership it (my 1.6 diesel Focus) seems to have settled on 53mpg overall and I’ve noticed it’s producing far less smoke than it did when I first bought it, it seems to have stopped continuous attempts at DPF regeneration as well.

I’ve used VPower diesel since I bought it, it’s either helping or it’s purely coincidence.

 

[Scania]

Is it broke. My 2.0 Mondeo is getting 66+ at the minute.
I definitely get higher mpg figures when i use additives. So premium should definitely help.

Don’t think so, it rarely gets out of town which doesn’t help, it averaged 65 mpg on the journey back from Chester when I bought it, my partners old 12 plate model (which she owned from 5 to 50k Miles) averaged 55 overall.

I’ve read changing the fuel filter can help mpg with these so may give this a try at some point.