Fuel Issues....Your Help Needed.

[Luke]

Guys,

I was talking to Mr. Sayer last night regarding retail fuels and supermarket fuels, basically wondering which is the best etc. Over the past few weeks I have been doing a little experiment with whose fuel I use and I have now come to a conclusion, but I was wondering if you guys have experienced the same problems?

I filled up (full tank) of Premium Unleaded from Sainbury's a few weeks ago, reset the mileage back to 0 and used it until the light came on...it took 325 miles and it didn't move off full for a good 60 miles. About 2 weeks ago I filled up with a another tank of Unleaded but this time from 'Total' as Citroen supposedly recommend them. As soon as I left the petrol station the fuel gauge moved off full and I have only managed 240 miles before the light came on.

All of this was done a 2003 plate VTR, so I know it isn't wasting fuel etc as mileage is still low for age. All of the driving was done around town, ie in 30 & 40 limits and the car was never ragged, the gears were used to slow the car down and I never took it above 4,000rpm.

Now Ad had heard the same about the likes of Jet & Total not been as good as other fuel retailers, as Shell are supposed to be one of the best. I know that everyone slates Supermarket Fuel but after doing this, I'm starting to wonder if I should just keep using it. I have used Shell before and it's on the same par as Supermarket in terms of mileage etc.

So guys, have you experienced any of the above or willing to give it a try?

Sorry for the BIG essay, but your help would be appreciated.

Luke

[Mark51]

i filled up at Sainsbury's with Ultimate (or something like that) after 22 miles the needle had moved about a 1/4. ive got about 230 out of this full tank and i normally get 250ish out of normal petrol.

[Luke]

That's on a Furio?

That seems quite low to be honest mate.

[Scott]

When i had the vtr i found super market fuel gave the best results around 400 miles per tank town driving and 472 was a record for motorway with some mixed driving. This was bog standard morrisons fuel or sainsbury's. I did use tesco fuel a few times as i had some vouchers, i found mileage was similar however the car didnt "feel" as happy. Could all be in the mind.

I did try optimax a number of times and found it slightly reduced my over all miles. This was even after using it 7/8 tankfuls to ensure it was only optimax the engine was getting.

Never bothered with any of the "better" fuels since.

[Luke]

Thanks for that information Scott.

I wish I could manage 400 miles of town driving, maybe that's my next experiment. My record was 442 miles I think in the VTR when I went from Bradford to London, to Bradford and then 2 days of using the car when I arrived back.

I think in future, I'll stick to supermarket fuels as they are much better.

[Viper]

this is an interesting topic!

the diesel my dad gets at work is, i believe, from RIX. this gets me around 500 miles to the tank.

i have never tried this on a full tank from a supermarket! the only supermarket diesel i have used is from asda, but i only used £20 worth and i didnt reset the counter :n:

there is bound to be differences between every source of fuel, because each different company will use different methods of refining or maybe use different adatives which may agree more with your engines that the addatives other companies use :)


i would, however have thought that supermarket fuel would be worse, as they will use the cheapest fuel they can get, so it wouldnt be as good for the engine

[David]

I'm using shell in my 2003 VTR, and I get 390 miles to a tank...!

[Mark51]

yeah that is on a furio mate. PugDan's girlfriend has a furio and she is doing 400 to a tank but im guessing thats driving very steady.

i cant work out what it could be that affects it that much.
ive got a cat back system and a BMC and thats it.

[KamRacing]

the fuel is refined the same, often the same refineries supply multiple companies. The difference is the additives the individual companies put in.
I use exclusively Shell now as their normal diesel gives me about 3mpg better than sainsburys and the shell v-power diesel gives 5-6mpg better still though its very expensive.

[vts_laker]

I'm not really sure about MPG here but, I recently put £10 of ASDA fuel in my car, because I the fuel light had been on for a good 30 miles or so. I had to make two stops before I got home, and each time i went to start the car it sounded like it was going to die, a touch of the throttle and it seemed to start up ok and idle but it seemed very lumpy indeed. After a few £20's with Shell / BP, the cars been fine. Maybe it was simply due to running the car so low on fuel? There no way of knowing appart from filling up with some ASDA again and finding out, but i'd rather not do that lol.

My Previous car was a MK1 Punto 1.2. I generally filled it up with Tesco or BP, and I around the same MPG, i decided to fill up at Sainburys one day because it was around 3p cheaper than i'd seen anywhere else, and I would have been pushing it getting home on the fuel I had. So I got a full tank of that, and the MPG was really bad i had to fill up with a a week. For a car I could easily get 400+ MPG out of this was rather suprising.

I think you should just fill up where you get the best MPG and where your car seems to be happy. The whole supermarket fuel being rubbish thing, is hard to say, sure if you get more MPG thats great, and its not like your after the greatest performance fuel for on the road, the big brand fuels BP and Shell come to mind, these are always said to be better for your engine than supermarket stuff, but who knows, unless you run two cars the same on different fuels for 100k and treat them the same are you really going to know?

I guess the other thing you could say is that, you get what you pay for, if your going to keep your car till the engine goes then maybe running Shell or Vpower with its supposed "cleaning additives" will help your car keep going a bit longer, but how much longer? 1k? 10k? If you can afford it why not lol.

Its all if's and but's and plenty of rumours, I just fill up at shell if i can mainly because i have to drive past it every day, its probably a good idea to try and stick to the same fuel, it seems to have a good name, car runs well enough on it as well.

Everything i've said is based on personal experiences and a few bits i've read off the net etc maybe there is someone out there who actually knows about different fuels etc.

[Luke]

i would, however have thought that supermarket fuel would be worse, as they will use the cheapest fuel they can get, so it wouldnt be as good for the engine

May be the cheapest, but in most cases the best. You gotta think, that the likes of Esso etc will just add the 1p on a litre to make people think it's the best, when it isn't.

I'm using shell in my 2003 VTR, and I get 390 miles to a tank...!

Is that town driving mate? I'm going to use Shell today and see what that gets me in terms of mileage.

yeah that is on a furio mate. PugDan's girlfriend has a furio and she is doing 400 to a tank but im guessing thats driving very steady.

i cant work out what it could be that affects it that much.
ive got a cat back system and a BMC and thats it.

That seems a massive difference, the exhaust and BMC should be a minimal difference.

the fuel is refined the same, often the same refineries supply multiple companies. The difference is the additives the individual companies put in.
I use exclusively Shell now as their normal diesel gives me about 3mpg better than sainsburys and the shell v-power diesel gives 5-6mpg better still though its very expensive.

My Dad said it would be same fuel everywhere as they need to meet requirements etc, but it must be what they put in at the individual companies.

[mardon]

I only use Shell. I find it by far the best. 330-360on normal petrol. Currenly trying V-power. So far i'm on 330 but its not empty yet. One thing I find with V-power is the idle is a little more lumpy??

I will never use Total. I get rubbish MPG and its the most expensive!!

[Luke]

I'll never use Total either from now on.

I'm going to give Shell a go today and see what happens, but could be a weeks before I report back as I hardly use the car.

[Barry123]

luke if the needle moved straight after you set off then chances are you didnt put in the equivalent amount of fuel....

have another pop at it but fill it absolutely totally brim full and see what happens :y: as a guide if you fill up when the light has JUST come on then you'll be able to squeeze 45litres in. my last fill i put in 45.24litres in and the light had only just come on.

[mardon]

I use the points card with Shell too. Double points for V power. I do around 20k a year (mostly motorway) so its worth it for the free petrol vouchers. May dad uses my card too. The more points the better :D

I'm going to continue to use V-power and hope the idle settles down once the ECU is used to the higher 99ron (if ECU's can do this). Think it works out arround £3 per tank more but for the added cleaning agents I think its worth it.

[frankie]

i filled up with sainsburys petrol, put 40 quid in and i managed about 350 miles, and i done about 50 miles before the needle came onto the gauage,most of it was goin to college, but i also kaned in somplace's.
but if i fill up using texaco which is the nearest and easiest petrol station to get to i just manage about 220 miles on 40 quid.

put people say that the supermarket petrol doesnt have any additives init? so it isnt as good for the engine. some im told

[Luke]

luke if the needle moved straight after you set off then chances are you didnt put in the equivalent amount of fuel....

have another pop at it but fill it absolutely totally brim full and see what happens :y: as a guide if you fill up when the light has JUST come on then you'll be able to squeeze 45litres in. my last fill i put in 45.24litres in and the light had only just come on.

I made sure it was full to brim, I had about 44 litres in there.

Still though, 240 miles is pretty piss poor.

[mardon]

I get arround 280 if I cane it one the local lanes. But for normal driving and motorways the car seems pretty good.

Maybe your reving it a little high. Do you carry any more weight? i.e. sound system etc? Even driving on the motorway with the windows down can affect MPG.

[Barry123]

I made sure it was full to brim, I had about 44 litres in there.

Still though, 240 miles is pretty piss poor.

Brim, as in stop filling after one click? or after one click spend the next 5 mins slowly filling it up until petrol is at the top of the fuel cap?

the needle should defo not move straight after setting off then.... although i can vouch for that, i've done total brim full then being mega surprised that the needle moved within a few miles. must be the garage on a incline of something...

[Luke]

I get arround 280 if I cane it one the local lanes. But for normal driving and motorways the car seems pretty good.

Maybe your reving it a little high. Do you carry any more weight? i.e. sound system etc? Even driving on the motorway with the windows down can affect MPG.

The only weight I was carrying was a pregnant missus ;) LOL! Sound system has gone a good 6 weeks ago, so I know that doesn't effect it.

Brim, as in stop filling after one click? or after one click spend the next 5 mins slowly filling it up until petrol is at the top of the fuel cap?

the needle should defo not move straight after setting off then.... although i can vouch for that, i've done total brim full then being mega surprised that the needle moved within a few miles. must be the garage on a incline of something...

I think it was within 3 miles it moved, but I kept filling it for another 3-4 minutes until it just kept clicking repeatedly.

[KamRacing]

Well I must be on 40k a year on the motorway so my points card with shell gets a pounding lol £50 a week minimum. When do they send the free vouchers because they would be really useful. I have a shell pluspoints card - is that what you have mardon?

[Barry123]

The only weight I was carrying was a pregnant missus ;) LOL! Sound system has gone a good 6 weeks ago, so I know that doesn't effect it.

ummm... try removing the nozzle and then fill up really slowly until the fuel meets the top of the filler :y:

[Luke]

Ok mate.

[mardon]

They have just upgraded to Drivers Club. They should have sent you a new card. Make sure when you log into the new site (its a bit of a ball ache getting new password etc) that you transfer your old cards ballance onto your new card.
from shells members section

To transfer your Shell pluspoints balance to your new Shell Drivers' Club account, login and request this in the personal details section. If you do this by 23rd June, your balance will be transferred when your next statement is issued.

When you have earned the 500 points necessary for a £2.50 Shell Fuel Voucher – or the 1000 points needed for a £5 Shopping Voucher - your vouchers will be automatically posted to you at the end of that quarter. Points can be accumulated over more than one quarter.

Hope that helps

[David]

Is that town driving mate? I'm going to use Shell today and see what that gets me in terms of mileage.


Sure is...! I live about 4 miles from the city, so it's about 4 miles to get into Lincoln, and then another 11 to my works, otherside of town... It's just the standard shell fuel i use too :y:

EDIT: Also, filled up with BP the other day, and I've got just under 1/4 of a tank showing, and done about 340 miles...

[Luke]

Sure is...! I live about 4 miles from the city, so it's about 4 miles to get into Lincoln, and then another 11 to my works, otherside of town... It's just the standard shell fuel i use too :y:

EDIT: Also, filled up with BP the other day, and I've got just under 1/4 of a tank showing, and done about 340 miles...

That sounds really good mate.

Do you drive really well? I presume you don't rag it? That is the kind of fuel I want to be getting, so any help will be appreciated.

[David]

Just been out to check now.... I have about 1/4 of a tank left, and have done 340.3 miles since I last filled up...

I don't really know how I can give you any tips... But I change gear at about 2.5k when the engines cold, and about 3k when it's warm all the time if that's any help to you...?

[Luke]

Have you got any mods on the car apart from the exhaust?

I usually do the same gear changes or thereabouts but I can't manage that but I'd love to. Do you gear down when slowing down at junctions etc?

[Barry123]

if been subjected to Supermarket jungle juice then give it some additives shots to clean zee engine and fuel system :)

[David]

I have a K&N air filter which came with the car... Which needs a clean tbh as it's pretty dirty, so maybe that could help slightly...

And yeah, I usually go from 5th into 4th, and then into 2nd, when the speeds are right... (Ie. If i'm doing 40 mph when i go into 4th, I'll wait untill i'm at about 30 before I hit 2nd..)

[Luke]

Well I parked the car up now until French Car Show, but I didn't manage to fill it up so I probably won't get the chance to try it.

[Luke]

I have a K&N air filter which came with the car... Which needs a clean tbh as it's pretty dirty, so maybe that could help slightly...

And yeah, I usually go from 5th into 4th, and then into 2nd, when the speeds are right... (Ie. If i'm doing 40 mph when i go into 4th, I'll wait untill i'm at about 30 before I hit 2nd..)

Cheers mate, once I fill the car I'm gonna drive like a proper Granny to see what I get.

[David]

Cheers mate, once I fill the car I'm gonna drive like a proper Granny to see what I get.

:omg:...!

[Luke]

Just took the car for a tank of petrol at my local Shell garage and it's full to the brim. I also have some Injector Cleaner stuff, so I'll pop that in and see how she does.

Will report back when I need to fill up.

[Barry123]

Just took the car for a tank of petrol at my local Shell garage and it's full to the brim. I also have some Injector Cleaner stuff, so I'll pop that in and see how she does.

Will report back when I need to fill up.

safe bruv.

[Luke]

So far so good..

I have done 115 miles since Tuesday and it's not even on 3/4 yet, so I must be doing something right or Shell fuel is shit hot.

I haven't taken it up above 3,000rpm (well only once to overtake yesterday) and try to gear down everytime I come to slow down.

I reckon I will have used this tank come next week.