Premium brand petrol or supermarket fuel?

Theboybilly · Post by **Theboybilly** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 5:08 pm

I was just wondering what thoughts you all had on using supermarket fuel. As the PCX is mostly about economy I often use my local Sainsburys (a UK supermarket) for fuel. I occasionally use a nearby(ish) BP garage and have just noticed from my Fuelly account that I seem to get a good 5% or maybe even a little more mpg from the branded fuel (this could of course be coincidence). Other than that I don't seem to notice store-bought fuel doing any real harm though a few friends wouldn't dream of putting budget fuel in their vehicles.

Bill

gn2 · Post by **gn2** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 6:15 pm

Given the potential inaccuracies over a tankful, you need to run it for several tankfuls exclusively on one fuel, then repeat for another.
Even then the results are not definitive.
So here is where the great mystery is solved....

Unleaded works best, diesel not recommended.
As for brand, its all the same product from the same few refineries.

haildamage · Post by **haildamage** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 6:40 pm

not sure how it is in the UK but in certain areas of the US you can get 100% gasoline, or a mixture of ethanol and gasoline at the cheaper places.

gn2 · Post by **gn2** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:28 pm

Very different in the UK, we have set standards which all fuels must comply with.
You can get 95 or 98 RON unleaded or diesel or LPG, and that's it.
There's nothing to pick between the "brands", thay all come from the same refineries.

Taz · Post by **Taz** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 9:18 pm

I just use the cheapest 91 with 10% ethanol. Can't hear any pinking.

brains_t · Post by **brains_t** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 6:31 am

I regularly use Sainsburys' diesel in my Ford SMax (Big cage) and get better than average MPG. I used Shell and Aral for my cross Europe trips and notice no difference.

I am surprised you have as I understand Sainsburys use BP fuels minus the additives.

I have only filled my PCX once and I used Shell as the garage is more convenient if not shopping. Also using a different garage is likely to reduce the risk of me filling it with diesel.

djcat · Post by **djcat** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 7:04 am

From my experience of two hour long trips on the M4 motorway with the PCX, even two up and flat out all the way, my worst mpg under such condition was 87, or 3.3L/100 km. My average under all conditions is 100 mpg (2.8L/100km), which I also reached yesterday even on the motorway if I do the same speed as the lorries instead of passing them with a massive 5 mph advantage.

As I don't have a supermarket station on my way usually, with such low fuel consumption I wouldn't bother to fill up cheap fuel as the difference is only a few pennies more or less. That kind of "saving" I would easily loose just getting to the cheaper station, plus the time to get there and back.

The other day filled up with petrol at GBP 1.37 / L (Shell), yesterday at 1.32 (Esso). Difference between fill ups was 20p. Asda fuel around here is 1.29 btw, not much of a difference really.

As with the car, I will never ever use supermarket fuel other than Sainsburys. Reason is the massive engine failure scandal from 2007 with Tesco and Morrisons paying out rivers in compensation. I don't remember which article it was, but it said that Sainsburys petrol is the same as BP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Unite ... tamination

brains_t · Post by **brains_t** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 2:45 pm

Not on the same scale but Sainsburys have had problems with their fuel

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/9 ... d/?ref=rss

Anyway second fill up today (Shell), did 4 miles after the last bar started to flash. 124 miles and took 5.6 litres to get it back up to the bar so I make that 101mpg. Current mileage 178 so still running in.

figurehead71 · Post by **figurehead71** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:51 am

I was told by the manager of the Honda Dealership I bought the PCX from not to bother using premium brand petrol in the PCX....and I don't.

djcat · Post by **djcat** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:44 am

brains_t wrote:Not on the same scale but Sainsburys have had problems with their fuel

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/9 ... d/?ref=rss

Anyway second fill up today (Shell), did 4 miles after the last bar started to flash. 124 miles and took 5.6 litres to get it back up to the bar so I make that 101mpg. Current mileage 178 so still running in.

Ok, but that was due to a water leak at one station, not a supply chain issue as with the other brands.

Cascanciu · Post by **Cascanciu** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:11 pm

95 RON, which is "regular" here and the cheapest one I find around. 0 problems so far.

I do the same with my -diesel powered- car. As some have pointed out before, it all comes from the same refineries, difference is the kind of additives this or that brand use. And they won't make a big difference.

V4 TRV · Post by **V4 TRV** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:54 pm

Unless you're running a top fuel dragster it won't make a button of difference

Theboybilly · Post by **Theboybilly** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 5:28 am

'brains_t' mentions Sainsbury's selling BP fuel 'without additives'. Am I correct and assuming this is done so that they can sell it for a few pence less, or do 'Nectar Point' offers etc? And what additives are they not er, adding?
When I said my fuel figures may be a little less with regular fuel this was because I hadn't really taken my riding into account on that tankfull.
I'm wondering what figures I'll get with something like a Premium grade. As the PCX is so good on fuel it won't cost the earth to give it a try.
I'll let you know.

Bill

Urbanian · Post by **Urbanian** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 9:33 am

Theboybilly wrote: I'm wondering what figures I'll get with something like a Premium grade. As the PCX is so good on fuel it won't cost the earth to give it a try.

Expect zero improvement in performance and mpg. True, it will only cost a few cents, but you need to compare several tankfuls to get any meaningful data.

Some of the Acura engines (think high-performance Honda

) are designed for higher octane gas, but will run just fine on lower octane with some loss in performance. Your PCX is not designed to make use of premium, and will not offer any benefit at all.

brains_t · Post by **brains_t** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:30 am

Theboybilly wrote:'brains_t' mentions Sainsbury's selling BP fuel 'without additives'. Am I correct and assuming this is done so that they can sell it for a few pence less, or do 'Nectar Point' offers etc? And what additives are they not er, adding?

Bill

I believe the big brands add engine cleaning additives and other chemicals to enhance performance hence they charge a few pence more. The tankers are filled by the same refineries here in the UK and even the supermarket fuels will have something added to this however the likes of Shell, BP and Esso would have spend a bit developing their "enhancements".

I am yet to see a test that proves the premium fuels (Shell V Power etc) are beneficial in the long term for normal cars although some manufacturers of high-end performance cars do recommend them

ericpcx · Post by **ericpcx** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 8:29 am

I use supermarket fuel and get good economy with it,sometimes I try Shell but it makes no difference at all

Cracksta · Post by **Cracksta** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:32 am

TBH all you need is normal 95 RON fuel from any petrol station, all fuel would've passed certain tests to be allowed in public.

now to the details, i wont bother using superunleaded as your bike is not a performance bike, i stopped using in my civic type r and stuck with BP, Shell and sometimes tesco on 95 RON. (wasnt the fuel contamination for diesels back then??).

Now for the PCX, I use any fuel except Asda, ESSO and morrisons, never had a problem with any of my vehicles, the extra money your paying doesnt really give you more mpg, also as mentioned you'll need to run it a good few times to get an accurate result. So in reality your under a placebo effect and actually wasting money if you are trying to save.

PCX is really a city bike with fuel save in mind, stick with normal fuel and forget the rest.

Now if you a performance bike/car and you map it to a high RON fuel, then you'll see gains but not mpg of course, you get 1 not both lol

Taz · Post by **Taz** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 5:14 pm

I use the cheapest 91 octane mixed with 10% ethanol. No engine knocking and goes fine.

you you · Post by **you you** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 2:44 am

Taz wrote:I use the cheapest 91 octane mixed with 10% ethanol. No engine knocking and goes fine.

Egsacterly

philvb · Post by **philvb** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 1:57 pm

I've been purchasing the Premium Exxon gas. Probably don't need to spend the extra, but oh well.

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