Tesco fuel

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For some time now we have noticed that our fuel consumption on the Land Cruiser appears to increase when using fuel from Tescos as opposed to from our village filling station which we try and use as much as possible. I was chatting to the owner of the filling station this morning and a tanker driver who was making a delivery and they said that this was because Tesco use the cheapest fuel available (usually from Russia) which only just passes the British Standard for fuel and is basically crap quality. That coupled with the use of plenty of additives means that long term damage is probably being done to a lot of engines.

They were also saying that proper fuel will give on average about 5mpg more than supermarket fuel so are you really making any savings by buying from them? It doesn't look like it.

Bloody Tesco, one organisation I cannot stand.

Rant over.
 
:eek: ... didn't know that ... :thinking: ... guess where I'll not be buying fuel in future ... :suspect: ... they want suing the b'stards ... :razz:


Thanx for HU Colin ... ;)




:p
 
I've heard this before, but also have heard that the fuel comes from the same depots as everyone else - just whoever is the cheapest at the time (Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP or Texaco I guess).

I'm not sure whether there's actually much truth in it.

Modern vehicles have what's referred to as a 'knock' sensor in them, which automatically adjusts the engine management system and fuelling, depending on the octane rating of the fuel. This is why if you buy the 'Ultimate' petrol/diesel, there isn't a night and day difference, unless your car is chipped.

Basically, modern cars will run on almost anything, as long as they are serviced in accordance with the manufacturers requirements!

Cheers,
James
 
I found that if i buy fuel from Sainsburys I can get just over 30mpg on a tank, where as with Tesco fuel I get 27-28mpg, may not sound smuch but it all adds up.
 
Moos3h said:
I've heard this before, but also have heard that the fuel comes from the same depots as everyone else - just whoever is the cheapest at the time (Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP or Texaco I guess).
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It does come from the same depots but they have fuels of varying quality there according to the tanker driver. In his exact words about an hour ago "I wouldn't buy Tesco diesel, it's sh!te". Apparently they put in the additives after the fuel has been delivered to stores, probably a barely legal way of 'watering it down'.
 
On several tests I found I got about 50miles less per tankful on Tesco diesel compared to Sainsburys or Morrisons in my Discovery so it doesn't seem to be supermarkets in general but I don't fill up at Tescos anymore.
Hacker said:
For some time now we have noticed that our fuel consumption on the Land Cruiser appears to increase when using fuel from Tescos as opposed to from our village filling station which we try and use as much as possible. I was chatting to the owner of the filling station this morning and a tanker driver who was making a delivery and they said that this was because Tesco use the cheapest fuel available (usually from Russia) which only just passes the British Standard for fuel and is basically crap quality. That coupled with the use of plenty of additives means that long term damage is probably being done to a lot of engines.

They were also saying that proper fuel will give on average about 5mpg more than supermarket fuel so are you really making any savings by buying from them? It doesn't look like it.

Bloody Tesco, one organisation I cannot stand.

Rant over.
Click to expand...
 
My dad was once told by an mechanic that it is never wise to always use Supermarket fuel, as it isnt the best quality. Wasn't Tesco specific, but seems to fit with the rest of these stories.
 
agreed, tesco fuel = not as good as shell...
 
Hacker said:
For some time now we have noticed that our fuel consumption on the Land Cruiser appears to increase when using fuel from Tescos as opposed to from our village filling station which we try and use as much as possible. I was chatting to the owner of the filling station this morning and a tanker driver who was making a delivery and they said that this was because Tesco use the cheapest fuel available (usually from Russia) which only just passes the British Standard for fuel and is basically crap quality. That coupled with the use of plenty of additives means that long term damage is probably being done to a lot of engines.

They were also saying that proper fuel will give on average about 5mpg more than supermarket fuel so are you really making any savings by buying from them? It doesn't look like it.

Bloody Tesco, one organisation I cannot stand.

Rant over.
Click to expand...


tescos sponsor the british rally championship (tesco 99 octane BRC i think) however sponsoring it is about as far as it goes because few of the competitors use it because its *****!
 
I never use supermarket fuel, and never intend to. Crap quality and makes diesels smoke like hell. I always use Shell Diesel Extra, much better quality and the same price.
 
whitewash said:
tescos sponsor the british rally championship (tesco 99 octane BRC i think) however sponsoring it is about as far as it goes because few of the competitors use it because its *****!
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I use Tesco 99 octane and found the car goes alot better than on BP Ultimate or Shell Optimax. Petrol consumption is the same at 41+ mpg (Thats out of a 2.0 Petrol Mondeo with 207,000 miles on the clock). Performance is a lot better though.
 
Intresting subject, I know the service manager of a big ford commercial dealer in Essex and he was saying that ford were considering not honouring warranty work on commercials run on supermarket derv because its carp and is causing huge warranty problems.
But as I said to him and he agreed that enforcing it and the legal aspect could be a nightmare.
 
never fill up at tesco as it's out of my way - also try to avoid filling up at work (morrisons) Esso is my preferred fill up due to a lot of people saying exactly the same to me.

Also treat the car to some esso ultimate stuff once in a while ;)
 
We run several cars [french, tempermental, etc] - the modern diesel Scenic gets same economy whether we use Tescos or Shell or BP... but the Petrol Clio 172, admittedly in a performance engine, definately runs better on Shell than tescos, the old petrol Clio, prefers the tescos stuff, giving better economy. So its horses for courses really, see what suits your car and your pocket.
 
was the supermarket fuel fiasco a few months ago not enough to put you off?

:eek:

I've heard the stories about the additive mix from chemists at Shells research facility....all 95RON fuel is not the same ;)

Saying that.....with all this hoo ha about saving the planet, they can legally sell you biofuels without your knowledge as long as they stay within a % range.

FMC have a limit of 5% bio fuel content in diesel and warranty claims for sticking valves, defective pumps and injectors are often rejected after displaced parts have been subjected to microscopic investigation.

There was a huge trading standards investigation in the north east last year after a fuel station chain added extra bio content on top of an already bio mixed fuel. This put the total % above those recommended and lots of cars got sick.

I had problems with pinking on esso fuel with one car, so since then all my cars both petrol and diesel only drink shell fuels.
 
And I thought 'carp' was a fish.
 
I used to work for esso and I can guarantee that not all fuels are created equal. It's mostly down to what added to the fuels in the larger chains rather than the RON rating (which just deals with combustability)

Other than the Naptha, Benzene and other highly carcinogenic stuff that they add to fuel they add catalysts, stabilisers, anti-foaming agents, Engine protectors and god knows what else.

Supermarket fuels lack all of these expensive additives, which is why it's cheaper than the real deal.



Did you also know that you get different formulations of fuel depending on the season? The chemical composition of fuels (mainly diesel) is altered to prevent foaming and gelatinisation in the winter and over-evaporation in the summer?


**** job, but quite interesting on some levels.



P.s. Using elecronic equipment on the forecourt can cause explosions too. Despite what John Tickle and the Hamster have tried to tell people. I've seen the safety videos and they ain't pretty!
 
Gandhi said:
P.s. Using elecronic equipment on the forecourt can cause explosions too. Despite what John Tickle and the Hamster have tried to tell people. I've seen the safety videos and they ain't pretty!
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many years ago I used to be a "suicide jocky" ( tanker driver)
The fuel ( then ) all came down the same pipeline and the additive were added in ( or not) at the last knockings.
Years ago as I said and thing may well have changed.

Gandhi is quite right I have seen the aftermath of a tanker driver "top loading" connecting his ground wire when fueling and NOT as he should have before! one in-perceivable static discharge and he found him self 50 yards from the tanker and in hospital with a broken arm! One very lucky chappie! the tanker went into total melt down though.
Remember also its the vapour that ignites and vapour will travel quite some distance from a fuelling point along the ground and flash point of "spirit" if memory serves is 72oFso don't smoke anywhere near a fueling point especially on a warm day
 
Hmmmm....... I wonder if this was the cause of a recent problem I had?

I have an automatic 4x4 and it started stalling at junctions etc. Took it to the garage and they said it had the wrong fuel in it. I know I filled it with diesel (hubby made that mistake once in his car, so I'm VERY careful)...and my receipt also said diesel,..... but the garage insisted it wasn't. They drained the tank, put a new fuel filter in and .....no problems since. Could it have just been poor quality fuel?
 
photostar_1 said:
Hmmmm....... I wonder if this was the cause of a recent problem I had?

I have an automatic 4x4 and it started stalling at junctions etc. Took it to the garage and they said it had the wrong fuel in it. I know I filled it with diesel (hubby made that mistake once in his car, so I'm VERY careful)...and my receipt also said diesel,..... but the garage insisted it wasn't. They drained the tank, put a new fuel filter in and .....no problems since. Could it have just been poor quality fuel?
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I have "known" more than one tanker driver to deposit the wrong fuel into the storage tanks. with "un attended" deliveries ( the garage is shut) if the discharge points are un marked or un-clearly marked accidents do happen. usually the odd "splash" into the wrong holding tank doesn't make a differance but if a tanker is carrying a mixed load ( 38,000L total approx) and somehow manages to discharge half into the wrong point thats a lot of fuel ( and no I am NOT speaking from experiance :D)
 
If I use supermarket fuel there is a definate drop in mpg abd performance, the only thing its good for is making the big names reduce their cost.
 
As far as petrol goes up here, (at least for bp esso et al) it all comes from the same depot, same tanks, off the same tanker. The difference is in the additives. The tanker driver has a smart card thingy that he feeds into the delivery system and that adds the correct additive mixture for the company he's delivering for.
 
don't tend to have this problem that much as use LPG as much as I possibly can :-)

Unleaded only used to start car, and emergencies (no LPG refuel place within distance), but haven't run into that situation yet.

Gary
 
Nearest petrol station does me fine, whether it's Tescos or Insert-brand-here... My lump-o-junk Xantia doesn't care a jot!

I do however know one or two souls who run their diesels (older runabouts) on a 50-50 mix of diesel and jet fuel... And to be fair, the entire military fleet (Land Rovers, trucks etc) out at Basra Airport last time I was there ran on pure jet fuel (F34 Avtur)
 
I can't say that I've noticed a difference. I drive a 2.0 turbo petrol car with increased boost pressure etc, and generally I don't notice any performance increase, other than when I use 99 ron for 4-5 tank cycles. As far as MPG is concerned though I see no extra mileage from none supermarket fuel (that im aware of anyway).
 
My car runs worse on Tescos than Esso. MPG goes up with the latter to and it works out more economic to pay more for fuel.
 
Here in Germany I always use the Shell Turbo-Nutter-B*st*rd fuel which is 100RON as opposed to 98RON in the UK... our coupons also work in Aral, Esso and Texaco stations, but I prefer the Shell stuff...

Oh...and it costs me 109.08 Euros for 150 litres...lol (I think it's E1.14 per litre for civilians, which is still cheaper than the UK).

Just as well, as driving at 140mph on the A-Bahns doesn't half 'up' your fuel consumption...lol lol lol... just watch that needle move!!!
 
Gandhi said:
I used to work for esso and I can guarantee that not all fuels are created equal. It's mostly down to what added to the fuels in the larger chains rather than the RON rating (which just deals with combustability)

Other than the Naptha, Benzene and other highly carcinogenic stuff that they add to fuel they add catalysts, stabilisers, anti-foaming agents, Engine protectors and god knows what else.

Supermarket fuels lack all of these expensive additives, which is why it's cheaper than the real deal.



Did you also know that you get different formulations of fuel depending on the season? The chemical composition of fuels (mainly diesel) is altered to prevent foaming and gelatinisation in the winter and over-evaporation in the summer?


**** job, but quite interesting on some levels.



P.s. Using elecronic equipment on the forecourt can cause explosions too. Despite what John Tickle and the Hamster have tried to tell people. I've seen the safety videos and they ain't pretty!
Click to expand...

I used to work for Texaco (13 years ago mind) and I can vouch for all of the above
 
Arkady said:
Just as well, as driving at 140mph on the A-Bahns doesn't half 'up' your fuel consumption...lol lol lol... just watch that needle move!!!
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It certainly does :D Taken back in 2005

DSC04947.jpg
 
Got burnt with Tesco Petrol :bang::bang::bang::bonk::bonk

Got car's EGL valve replaced due to feb 2007 issues with Tesco petrol. Tesco did pay for the expnese but the inconvinience was very heart breaking. Also had car starting trouble :bonk::bonk::bang:

Will never buy petrol from Tesco again :thumbsdown::nono:

Also since filling from Shell, I do get a better mileage on the car then before.
 
chouglez said:
Got burnt with Tesco Petrol :bang::bang::bang::bonk::bonk

Got car's EGL valve replaced due to feb 2007 issues with Tesco petrol. Tesco did pay for the expnese but the inconvinience was very heart breaking. Also had car starting trouble :bonk::bonk::bang:

Will never buy petrol from Tesco again :thumbsdown::nono:

Also since filling from Shell, I do get a better mileage on the car then before.
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Good on you for managing to get Tesco to admit it was their fault! :clap:
 
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