supermarket fuel

[TimJMS]

Yes.

[daddyjohal]

finally got a chance to chase up Sainsbury's on what fuel they use. they allegedly use 'main brand' superunleaded fuel ie. Esso, Texaco etc supplied by a third party. so the quality of the fuel you get from their super unleaded pumps is no worse than other forecourts yet much cheaper generally. my local Sainsbury's is a good 3p cheaper per litre than many rivals and that's without discount vouchers of upto 4p per litre plus Nectar points. I know this sounds like peanuts, but if you think of a saving of upto 7p per litre plus double Nectar points if you use their credit card, you can save a LOT of money over the course of a year (depending on your mileage of course) for exactly the same fuel! daft not to really!

[Alan]

"Optimax is a con and rip off"

I personally would be very interested to hear why you claim this?

It has a garuanteed minimum RON of 98 (Shell actually say 98.6 min.), higher than any other available fuel in the UK and I have used it in a lot of cars over extended periods and find it without doubt the best fuel in terms of performance [img]images/graemlins/nodder.gif[/img]

I admit I haven't done economy tests but to me if my car is performing well I don't really care about a few mpg, I am interested in the best performance from my engine(s).

Supermarket fuel is sourced in the same way as their vegetables, they get it from whoever they can beat to death on price at the time.
It therefore by nature of not always being from the same scource will vary in quality.

Someone will no doubt chime in with "there's only XX # of refineries in the UK that supply petrol so it's all the same" but this is b*lls, yes, there are a limited # of places but it's what the various companies pay these establishments to DO TO THE FUEL that makes the product sold at the pump different.

Just my 2p [img]images/graemlins/1syellow1.gif[/img]

[peterb]

When I started using Optimax, the fuel consumption (as reported by the DIS, and by calculation from distance/qty) improved by almost 10%. However, this was when the car had covered less than 2000 miles, so some of that may be due to the engine loosening up. As a control, I ought to go back to another fuel, but I can't be bothered.

There have been reports that Optimax is detrimental to the RS6 engine, but I haven't seen any details, or been given specific examples. I, and others on here, are still running the RS6 on Optimax.

[PhilT]

I have seen both increased responsiveness, and inproved mpg from Optimax. I go out of my way and run on fumes to get a tank of Optimax. [img]images/graemlins/062802drink_prv.gif[/img]

[johneroberts]

One of my better customers is a top dog at Texaco UK and i have had a discussion with him about cheaper fuel, and in question Supermarket variety, it is known fact that this petrol is not as well refined as other fuels and is generally purhased of lower ranking petrol producers, it has been proven by Perol Governing Bodies that the use of this petrol does to a small degree give off harmfull emssions and tends to less kind to engines and especially valves, so i personally would never use it, and go out of my way to find decent petrol. Optimax or BP Ultimate are really the ones to use for our cars.
Bit V POwer would be my choice if i could get it.
Cheers
jr

[daddyjohal]

"Optimax is a con and rip off"

I personally would be very interested to hear why you claim this?

It has a garuanteed minimum RON of 98 (Shell actually say 98.6 min.), higher than any other available fuel in the UK and I have used it in a lot of cars over extended periods and find it without doubt the best fuel in terms of performance [img]images/graemlins/nodder.gif[/img]

I admit I haven't done economy tests but to me if my car is performing well I don't really care about a few mpg, I am interested in the best performance from my engine(s).

Supermarket fuel is sourced in the same way as their vegetables, they get it from whoever they can beat to death on price at the time.
It therefore by nature of not always being from the same scource will vary in quality.

Someone will no doubt chime in with "there's only XX # of refineries in the UK that supply petrol so it's all the same" but this is b*lls, yes, there are a limited # of places but it's what the various companies pay these establishments to DO TO THE FUEL that makes the product sold at the pump different.

Just my 2p [img]images/graemlins/1syellow1.gif[/img]

Why is Optimax a con and a rip off? Since i personally feel absolutely no performance or economy benefit from it whatsoever. When i run my S4 on super or BP ulitmate, it flies. I've plenty of mates who run high performance cars and i can't think of one who uses Optimax instead of super unleaded. Those who have used it tend to find it gives either no benefits or at most a barely discernible improvement. For the price i think it's joke.

I've not beenthere in a while, but if you visit the Shell Optimax website forums, you'll find many a disgruntled customer posting messages. Interestingly, there is supposed to be a 'Shell Expert' online who responds to pertinent queries etc, but you'll find he rarely bothers to answer the tricky questions...

As with most of the fuel debate, a lot of it's down to psychology and subjectice analysis which can easily be inaccurate. Optimax? Not for me mate.

[daddyjohal]

The guys i spoke to at Sainsburys told me categorically that their Super was most definitely not cheap quality but was the same fuel you'd get from more reputable stations and was almost always from the same supplier.

[Alan]

All down to individual perception then obviously, because I personally have run Optimax and others in lots of high performance cars and have found it to be the best.
I also know of many others of the same opinion, many on this site!

[Dippy]

Someone will no doubt chime in with "there's only XX # of refineries in the UK that supply petrol so it's all the same" but this is b*lls, yes, there are a limited # of places but it's what the various companies pay these establishments to DO TO THE FUEL that makes the product sold at the pump different.

Well you are correct that there are only a few refineries left in the UK, however that's actually a reason why the quoted fuels are better. The key issue is that Shell and BP own their own refineries in the UK. I think Texaco and Esso do too. So your Shell Optimax fuel does NOT come from the open market, it comes from Shell's own refinery.

Indeed Supermarkets buy fuel on the open market and price is a big factor. If they want really cheap fuel then they can buy it from whoever sells it cheapest (e.g. Conoco).

However the important thing about super is that it is exceptional fuel. By that I mean that the refineries mostly produce 95 RON because that is what is in highest demand. So the supermarkets have limited choice when buying 97 RON.

My local Savacentre sells super at the same price as my local Shell sells Optimax. Partly to experiment, and partly because I get 4p per litre discount after the weekly shop, I have been trying out Sainsburys super recently (still adding Millers).

I can report with absolute confidence that Optimax makes my engine run smoother than Sainsbury's super. That suggests that Optimax is indeed higher octane which is what they claim.

[daddyjohal]

All down to individual perception then obviously, because I personally have run Optimax and others in lots of high performance cars and have found it to be the best.
I also know of many others of the same opinion, many on this site!

Pinched this link from another post elsewhere on this site (if you can be arsed - it's a bit long winded), for all the anoraks out there. [img]images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] http://bbs.22b.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/000527.html

Happy reading.