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In conversation with a friend the other day we got to fuel prices. Turned out that he is always willing to pay that extra 4 or 5 pence per litre for product from the majors, while I'm more than happy to buy from supermarket-branded stuff.
"Terrible stuff" says he. "Does no good at all to your engine."
"Well" says I "unlike days of yore when we had to decoke our motors every 10k miles or so, I've not had engines fail for years, and I'm a bit tight and tend to run the car into the ground until electrics and the like start to get a bit unreliable."

But then Chris was a senior manager with BP in his day, and he believes that what he says is true.

Anyone any experience of this?

I believe that the basic 'essence' is the same for all brands - the quality brands add 'additives' that complete the blend.

I think the additives are poured into the tankers by the tanker drivers, having filled up at the same place as the preceding tanker from a competing company.

I've not had engines fail for years, and I'm a bit tight and tend to run the car into the ground until electrics and the like start to get a bit unreliable."

"MeToo" 265,000 kms and counting on a 1991 car. No major maintenance at all, timing belt replaced about 150K km ago only as a precaution. Thinks (?) should I do that AGAIN now ? New tyres from time to time. Just pour today's cheapest Economy 91 brand petrol in at one end, (4 competing suppliers to choose from ) and occasionally, and I mean occasionally, a drop of oil in the other. VERY patchy sunburnt looking, something to do with the Ozone hole I guess. Don't care, goes when I turn the key, and stops when I apply the brake, maintains the speedlimit Plus 10% at all times. Bumper stickers announce that I Would Rather Be Flying, and I LOVE The Noise of Aeroplanes ( this to annoy my neighbours who would like to restrict activity at the local airport ) Wouldn't win any prizes in a Concourse d'Elegance competition, but should I care ? Hitchikers tend to turn away, which prevents my feeling guilty as I would have passed them anyway. ( Wary of young males, and concerned that females might cite me for sexual harrassment, despite keeping my hands firmly on the steering wheel )

Sideline - In UK travelling to work at Heathrow, picked up a pair of hitchikers with gear bearing the Canadian Maple Leaf flag. Turned out they were hoping to catch the aircraft that I was flying to Toronto ! How's that for coincidence ? Bet they dined out on that story for a long time ! (yes, they were pushing their luck to get to the airport on time, maybe they were just lucky )

Honest John in the Daily Telegraph is all against 'Supermarket Petrol'.

My local (15k) cheapo outlet, it's usually 10c per litre cheaper than the stuff from the fuel stations, has stickers on the pumps stating that it is from BP (Espana) and as such is the same as that available just up the road for 10c more.
1.07€ yesterday. (Diesel)

Honest John in the Daily Telegraph is all against just about anything that doesn't suit his personal agenda.

Capetonian wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:06 am

Honest John in the Daily Telegraph is all against just about anything that doesn't suit his personal agenda.

And he doesn't take many words to express himself!

K&C could take some lessons from him.

Yes you're right one thing I admire about his column is how he manages to say so much in so few words.

Something I learnt when I was involved in technical writing was that it's far more difficult to write a short explanation than a long one.

The famous quote by Churchill, as every reader of JSP101 Manual of Service Writing will attest:

“I’m sorry that this letter is so long, I didn’t have time to make it short”

Honest John says consumption is lower with higher quality and octane petrol. In days gone by with 95 Octane (SAAB 95/96), 98, and 101 (for high performance cars) people ran on 101 for higher performance and simply increased the profits for petrol companies and the tax man.

We were told to use the lower grade. Now we are encouraged to use the highest.

I used to buy 5* for my Sunbeam Imp Sport in the early 70's.
For the time its 10:1 compression ratio was extremely high.

The weren't many cars that benefited from 5*, but I believe one of the Rovers did.

Some Rover P6 cars had a "Five Star Only" sticker in the corner of the rear screen next to the fuel cap, can't remember which engine needed it.

I worked in a petrol station in the evenings while I was still at school.

Missus om used to fill her small car (Astra) with the cheapest Tesco fuel, I explained that it was rubbish fuel, would leave residue in the engine and lacked oomph, "but everyone else does", I filled her car up with Shell and she immediately saw the difference.
I use BP or Shell, and every third fill add a measure of redex petrol cleaner to the tank, the cost is more than cheap stuff but the car goes better, same with the bike.

om, in days when you could, did you ever squirt Redex directly into each cylinder? Engage gear and push car or crank engine.

When you put the plugs in and restarted spectacular clouds of white smoke.

... and then there was Castrol R.

Ah, Bisto!

jimtherev wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 15, 2018 11:28 pm

... and then there was Castrol R.

Indeed - a slug of Castrol R in the fuel tank produced the unmistakable odour from the exhaust.

PN, yes my Dad did that with his Morris Oxford, I have used redex with all my bikes, I also used an oil additive with my BSA fuel as the fuel was unleaded and the engine was designed to run on leaded fuel.
I ran diesel SAABs to very high mileage with no problems by using redex diesel cleaner, kept the injectors and fuel pump clean.

Interesting thread. The fueling station in the Marina sells so little diesel out of season that all the crap settles to the bottom of the tanks, only to get stirred up and block their filters when the blighters with the Sunseekers arrive in May. But do additives separate out ?

I normally use cheapest available petrol and diesel and have never experienced any issues with fuel systems or engine problems. I once carried out a test (albeit very unscientific) by changing to using 'super unleaded' in my 728 BMW for a few weeks. No noticeable difference in performance or fuel economy. Returned to using the cheap stuff! Ran that car for over 4 years and covered 115,000 miles with no problems, almost sorry I got rid of it at 186,000 miles!

All fuel in UK meets a minimum standard. Engines are designed to operate on fuels of that quality. Branded fuels may contain extra additives but if they are of any additional benefit is questionable.