BP Fuel

[Cunning Plan]

Whenever someone had said that Supermarket fuel had been diluted I never believed them, but then because BP had always been a good few pence more than the supermarkets I have never really filled up there. My local BP is now at 1.02p, the same as Shell / Tesco etc. So now there is no real reason not to fill up there, so the last two full tanks I have put a full 60 liters in the Ford.

Obviously, the goal at the moment with the daily driver is to conserve as much cash as possible which means changing gear early and going everywhere in 5th with the accelerator not going down passed 5mm

Normally, town driving I get about 33/34mpg and 425/430 miles out of the tank.

First tank of BP fuel I did 480 miles with fuel left in the tank but as I was doing a long trip I had to fill up early. This was also a trip to Norfolk, so that's a two long stints of 50/55 behind a lorry in 5th gear on the A605 - so probably where the car is its most economical.

So, already thinking that there IS something to the theory about supermarket 'cheap' fuel with additives I decided to fill up again at BP which again was the same price as everywhere else. This time, town driving around MK with a few trips to Northampton, driving economically - 515 miles!!! I think I could have pushed for 520 miles! That is 90 MORE miles on BP fuel than other brands including Shell.. On a run, this could equate to big savings..

This is nothing really compared to my buddies' VW Passat 1.9 TDi which is getting 850 miles out of a tank.. So Diesel is what you need for your daily driver!

Figured I would post up my findings as I think they are quite interesting and it might help someone else get a bit more MPG..

[Roadkill]

Interesting reading - I'll be looking out for a new daily come winter.

Someone once told me that the petrol is all the same BUT a solution of additives are added to the fuel once it's in the tanker (ie. it's manufactured the same).

If that is the case it's obviously this mix of additives that makes the difference . . . .

[F Body]

All I know is that most of fuel comes from the same storage centre for most forecourts, Bunsfield proved that.
Also interesting that the only difference between Shell V Power and any other high octane fuel, is an additive put in my hand once the tanker driver has filled up

I actively avoid Sainsburys Shitty Diesel because it makes our Turbo D feel like the turbo has fallen off

[philoldsmobile]

there is most definitely a difference. when dad had his old Sierra XR4i, when filled at a supermarket it suffered from pinking, when filled at BP it didn't.

pretty conclusive, especially as the result was 100% repeatable over the 8 years he owned it.

when my car was serviced, it had a software update that allowed the use of regular unleaded rather than actually requiring super. (although super is still recommended) filled up on regular a couple of times, and the power loss was noticable, and my average consumption went from 22.3 to 19.9 mpg

working on a 10p per liter difference, its cheaper to run on super, AND you get more power. this is definitely not the case in all cars though, if it doesn't actually need or recommend super, stick with regular, but get the good stuff.

[VIPER]

BP now do a 102 octane as well....... And its in MK...

[philoldsmobile]

for something like £2.50 a liter ultimate 102

[HardRockCamaro]

There is a difference between brands.

I have read many a group test of highly tuned turbo cars that collectively experienced problems running on certain brands of fuel.

Plus The Caddy does seem to misfire more on Tesco fuel vs the big name brands.  In fact it never used to misfire at all until I had put 3 or 4 tanks of the stuff through...

And all my cars have always got about 10% better fuel economy on super vs regular fuel.

[VIPER]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

for something like £2.50 a liter  ultimate 102

Thats the stuff......

[FUBAR]

I ALWAYS fill the IROC up at BP, only on regular unleaded, but it never gets supermarket, or even shell (with a couple of exceptions) fuel.

On the odd occasion that it does get super, you can notice a difference on cold (i.e. winter) startups being a bit smoother but apart from that its pretty much the same.

[Flip Martian]

Total seem to have a new petrol out now which guarantees more mileage out of a tank. Last I looked it was 107.9 a litre. Not tried it yet.

Never really examined it too closely but the Camaro seems to go a bit further on the super stuff, wherever I get it from. Not really noticed any performance hits when using Super from Tesco or Shell or anywhere else to be honest.

[Roadkill]

I'm too poor to try Super . . . .

[Flip Martian]

I'm too poor to put it in the tank every time...

[Pod]

I ran mine on Tesco Value petrol and occasionally Tesco Finest.

It's had a couple of tanks of other stuff, but can't say I noticed any difference on the road or track.

I'd like to see a 'blind' test where you don't know what brand is in it. That would rule out (even subconsciously) driving differently.

[art b]

Quoting: Pod

I'd like to see a 'blind' test where you don't know what brand is in it

surely you would crash....

[Cunning Plan]

Quoting: Pod

I'd like to see a 'blind' test where you don't know what brand is in it. That would rule out (even subconsciously) driving differently.

True, but I always drive my Mondeo roughly the same, I never really hoon it around.. I put BP fuel in my girlfriend's Hyundai Amica too and she normally does about 310 miles, she had 320 miles and 1/4 tank left last time I saw it!! So thats two cars, two people and she wouldn't have changed her driving style.

[philoldsmobile]

its not really down to the driver as much as you'd think. all yanks are designed to run on lower octane fuel than is available in europe, and are tuned as such, its only really the more modern european and jap machinery that will retune itself according to what is in the tank. - late 90's onwards.

even compression ratio isn't a fail safe guide, my CBR has a comp ratio of 11.5:1 and makes about 165 bhp per liter, yet runs better on 95 than 97 - in fact honda claim anything over 91 is fine. that is with a redline of 11,500 rpm

[Rob]

I tend to use BP super in the T/A and get better mileage than using regular.

However recently tried Shell Super.  Hardly had to press the pedal and off she went.  Mileage wasn't as good but performance was greatly increased.

[ianjpage]

i tend to stick to shell fuel simply cos of the reward card - i haven't ever noticed any major difference with Shell, BP or Tesco fuel ... ill just fill it where ever is the cheapest & got a reward card

[Incursus]

Shell or BP depending on which side of the road i'm on when I go past Stacey Bushes

My MPG varies too much each tank to know which is better.

Its a hell of a lot better when I cycle to work though

[Cunning Plan]

[/img]

Still consistently getting over 100 more miles per tank

[Andy]

You took that photo doing 50MPH!!

Are you driving a derv?

[Cunning Plan]

Quoting: Andy

Quote

You took that photo doing 50MPH!!

Are you driving a derv?

My friend took it........... And anyway, I had to take it moving so the needle was out of the way of the trip counter

I wish it was a diesel. I would be expecting 750 out of a diesel Mondeo - is that right?

[Andy]

750?! Where did you get that astronomic figure from?

Mines a 1.8TD which used to return 500~550 on a good run, motorways plodding at 70 in fifth just off the turbo. It hardly sees that any more and after a few tuning mods from MEG it now doesn't see much like that

Unfortunately my gauge is shot in the dash (job for the near future) so I can get an accurate figure, but i like to fill up about the 350-400 miles on the trip clock, rarely am I putting in more than 35 litres. I think the tank on it is the same as a petrol so at 60 litres, theres plenty left, but I just don't like doing more than that...

BTW, if you do get a TD, the MKII is the best to mod simply because it doesn't have what would be known as an ECU. Its completely tunable(sp). Only limited to what boost the turbo can deliver and how much fuel the pump is capable of putting in. Over the last week I've up'd the max fuel boost which means it pretty much pulls like a train and on the turbo from 2000, much earlier than as standard. A lot better driver now.

[Cunning Plan]

Quoting: Andy

750?! Where did you get that astronomic figure from?

My mate's '97 1.9 TDi VW Passat...  We both spend around £60-65 to fill our tanks. He gets OVER 750 miles, I get just over 525ish (420 on non-BP fuel).

If the Diesel Mondeo isn't much more economical than my current 1800 petrol, then I think I should be looking to VW for my next daily!!

[HardRockCamaro]

A friend of mine had a 406 diesel.

It costs about £95 to fill the tank and gives an honest 900 miles for that.

My dad gets up to 700 miles out of his Focus TDCI which costs about £60 to fill.

the problem with the "out of a tank" figure is that tank sizes vary so a better figure would be mpg, based on the litres it takes you to fill the tank back up combined with what the trip computer says.

The number of miles you get per tank don't mean squat.

But...

I get 250 miles per £70 tank out of the Caddy purely around town in heavy traffic, but a whisker under 500 miles out of a tank on long, clear, gentle dual carriageway/motorway runs.  IF I drive to get it.