Originally Posted by Laird Scooby (Post 2723951)

I used to use Sainsburys as they had a barrelage agreement with BP for many years (like 30 to my certain knowledge) hence getting Nectar points on BP fuel as well as Sainsburys.

If i couldn't get Sainsburys then i would use BP. However, before i moved to where i am now, there was once only Tesco and a couple of small independent stations near me that sold petrol so i ended up using Tesco for a while. This was on my other beast and most of the time, i was lucky to see 22mpg. I switched to BP and lo and behold, 33mpg easily. This bore out previous experiences over decades starting with a company van in 1989 that ran best on Sainsburys or BP diesel (45mpg and went well) but ran sluggishly and only returned 30-32mpg on any other.
Also a previous car (again an Astra diesel estate, bought as a stop gap in a hurry) was only doing about 30mpg to and from work on Tesco fuel.

One day we were going out for the day and i happened to stop at Sainsburys for fuel. As i pulled away it spun the wheels all the way across the forecourt, went like the clappers throughout that day and returned 47mpg over the week to and from work as well as that day.

Various other similar examples but the most recent was my 760. Normally it did 25-26mpg on Sainsburys/BP but then the Nectar points disappeared from BP and went on to Esso. Meanwhile on Sainsburys fuel it dropped to 14mpg. This was coincidental with an MoT test during which, obviously the handbrake was tested but afterwards i had a permanent squeal from the left rear wheel.
At first i thought that was the cause of my lack of economy then it dawned on me - Nectar points no longer on BP? BP no longer supply Sainsburys! :rolleyes:

Tried Esso, no improvement. Switched to BP - back up to 21mpg and yes, there is a problem with the N/S handbrake, it's been binding and still is but is getting easier. Now the mpg is up to 22-24mpg on BP Ultimate (i always use the high octane stuff unless unavailable) and last MoT the handbake just scraped through on the N/S (i have new disc/drums, handbrake shoes, pads, flexis etc all waiting to be fitted) more or less proving my theory about it binding slightly.

Switching back to Sainsburys briefly after getting 21mpg on BP, the mpg again dropped to 14-16, presumably some BP still in the tank keeping it a little higher but a permanent switch to BP has kept the improvement there.

With all that in mind, i now view supermarket fuel as an emergency "Splash'n'dash" to get me home and/or the nearest BP and despite that on the face of it, supermarket fuel is generally 10% cheaper, the fact it take 50% more fuel to go the same distance means it's not viable to use.

Originally Posted by Kev0607 (Post 2723986)

I did put Esso fuel in my car (S80 P3 D5) in the past & found that it just didn't seem to do anywhere near the mpg it was supposed to be doing. I changed to Texaco (nearest to me) & the mpg went up, quite drastically.

I found Shell V Power Diesel made a big difference, not so much to the economy, but the car definitely felt more responsive on the throttle. I give it a treat every so often to some of this. :teeth_smile:

I've not put any BP diesel in it yet, but there's one or two BP stations that aren't too far away.

Many use supermarket fuel & never have an issue (Bashy above for example), hence why I asked the question on his thoughts on its quality. My personal feeling is although there's a standard that all fuels must meet, in my experience, supermarket fuel doesn't give the same fuel economy as going to places like Texaco, BP etc. So what you save per litre by going to the supermarket for fuel really isn't that much, if anything because your car is doing less mpg.

I can only speak for my personal experience though.

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby (Post 2723995)

Pretty similar experience to me then except you used Texaco and i used BP. Can't remember the last time i saw a Texaco station to be honest at least round ehre.

If you do give BP a go, something i have found if you've run long-term on a different fuel is it takes a tankful or two before the BP start working better, previous owner of my Volvo used Tesco for 10 years, took a while on the Sainsburys when i first got it then BP when Sainsburys changed their supplier for the mpg to come up, first tank or two was slightly less as it purged the other fuels (inc Shell V-Power - i tried it when it first appeared in the 760 and it ran well with reasonable economy then it dropped off in all areas - on another forum i'm on similar was found on the cars on there) from the system.

Originally Posted by Kev0607 (Post 2723998)

I haven't actually been to a BP garage before! I've passed many of them though, so I'm a BP noob. :tounge_smile:

Is there like a premium style or "V Power" variant in BP's fuel, albeit with a different name? (Diesel for me)

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby (Post 2724051)

Ultimate - that's the premium version in both petrol and diesel. They're usually fairly well marked as to whether it's petrol or diesel and the nozzle handle is a good clue as well, green for petrol and black for diesel but if you happen to be colour blind that might not be any help. It's quite a bright green though so still fairly easy.

Originally Posted by Kev0607 (Post 2724120)

Thanks for confirming that.

Is there also a regular diesel so to speak, i.e. not premium?

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby (Post 2724051)

Ultimate - that's the premium version in both petrol and diesel. They're usually fairly well marked as to whether it's petrol or diesel and the nozzle handle is a good clue as well, green for petrol and black for diesel but if you happen to be colour blind that might not be any help. It's quite a bright green though so still fairly easy.