Anyone else aware of this or am I talking b.....

[Evans Electric]

Is there any difference between brands of diesel  fuel  ?   

I ask because I generally fill up  (Combo van) at ASDA   and occasionally at local Gulf filling station  which costs more.     When filled with Gulf diesel  I'd swear the van accelerates  faster and generally performs better  ( or at least differently) .     Or I am imagining it  :C   I'm on ASDA at the moment but intend to try the other again when refilling.    I know it seems soft and I know that ASDA   don't make their own fuel as they don't make their own cornflakes.       Just wondering if anyone else has ever noticed a difference between fuels ....specially diesels?

I did some work at a Gulf distribution terminal  back in the day  and remember there being only two types of petrol   (Before unleaded)   one was called Gulf No-Nox  , can't remember the other stuff ....but tankers from ESSO, BP, SHELL, JET , etc  all filled up there .  

Wasn't aware of the diesel then  TBH.  

 

[Blue Duck]

I have used a diesel additive for years, It did wonders for a smokey old combo.

Wether its a placebo effect who knows?

:C

 

[rapparee]

No there is a difference, the cheaper stuff is without additives, you might also find a lower mpg on the cheaper stuff.

 

[ruston]

You are right rap, cheaper diesel does not have the additives that the better refined fuel has , especially a few years ago with the lack of decent anti waxing in the winter with the spot market fuels.

 

[Sharpend]

Well I hate to break the myth but fact is there is no difference with most actually only Sainsbury's fuel has no additives. Asda and Morrisons has the same as your standard garage fuels with only the premium having extra additives. 

This is straight from my neighbour who has been a tanker driver for the past 20 years. 

As for off the shelf additive they have the reputation of being snake oil however I recommend the new reddex diesel advanced, add to a 3/4 full tank on two consecutive fill ups then use once every 3000 miles. Noticed a much better response from the old girl, van performance improved too!! :innocent  

 

[ruston]

Well  to be fair we test diesels and petrol vehicles and use the additives when some fail the emission test, most times it clears the crud and no further work is required .

Certain supermarkets and 'not well known stations around here are notorious for dirty diesel to the extent of destroying the high pressure fuel pumps and have compensated the victims.

 

[pewter]

There is a massive difference.

with my old van 2003 VW T4 2.5 Tdi 80ps i did a comparison.

I ran it on normal for years and always got roughly the same miles on a full tank.

I then tried a tank of premium and is was loads better, it felt more responsive, faster and got more MPG. I ran it for a few tanks to confirm. I even tried going back to the cheap stuff and it was rubbish. So I switched and have never gone back.

Normal BP or similer i would get roughly 420 miles on a full tank

BP ultimate premium diesel i got around 450 miles on a full tank

I calculated the £ per mile and it was the same. So with premium i got a better driving vehicle for the same £ per mile.

I now have a T5 180ps BiTdi and would never dream of putting in a cheap branded fuel, let alone Tesco cheap stuff.

My car is an old 330i BMW, it drives so much better with the Shell Vmax fuel.

now when people try to tell me budget tyres are ok........

 

[phil d]

There is indeed a difference, the RON or research octane number, for a fuel does vary, the higher the number, the more compression required to cause detonation, that is why running a performance motor on cheap fuel can result in "pinking",or preignition, to give it it's correct name.

With diesel engines the higher octane number isn't as critical, however there are other factors, such as additives, or how clean the fuel is, it's a bit like a fine whisky, the more it's distilled, the better it is.

For a good few months now, I've been getting my diesel at Costco, it's a good bit cheaper than normal garages, but it's actually the premium grade diesel, my car, an 02 plate Picasso, was returning around 40 to the gallon, not great but better than my old petrol car.I ran some turbo cleaner through it and started using Costco diesel and I'm now getting around 48 mpg around town, a vast improvement in my opinion, not only that, but cheapo diesel is around £1 18 per litre at the supermarket, at Costco the premium is only £1 10 a litre, I have certainly found it worth going over to.

 

[Sidewinder]

Phil, I thought it was a Cetene number for diesel rather than an octane number?

It wouldn't be worth my while buying fuel in Costco, a 2.5 hr round trip and even if I get more to the gallon, the van only does about 20mpg at the moment, so 5 gallons of diesel to just fill the tank up!

 

[phil d]

Phil, I thought it was a Cetene number for diesel rather than an octane number?

It wouldn't be worth my while buying fuel in Costco, a 2.5 hr round trip and even if I get more to the gallon, the van only does about 20mpg at the moment, so 5 gallons of diesel to just fill the tank up!

you are correct, it is a Cetane number for diesel, however I only mentioned Octane numbers as most people haven't heard of the Cetane number, as you will know it's a very similar thing, just one is for petrol and one is for diesel.

 

[Evans Electric]

So we have some interesting opinions here   ( naturally)   .  Everyone I mentioned this to had said  "  You're going doolally Deke    all diesel is the same , produced to the same BS  number.    "   

BUt I can  "feel "  the difference , I'm sure I can ,   with ASDA diesel  the Combo drives like my old  BT Escort Van  ...0  - 60  in half an hour  and  would even fade out on gradual Motorway inclines  with 90 ton trucks steaming past .........  but with Gulf diesel  Combo  drives like a car  .   I'll swap back at next fill up and take more notice.  

This is NOT an advert for Gulf Diesel !!! 

 

[Evans Electric]

now when people try to tell me budget tyres are ok........

Ah  Budget tyres !   I had two fitted to front of the old Escort  Van ....looking good  ... tread on them like the Grand  Canyon .  

They seemed fine until I drive down a local hill , next to the school , in the rain .......  apply the brakes in the usual manner  at the bottom ....and glide majestically  into the main road  at the T junction   !!!!!  

Although they seemed to be tough beefy van tyres ....the rubber   composite was really hard , almost like plastic ...eveytime it rained  it was all over the place....  let the clutch out to pull away and the front wheels just spun on the wet road .    Live & learn    some make you never heard of  from Poland I think.  

 

[Blue Duck]

The shenzhen lucky tyre company... yes I've had dealings with them, caught a kerb and you could fit your head in the gash, don't get that with avons...made in England you know! 

...

 

[rapparee]

The shenzhen lucky tyre company... yes I've had dealings with them, caught a kerb and you could fit your head in the gash, don't get that with avons...made in England you know! 

...

I use Sportiva tyres, they're a budget brand owned by Continental, they're made in Europe but are the old technology, so they're the old Continental thread designs from about 10 years ago. Still pretty decent, and at least it isn't cheap Chinese sub par quality.

 

[Doc Hudson]

I use Sportiva tyres, they're a budget brand owned by Continental, they're made in Europe but are the old technology, so they're the old Continental thread designs from about 10 years ago. Still pretty decent, and at least it isn't cheap Chinese sub par quality.

From a conversation many years ago with a tyre fitter swapping my car tyres over, I understood that a lot of the "big name" reputable tyre companies have several sub-brands, some which could be classed as economy or budget tyres, but they are all manufactured, (often in the same factory, by the same staff), as the expensive brand name tyres. Most companies nowadays are part of larger corporate groups who are trying to diversify into all sectors of their market place to capture as much business as possible. Quick google of Goodyears brands brings up some names I have never heard of http://www.goodyear.eu/corporate_emea/our-company/our-brands.jsp

As rapparee suggests rather than just phasing out an old tread pattern or mold, it can be more economical to just re-brand it and carry on the production for a new market place. After all, it has been common place in the car industry even with whole car models being re badged and slightly modified. e.g. Daewoo's modified Astra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daewoo_Lanos  Why would tyres be any different?   Sometimes you can pay over the odds just because you think one brand name is superior to a lesser known name.

Doc H.

 

[Rob_the_rich]

...

 Sometimes you can pay over the odds just because you think one brand name is superior to a lesser known name.

NICEIC.....

 

[phil d]

When I did a lot of work at one of the farms, they had a fairly new Mitsubishi L200, and everybody was wary of it, so much that they were thinking of getting rid.The slightest bit of damp on the road and it was all over the place, Even I as a specially trained driver had trouble, I was negotiating a roundabout one evening at 30 mph and the back end came out, fortunately I had it under control. I suggested changing the tyres and took it to the place they had an account with,I explained the handling issues and suggested a softer compound rubber, the fitter agreed. I had all 4 changed and it handled a lot better, about a week later I was traveling back home and took the same roundabout at 50, it handled as though it was on rails,they loved it.

In some countries, people have different tyres for summer and winter,over here most people don't. same with tyres, to a lot of people a tyre is a tyre, so long as it's the correct size they're all the same right? Wrong, tread pattern and the rubber make up can massively affect the cars handling, hence why although a performance motor may have the same tyre size as a family saloon,the performance cars tyre may be 3 or 4 times dearer.

 

[ruston]

When I were a lad... and the winters were hard up here , and cars where nearly all  RWD  my old Dad used to fit the Town and Country tyres on the rears, it was the only way he could get to work .

 They had a really chunky treads and did help , but winters were winters then. When all else failed  the site had Austin Champs , if they could not get the personnel in it was usually domino.

 

[Sidewinder]

A very good friend of mine, he has moved dealerships now, used to be a Senior Technician at the local BMW dealership.

They had an tuned M3 or M5 I can't remember which now in for tyres, customer picked tyres, but they were not BMW approved.

He was wary about fitting them, so queried this with his boss, boss spoke to customer, customer insisted.

They had a policy of always test driving vehicles before they went back to customers, no matter what they were in for.

So, he test drove it.  All over the road, almost uncontrollable.  Bearing in mind, before he was allowed to drive any of the M cars, he had a week long driving course @ Millbrook and he had to pass or he would not have been allowed/insured.

He went back to the workshop a bit white, spoke to the boss, and agreed to swap the tyres to a set of approved to check that it was the tyres, not the car.

He was an ex-ATS guy so he was not convinced about the approved tyres thing.

He swapped them out, and it was a different car.

So much so, they got the customer in to test drive it with the approved tyres, wait until they were swapped for the ones the customer wanted and test drive it again.

The customer went with the approved tyres.

So, it does seem to make a difference!

 

[Blue Duck]

Cheap tyres on an M car... that's like Rachel Riley in a shell suit!  :redcard

msl1: