[Lily]

We've chatted about this before here in the community, but it's one of those questions that always pops back up: Is supermarket fuel really worse for your car than branded stuff? ⛽

Here's the gist from what recent research says;

• All fuel in the UK has to meet the same legal standards, so supermarket petrol won't harm your car any more than branded. (Which?)
• Branded fuels often add extra detergents and fancy additives (think Shell V-Power, BP Ultimate) which might keep engines a bit cleaner, though most everyday drivers won't notice a huge difference (Motor Match)
• Supermarket fuel is usually cheaper, A few pence per litre, sometimes more. over time that adds up! (Motia)

So... what do you reckon?

Do you stick to supermarket fuel, swear by the "posh stuff", or mix and match depending on price? Any stories from your own tank-filling adventures? 🚗💬

By the way, for daily price tracking and insight into how fuel prices are set, check out RAC's Fuel Watch tool to see how supermarkets compare with other retailers.

[Santa]

I'm quite happy with E10 petrol with 10% ethanol from Tesco. (I get points on my card, too). This is the fuel that my car engine was designed to run on.

[Rolebama]

All fuels leave the refinery in the same state. It is down to retailers as to what they want added; cold-start assist, engine cleaner, extra mpg etc additives, before the tankers leave the site. There is absolutely nothing wrong with supermarket fuels, they just have lesser, or no, additives of a particular type. The exception to this is that the supermarkets tend to have cold-start additives in the event of particularly cold weather.

[olduser]

Modern cars are all designed for E10 fuel, there may be a few older cars about who will have problems with E10 but it will be ancillary parts rather then the engine, they will run on E5.

After that there is nothing to worry about, if the car gets serviced as required.
As for economy, keeping tyres at the correct pressure will probably have more effect then any fancy fuel.

[NMNeil]

My thoughts are that supermarket petrol would be better.
Petrol degrades over time, and anyone who has got a whiff of the fuel in a lawnmower after storing it over winter will attest to that.
The supermarkets will have sold all their stock well before the small garage, so your are more likely to get fresh petrol will less degradation and possible water contamination.

[Lily]

Originally Posted by Santa

I'm quite happy with E10 petrol with 10% ethanol from Tesco.

As Motia say and confrimed by RAC's Fuel Watch, it tends to be cheaper too.

[Nick]

For sure - I pretty much always fill up at my local Asda and have never questioned the quality or performance - I do always clock when the price goes up a few pence though! Remember when we were looking at 169p at one point?! Blimey!

[Drivingforfun]

I don't tend to worry, in fact I'll often seek out a Tesco as they do 99 octane fuel. My engine was designed to run on 98 octane fuel but BP is 97 octane and there aren't many Shells round here

Premium Tesco fuel is usually about 8p more a litre, whereas I've seen brands add 15-25p+ a litre, onto the already more costly base price... I often get premium fuel for the price of standard branded fuel, seems like a nice sweet spot to me for price : product

The only I find the pumps at the branded filling stations tend to be higher pressure, so takes less time to fill the tank 😆