Fuel

[Toms306]

Lol, the fiver I saved there has paid for my dinner tonight...

[Jonny81191]

I used to run my HDi on ASDA's finest, stuck a few tanks of vpower in it at one point and didn't notice any difference, so went back to the ASDA stuff. It's worth noting I did rag it everywhere though, it saw 3 figures for sustained periods daily, and was airborne at least twice a week. Used to get 42mpg from it too.

[Toms306]

I take it you live on a private road. Surprised you noticed no difference between ASDA and V Power though, especially with yours being stage 3!

[Jonny81191]

I take it you live on a private road.  Surprised you noticed no difference between ASDA and V Power though, especially with yours being stage 3!

No, I lived in the north, with quiet country roads that I genuinely know very well, and a 19 year old's attitude of no fucks given.

[happypug]

Here I go as follow up to Y/days rant re different fuels.   Personally I use shell/bp  owing to having refined fuels.   All the s/market fuels are low grade stuff. ok for tractors etc.  My hdi has no power if I use their stuff.   Ironically I have been running around with a seized rear caliper which was squealing like a pig!!!  It was evident the pads nearly metal to metal, so has not been helping economy.      The moral in this is to check your calipers are ok.  

[Pebbles167]

The fuel comes from the same place, but fuel companies such as Shell, Esso and Texaco etc. have their own additives mixed in. That's what you're paying the premium for.

For my bike I tend to use Esso as there is one close to me and they do a high octane unleaded. But if needed I wouldn't hesitate to use a supermarket on occasion.

For my cars I use whatever is available.

[Mattcheese31]

Seized calliper won't improve economy tho, that much is true lol

[Redordead89]

They do do ultimate diesel but its 10p more per litre, so I stuck with the standard lol.

That's why i prefer not to look at the price of vpower diesel, ignorance is bliss

Me too!

[Piggy]

Its mostly in our heads if Im honest unless you use the higher octane in a well tuned perv.
I've never noticed any difference to using my local fuel stations bp/shell/esso. Its just whichever is doing its cheap day that week or bonus on nectar or clubcard!

[1616six]

Its mostly in our heads if Im honest 

It's not.

Most people are aware that Morrisons add a lot of bio into their diesel, they all use different amounts of additives. I had photos a while ago of what Morrisons diesel looked like after it made my car kangaroo and bog, had to have the tank drained & I had a photo of the watery dark shite that came out. Brimmed with Shell & it was fine, never had an issue since.

[Pebbles167]

It's strange how some fuels upset cars. In my experience they can usually handle any fuel, even if dirty.

My friend ran his Vauxhall Cavalier 1.8 on a proper budget, which meant filling it up with whatever shit he could find lying about. Reminded me of the Back to the future II scene, where a wide eyed Doc brown throws the contents of the nearest rubbish bin into the Delorean, whilst exclaiming "I need fuel!"

Funniest is when he sometimes threw in a big load of Petrol/Diesel/Oil mix. Smoked like hell but ran fine. He did stuff like this for years.

[RetroPug]

I've always run every car I've ever owned on various fuels from big chains and local places.

The fiesta gets either shell fuelsave or more commonly cheap fuel from a local independent place and until I reset the meter last week it had averaged 71.5mpg over 6 months.

The morrisons issue sounds like a dodgy batch or poorly maintained tank at the station or something.

[Toms306]

71mpg from your DV6? I know the Fiesta must be lighter but still that's ridiculous. Have you actually brim tested it yet?

[Piggy]

Its mostly in our heads if Im honest 

It's not.

Most people are aware that Morrisons add a lot of bio into their diesel, they all use different amounts of additives. I had photos a while ago of what Morrisons diesel looked like after it made my car kangaroo and bog, had to have the tank drained & I had a photo of the watery dark shite that came out. Brimmed with Shell & it was fine, never had an issue since.

I said mostly. I recall what happened with you and know of a couple other similar cases.

As been highlighted though, most fuels we buy are identical just with the odd additive in it.

[Matt-Rallye]

My first HDi would run on absolutely anything! My second one died as soon as i put some scrap yard derv in it so i didnt save any money in the end Goddam pressure reg

[306carter]

Most of the fuel is same from Murco, Gulf, Asda ect. I'm over at Immingham Dock a lot with work, I've seen various tankers all different brands filling up from the same place.

[Redordead89]

Most of the fuel is same from Murco, Gulf, Asda ect. I'm over at Immingham Dock a lot with work, I've seen various tankers all different brands filling up from the same place.

One of the main reasons I stick with the actual oil giants ( BP + Shell ) finest!
All my Hdi 306's for the most part ran fine on most fuels but with the 307 with its over sensitive sensors and dpf etc I only use good stuff!

[Toms306]

I think people are missing the point about the additives... The additives are there to keep the system clean, reduce soot, ease cold starts, stop cold gelling (in winter) amongst other things. Yes the basic fuel is all the same essentially, but the base of most drinks is water...surprising what difference a bit of additive makes...

[Pebbles167]

I think Tom is pretty accurate there.

[Poodle]

Completely agree with Tom, while the additives' effects may not be entirely apparent in the immediate future there is a significant difference. Have a google.

[lolsteve]

Run a bit of bio in your hdi every so often that'll clear it out 

Then just use asda fuel. ;

 I'm not entirely clued up on diesels as it's the devils fuel but for petrol using too high an octane such as v power on an engine nit mapped for it will loose power. Don't worry gti6 owners because you have a knock sensor I'm sure the default values are higher hence the positive feedback ffom momentum 99 
However engines like the k series or tu that don't have a knock sensor will be best suited for 95 octane

[RetroPug]

71mpg from your DV6?  I know the Fiesta must be lighter but still that's ridiculous.  Have you actually brim tested it yet?

Lifetime average on the gauge was 71.5 until I reset it. Now been driving more "normally" and got 58.something to a tank.

No I haven't measured MPG by brimming the tank, but to get that figure I've been very deliberately driving as economically as possible. The gauge might be out a bit but surely not by a huge amount.

So, not exceeding 55mph, holding as constant a speed as possible, backing off from drivers in front so that I can coast down, using downhills to accelerate so that I can coast up the 2nd half of an uphill bit, accelerating very slowly, always coasting down instead of using brakes, etc. I'm a vehicle test and development engineer for a living, part of which is fuel economy testing but I haven't done much of that at all. That technique has mostly been refined since owning the fiesta and seeing what works and what doesn't.

I reckon driving in the same way would yield good MPG from the focus. I've tried driving economically with various other vehicles, albeit briefly and got good MPG figures with them as well.

[Matt-Rallye]

Run a bit of bio in your hdi every so often that'll clear it out 

Then just use asda fuel. ;

 I'm not entirely clued up on diesels as it's the devils fuel but for petrol using too high an octane such as v power on an engine nit mapped for it will loose power. Don't worry gti6 owners because you have a knock sensor I'm sure the default values are higher hence the positive feedback ffom momentum 99 
However engines like the k series or tu that don't have a knock sensor will be best suited for 95 octane

Just use AvGas.

[Toms306]

The gauge can be pretty far out either way, mines only been bang on once or twice so far (I have a whole MPG spreadsheet ), mine also gets less accurate the longer it's left, or the lower the tank is, but has been no more than 3 out so far I must admit.

I can't get good MPG from it, so I've gone the other way now instead, 80+mph on the motorway and quick pull aways everywhere and.....the MPG is still exactly the same. 55mpg one tank, 56mpg the next and that pattern is constant. Before I moved (extra 10 mile B road every drive) was getting 57mpg one tank and 59 the next. Have only ever seen 60mpg once in almost a year/10k miles.

I couldn't keep under 55 on the dual carriageway admittedly, but was only doing a sat nav 65 on cruise before, and I was doing the coasting, holding momentum, gentle pull aways etc, I was taught to drive economically so have followed that ever since. Used to get over 65mpg on the mapped Golf on a 'run' (50 mile round trip mostly at 75 on cruise) but dropped to around 60 over the whole tank as I was sitting in rush hour traffic 4 times a day every day for college and drove like c*nt the rest of the time...coal and understeer ftw.

I can't believe the DPF would make so much difference, and the weight isn't a huge amount more on the Focus. What sort of rpm are you at in 5th cruising?

[RetroPug]

At 70mph it's about 2650 which is too high...a 6th gear would be good.

[Toms306]

Wow, definitely a different 'box then!

Mines 2250 at 70ish in 5th, thought that was bad enough lol!!

[Matt-Rallye]

I'll just leave this here My daily 175bhp DCi RS megane.

[Toms306]

Yawn, anyone can make big numbers on the screen lol, I'll bet your real tank average is nowhere near that.

I take it you've removed the DPF if they come with one? I lost 5mpg on the computer this morning with a regen.

[RetroPug]

Matt what does that average consist of?

[Anton]

Can you 5 speed DV6 boys fit a 6 speed gearbox? Is it more economical? All the Volvos came with a 6 speed box afaik