reb78 Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Yesterday i drove to Exeter from London in my 110, 200tdi. I had a full tank of BP Ultimate when i left and the performance was excellent - it sat happily at 80 (on the speedo so about 75mph on GPS) most of the way (overdrive engaged), even on inclines. I thought it was responsive and really ran quite well. Before i left Exeter tonight i visited a friend on the south coast and couldnt find anywhere near him to fill up other than a tesco garage. The difference in performance was shocking!! I couldnt maintain 70mph on the speedo (even on the flats a lot of the time) and the engine was running hotter and used more fuel - probably because it needed more of the loud pedal to keep it moving at a decent pace! The wind wasnt really any different to when i was driving earlier today - the real difference was when i changed the fuel. Before today i never thought it made any difference where i filled up, but now i'm seriously wondering if that 6ppl extra for the better fuel is worth it! I only put the ultimate in in the first place as i thought it might cope with the colder weather better, but i may stick with it from now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 the current cold air will have more affect than just changing the fuel, mu 200 goes really well with all this very cold air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 Thats what i thought, but it was even colder after filling up with the tesco fuel, so by that rationale it should have run even better on the way back. I normally wouldnt bother but i'm seriously thinking of wasting my time complaining to tesco! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brighouse shed Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 with you on BP ultimate. I filled up my mondeo with it last week and after double taking at £90 to fill up set off. I ran for 720 miles before next fill usually i get about 620-650 so a good 10% economy and it was more responsive. Yet to fill the 90. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 with you on BP ultimate. I filled up my mondeo with it last week and after double taking at £90 to fill up set off. I ran for 720 miles before next fill usually i get about 620-650 so a good 10% economy and it was more responsive. Yet to fill the 90. I cant wait for this tank to run down properly so i can re-fill with some better stuff now. I was suprised it ran so well and like Ralph said i put it down to the cold air, but the immediate change upon re-fuelling really made me wonder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammoj28 Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Cant say iv noticed much of a performance difference between brands but I must admit the Tesco stuff doesnt seem to last anywhere near as long as the likes of Shell or BP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 Cant say iv noticed much of a performance difference between brands but I must admit the Tesco stuff doesnt seem to last anywhere near as long as the likes of Shell or BP. Normally that would have been my reply. That is until yesterday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Cant say iv noticed much of a performance difference between brands but I must admit the Tesco stuff doesnt seem to last anywhere near as long as the likes of Shell or BP. it all comes from the same storage depots but has different additives for the different brands, at buncefield for example there will be tankers in various liveries including Tesco's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wunntenn Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 My 200 tdi runs very roughly on Tesco fuel. Noisy and sluggish. Refuse to use it unless a last resort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_mcp Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Interesting thread. I filled up with Shell vPower a week or so ago and noticed no difference whatsoever, I wonder if there is a vast difference between Shell & BP? Also, I assume your tyre pressures/no. of passengers etc didn't change dramatically between the two journeys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potato head Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 My 90 with a disco 200tdi transplant is getting 4 mpg less than it was 2 months ago on fuel from the same garage (Sainsburys)- and that's after a service. Think I might try the ultimate and see what the difference is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 Interesting thread. I filled up with Shell vPower a week or so ago and noticed no difference whatsoever, I wonder if there is a vast difference between Shell & BP? Also, I assume your tyre pressures/no. of passengers etc didn't change dramatically between the two journeys? No. Thats the thing - nothing changed (same load, same roads, same weather, same load on the electrics!). The only thing different was the fuel. On the way to devon, i was getting it to trundle along with the needle on 85 a lot of the time. On the way back, it struggled to stick the needle at 70. I wouldnt have posted it up normally, but i was so shocked by the difference. Its running really well at the moment otherwise, so i'm convinced its nothing mechanical. With regard to noticing the difference, i dont think i would have done if i wasnt on a motorway journey - i dont notice any difference just driving around town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 getting it to trundle along with the needle on 85 naughty boy, good job you didn't get stopped then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 naughty boy, good job you didn't get stopped then Not too naughty - the GPS was reading about 75, but 85 sounds better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillis Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 i find that tesco fuel doesnt go very far and also morrisons doesnt go as far, BP gets more miles to gallon.. must be all the different additives they use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicks90 Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 the difference between the performance you had going from london to exeter, compared to the drive back to london is easy to explain for 2 reasons. 1) the earth rotates to the east, so driving west you are covering more distance for the same time period 2) your landy doesnt like london and 'pulled a face', as it wanted to stay in an area that is pretty and has some lovely greenlanes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 the difference between the performance you had going from london to exeter, compared to the drive back to london is easy to explain for 2 reasons. 1) the earth rotates to the east, so driving west you are covering more distance for the same time period 2) your landy doesnt like london and 'pulled a face', as it wanted to stay in an area that is pretty and has some lovely greenlanes. Both could easily be true - especially number 2! I have told him that one day we may settle down there so for now he has to be content getting me from a to b! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Freak Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 It's all downhill going west and usually a following wind... Coming back is uphill and headwind, albeit not a gale.... Now obviously the above may not be true ! :-) I actualy work for Tesco and what Ralph says is largely true, we do buy from the likes of BP, but I doubt we will be buying their Ultimate and selling it as a standard fuel. So there may well be a difference! They wouldn't call it Ultimate if they didn't believe they could demonstrate a benefit or Trading Standards would be all over them! The big challenge is if the difference in performance is worth the difference in price. I always use Tesco diesel in the BMW and it regularly returns over 48MPG (520 Diesel Touring jobbie..) It may be the modern Diesel engines have numerous sensors and clever ECU's that compensate for different fuels, where the Land Rover 200 / 300TDi will just try and use what it's given in the only way it knows how... If one fuel delivers more bang per squirt, then it's a winner ! As for VPower etc, that will also depend on the petrol engines having knock sensors and an ECU that adjusts to suit. I say, if it works for you, you feel it's good value for money, use it.... Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C18RCH Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 My 200tdi was really suffering on performance. Tried changing the filters, checking pumps, different fuels etc. Then I found a small split in the bottom turbo hose. Replaced and is back to normal now. Check your turbo hoses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulN Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 " I cant wait for this tank to run down properly so i can re-fill with some better stuff now. " Would be very interested to hear the results again after you do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 The only time i use tesco is when i get the 5p off, otherwise it is asda, which gives me about 1.25mpg more on average. rocky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyNissanPrairie Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 my 2.5NA hates Tesco fuel, its louder and down on power when compared to even normal Shell fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 Well. I drove to Lincolnshire from London last night. It was performing ok. Still not much more than 75mph on the flat on the speedo. Ran the rest of the tesco stuff out out of the tank and re-filled with BP ultimate - i think i noticed the difference pretty quickly. It ran cooler and that extra 10mph was back when i wanted it! (couldnt really use the extra mph much last night in case the roads were icy, but they were ok to try it out briefly on the M1). For about £3-4 more per tank, i think i'll run with this for a while - its nicer driving a more responsive vehicle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat_pending Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 All very interesting, I can say I've never found any noticeable difference between any of the fuels, I chuck in whatever is cheapest or to hand. All fuel must be made to a minimum standard. I will say most older (pre electronic) Diesels run better when there is a high moisture content in the air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnip Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 Really interesting topic.............but no figures?? what genuine tank top to tank top mpg are you guys getting from your 200 tdi defenders? My ex Mod 90 was doing 30 mpg on mixed use keeping below 60 on the motorway with a 2.5 NA motor and Goodyear G90s 33 on a good day. - now with the 200 tdi gen defender motor.........I struggle for 28? I know I use the power a bit more - but same truck same tyres........Im dissaponted! The Devon run thing? I have made this run many times in / on many vehicles. It is very noticable particularly on a bike that there is a strong prevailing wind from Devon right up the M5 - it really makes a big difference!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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