IS PREMIUM DIESEL REALLY WORTH IT?? 💸

Let us know what you think about this test in the comments section. If you have tested any 'racing' diesel fuels yourself we would love to know!

The amusing thing about tests like this, is the data will be there in black and white, yet people will still be adamant that their choice is better for reasons.

Your base fuel comes usually from the local refinery. It makes sense logistically when you think about it. In Southampton for example, the local refinery is the Exxon (Esso) refinery at Fawley. So you will see Shell, Mobil, Total, ASDA, Tesco etc tankers rocking up to fuel up. The drivers then add a particular additive package to the tank. By the time the lorry has been around a couple of roundabouts on the A326 it is considered "mixed to perfection". However the base fuel for them all is Esso. Only the additive package differentiates them.

People have tried these tests over the years but I don't think anyone has ever gone as In depth as you guys have! Good to know I can continue buying tesco diesel!

I used to oversee the department for Tesco that handled initial legal complaints. We used to see quite a few claims from customers where their mechanic advised them that the supermarket fuel had damaged their engine. We would normally ask for an independent engineers report and in all my years there, not one of them showed that the supermarket fuel was to blame. It was usually down to misdiagnosis or lazy initial fault finding. The fuel is mostly all the same, only the additive is different. Tesco used to get their additive from a major oil company and while it wasn't the most up to date 'blend' it wasn't far behind what you would find the oil companies producing. Really cool video, thanks for taking the time to make it.

Excellent piece of work, Ryan. Considerable time, effort and cost invested in the project is very much appreciated.

Thanks Ryan and the team. We appreciate your time.

Always said this. To get the most of of a turbo diesel, let it warm up, use plenty of throttle at low-er revs, cane it every now and again, don’t leave idling give a few seconds for turbo to stop before shutting down. Never had an engine/turbo failure, never had black smoke, always had good power.

We have 3 deliveries of diesel per week at 36,000 litres a time, talking to the delivery driver and he told me that all diesel is identical out of a refinery, the only difference is the phial of additive that the driver is given to put in each pot in the tank including the red dye for agricultural fuel which reinforces your results.

Thank you guys... this was a very comprehensive video that must have took you forever to make... very much appreciated 👏

BP Ultimate Diesel all the way, highest cetane rating in the UK. Shell V Power has good friction modifiers for the diesel fuel pump, help keep the engine quieter on journeys...

Fantastic! Finally somebody who really does a proper test. Subscribed to your channel after seeing this video.

Top work! Happy with your results. I personally run supermarket fuel with the ehn-99 and I've always felt the car was not faster but felt a bit smoother and eager. Deffo interested in seeing the "race diesel" test!

cant think of no other team to do this experiment, hats off to you!!

Great test thanks! I believe super diesel retailers pitch is better engine efficiency leading to better economy and a cleaner engine. As a mechanical engineer (retired) I believe the super diesel is ideal for low mileage, short local running vehicles where the engine never really gets up to operational temperature, it runs cleaner assisting with a reduction in carbon build up. It is absolutely pointless using super diesel in high mileage vehicles, particularly where higher speeds lead to optimal engine operational temperature, motorway use etc, in this situation carbon build up is minimal. I run a diesel 3.0 Macan covering something like 3k a year most of that very local cold running so I use super diesel. On the rare occasion I do a long hot run motorway journey it’s normal diesel. So basically I use super diesel to assist in keeping my engine internals slightly cleaner thereby maintaining engine life longevity and overall efficiency and at 82k it runs like it’s covered 8k returning a local average fuel consumption of 39 mpg and on that long run 55 mpg!

I’ve never noticed any performance difference what ever diesel I used, I have used the Dipetane as it was meant to heat the dpf up quicker and to higher temps. I never had any issues so I assume it worked 🤷🏻‍♂️ Love it you use the cheapest fuels in the race car, keepin’ it real 👍🏻

Diesel is diesel, you can boost the cetane rating but realistically it wont make much if any noticeable difference. This test is even run on a highly tuned engine, the fact that theres no difference here proves the point. Octane rating makes a difference in petrol but diesel is compression ignition anyway. Best thing to do is ensure your injector are clean. 2.0TDI TT with 180k miles on it here, never had engine issues on standard fuels.

Great work, Ryan. Thanks a lot for the time and effort, never bought diesel from Shell due to price, usually buy what's closer to me and that's Tesco and Morrisons.

Superb test lads, thank you for doing this. Proves so many points. Simply use supermarket diesel and use a decent cleaning additive once a month depending on the mileage you do. 👍

Although not comparing apples with apples, we can look at the fuelling of HGVs. There engines are as complex in their operation as any comparable car ICE, with sophisticated emission reduction systems. They cover vast distances per annum, far in excess of the average car driver and often work in arduous conditions under high engine loads, where fuel consumption can be measured in gallons per mile! Engine performance is massively important, but to most operators engine performance is secondary to fuel economy. Fuel cost being the largest expenditure to any operator, it would be obvious that any potential gains from using “premium” fuels, especially in economy terms would have been embraced by the haulage industry long ago.