Diesel

My place of work thinks that the fancy stuff is so expensive that, should you fill a vehicle with it (even by accident), you have to pay for it out of your own pocket .

 

I’ve used “super diesel” in the past and not noticed any difference but mine is 28yr old with no emissions crap on it and runs fine on the cheap stuff. General running round I get 25-26mpg on the cheap or the dear stuff so no incentive there. I also run Dipetane treatment, more for injector pump protection from the low sulphur diesel now in use than anything else.

 

I periodically use a bottle of Forte injector cleaner and fuel additive which l think benefits the engine. But changing the fuel filter regularly is the best thing

 

Diesels, especially older ones, used for general runaround and town work benefit from an Italian tune now and again to work the engine hard and get it up to full operating temperature. Regular oil changes also more important on older stuff.
The basic engine design on my SUV is over 30 yrs old so quite a dirty engine compared to modern stuff. I can’t remember what the actual emission figures are but I think it’s around 2-3 Polar Bears per tank.

 

My car is a 2009 Peugeot diesel I've had since 2012 and I fill up at the supermarket, usually Tesco. Every 2nd fill up I add a shot of Millers Ecomax, as I only do short runs in the car generally, I give it a good blast now and then. It has taken us to France twice and both times I have managed 800 miles to the tank, brimming before getting on the eurotrain and then filling when almost home. My car is also serviced every year, all filters changed so for me supermarket diesel cannot be too bad. The bike however only gets Shell V Power as it is E5 so no supermarket for that.

 

2016 VW TDI with the particulate filter and other gizmos for pollution control.
It is sensitive to diesel quality, I always try to fill it with the best diesel around.
With lower quality diesel it becomes sluggish and the exhaust filter cleaning routine runs more often.

On the highway at a steady 120kmh I can get similar fuel economy than on my R1300gs

I do not use it much anymore, oil changes are being done by time, not by mileage. it is not been driven more than 7500kms per year. Also replace the fuel filter on every oil change.

 

I've never put premium diesel in any oil burner I've owned and never even gave it a thought. I run one of the older 2.2 Range Rover Evoque's and it gets all sorts thrown at it, a show pony it ain't. A and B roads, with excursions up to windfarm sites around the 2500 foot elevation. It gets beasted.
Never had a DPF or injector issue, just tyres and cheap diesel thrown at it.
Petrol - premium fuel every time in the bike and Audi.

 

Unless I am mistaken, the good fuel has a higher cetane rating than the normal stuff. I was told about 2-Ethyl-Hexyl Nitrate as few years ago and bought a bit of it, still have half a litre actually.
If it really is the main difference between the two fuel options, you can chuck a really tiny bit in to the tank when you fill up with the normal fuel. It's only about 50ml iirc and it works out a lot cheaper than premium fuel in the long run.

https://www.powerenhancer.co.uk/pro...99-pure-2-ethyl-hexyl-nitrate-cetane-booster/

The more contentious thing I was told to do is chuck in 300ml of low-ash 2-stroke mineral oil. I first did it on an old smokey Mazda MPV when I bought it used 10-years ago. I did eventually get rid of the smokiness but I cannot be sure it was anything I chucked in to the tank or just because I drove it long distances on autobahns.

I've done the same on every diesel I've bought since (never a new one) on every third fill-up for the first 10 or so. Now I just fill up with the expensive stuff in winter, probably every 3-fills. Nothing technical or scientific about it, just an unexplanable feeling that I am doing something good for the engine. I also drive a 320D.

 

I've had three oil burners, A 54 plate Renault Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi, a 08 plate VW Touran 2.0 TDi Sport, and currently a VW Touran 2.0 TDi SLE.

SWMBO and I and our 2 daughters have been camping and touring all over France every year since 2007 and dipping into Belgium, Germany, Spain and Switzerland on those trips. The VWs have also been "ambulances" (for our aging parents) and removal vans nationally for our daughters.

The Renault was the worst car I've ever owned; bought from new and was a complete disaster 56,000 miles in 5.5 years (2 turbos, 1 clutch, 2 sets of discs front and rear, and spent 9 months of my last year of ownership in the garage) ran on regular diesel only, but with a history like that it doesn't really prove anything.

The 08 Touran bought in 2011 with 21,000 miles on the clock and traded in 13yrs later for the current Touran with 186,000 miles on the clock (Original clutch, original exhaust, one replacement waste gate (under warranty) after ~3 years).

The waste gate was clogged with carbon and not closing properly, so I moved to Shell V-Power and have stayed with that and premium diesel ever since. I can feel an improvement in performance and noticed an improvement mileage; the 08 Touran consistently averaging 49mpg over its life(I felt like I'd shot the dog when I traded it in last year).

Is premium economical? For me I'd say yes, iff the premium is ~9pence per litre: Over that (as some Shell garages are wont to do) and I'd say probably not, but the life I got out of the first Touran would suggest that the chemicals do keep the engine in tip top condition.

The "new" Touran is currently averaging ~52mpg so I don't see me changing to regular.

The bike is only run on E5 premium petrol (usually Shell V-Power) for the reasons expressed in this and other threads.

 

Yes, on my previous BM, a 420d Grand Coupé I could get over 60 mpg on a run. I tend to stick with Shell or BP after a tank fill at Tescos left us with producing the most obnoxious smell imaginable. It took a number of refills to get rid of the smell. My current X3 30d is giving 40.2 average at the moment which, again, I’m amazed at.

With regard to using premium gas in the bikes, I again tend to stick with Shell or BP and probably do it 50% of the time. I need to check out Esso premium gas as I believe it is ethanol free.

 

Yes, on my previous BM, a 420d Grand Coupé I could get over 60 mpg on a run. I tend to stick with Shell or BP after a tank fill at Tescos left us with producing the most obnoxious smell imaginable. It took a number of refills to get rid of the smell. My current X3 30d is giving 40.2 average at the moment which, again, I’m amazed at.

With regard to using premium gas in the bikes, I again tend to stick with Shell or BP and probably do it 50% of the time. I need to check out Esso premium gas as I believe it is ethanol free.