Sainsburys City Diesel or Super Diesel for 1.4 TDI (75)

Alexandra

Member
Hi,

I've owned my 2001 1.4 TDI (75) since the beginning of July this year and I have been using Sainsburys City diesel to fill up the tank. My mother also drives my car and when she fills up, she uses Sainsburys Super Diesel. I didn't know what she had been using until this morning and I am now worried that I may have done some damage to the car by mixing these two fuels.

I have had no problems starting the car or driving and the sound of the engine running seems fine. I did have the car serviced at the end of August and for a while after that, it took more than a few seconds for the [OK] sign to appear. Now when I turn the key half way, the [OK] sign appears immediately. This statement probably has no significance to my concern, but when I have used City Diesel I have had no problems with the [OK] start up.

I usually wait until the fuel sound kicks off before I fill up again and when using City Diesel i noted that my MPG was approximately 56mpg, which I believe is good because I only drive around London and many short distance routes.

I would like to stick to one kind of diesel but I actually don't know the difference between the two, other than the fact that I had always assumed city Diesel is cheaper. My mother exclaims that City Diesel is some kind of LPG fuel... duh!!,

So please - can any tell me which one is best for performance and which one is the best for MPG. I'd also love to hear your experiences of using diesel fuels on your TDI.

A
 
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City diesel probably contains a higher Bio diesel content, mixing them will make absolutely not one jot of difference. Personally I NEVER EVER use supermarket fuels and will only use premium brands in order of the following preference: Shell. BP, Esso, Total, Q8, the rest, and finally supermarket fuel if no other choice. That is based on 23 years of dieseling in aprox 30 different cars averaging 20k miles annually. There does seem to be objective evidence that the premium fuels such as V Power and Ultimate give smoother running etc but results of improved mpg vary. I do ocassionnally give my car a treat and fill up on V Powr or Ultimate or Excellium.
 
In twenty years of running diesels (Land Rover/Passat/A2) I have nearly always used Sainsburys for filling up & have never encountered any problems.
What have you experienced to cause you to avoid using supermarket fuels?
 
The problems a few years ago with tesco (not that I suffered) and in the early days when I used supermarket fuel i realised when i changed to Shell etc I had a cleaner exhaust and better economy. Plus these days the savings are so small (1 or 2p litre) it simply isn't worth it for me. I use around 35-40 litres a week so the saving is simply not enough to be willing to take the risk. And I have never had any problems with any engine etc in any diesel irrespective of the mileage.
 
I use Sainsburys City most every tank. It has a lower sulphur content hence the city title. Never even heard of them doing a Super Diesel perhaps it was their Super Unleaded Petrol hence the running problems?
 
Personally I wouldn't worry about buying fuel from Supermarkets in the UK as they all meet minimum standards. Having lived in the USA previously, the fuel out there is not only of a lower engery rating, but the quality various a lot more. The main issue over there is water in the fuel which freezes in the harsher winters over there.

Anyway the point I trying to make is that German cars are desgined to operate with lower quality fuel than those found in the UK, so UK Supermarket fuels are still pretty good quality by comparison to the fuels available around the world.
 
yes totally agree, i ran my old A2 on 100% home produced Biodiesel for months probably around 15k miles, and it never missed a beat, the A2 lump is a tough little beast.

John
 
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