a) Ariel doesn't "reak" at all;
b) Asda tablets/powder don't dissolve properly, don't clean even light soiled loads, and you have to use twice as much to get a decent result. I have used the colour and moonflower powders and tablets, several times, in several machines, and I've always had the same results;
c) We wash an array of laundry from general everyday soiling, to gardening clothes, my mum and dads dogwalking jeans, baby stains from both ends, baby food, teatowels. Asda tablets left clothes smelling musty, didn't remove a variety of stains, even Sainsbury's tablets performed much better;
d) You don't pay more - a small dose of Ariel, Persil, Bold etc performs much better than a full dose of cheaper stuff - so it's basically false economy;
e) Ariel/Persil do have a subtle smell if you don't overdose;
f) My clothes never smell heavily of detergent nor softener - you know personally that I use small doses of softener - and I can always smell my aftershave as can everybody else from comments I get;
g) to my nose, varieties of Bold and Daz are very heavily scented compared to Ariel, not to mention Surf, but several times you have said in the past to me that you love the smell.
If you're getting a "pungent" scent leftover on your clothes, then either you're overdosing or simply the machine isn't rinsing out properly for whatever reason.
Jon