Quality of Petrol

[vectra.lee]

Just wanted to start a discussion based on what I noticed.Partly because I love my Veccy, and also because my Veccy asks for PULP, I've avoided using petrol from those individual service stations with names like Ezyway, Enhance etc...Since I bought my Veccy in March this year I've always used PULP 98 from Caltex Woolies, thought I'd save $2/fill.The question I wanna ask really comes down to a debate that I've read about before: Is PULP 98 really better than ULP 91 or PULP 95?However, my question is slightly different.I'm not really looking for statistics, because I think as driving enthusiasts, we have a feel for our cars and so we're capable of making our own judgements.Yesterday I tried Shell's V-Power and felt a difference compared to Vortex 98 from Caltex.If you're a Shell user, have you noticed this yourself?Basically, what petrol do you prefer and have you experienced any differences between Shell, Caltex, Mobil and BP?

[guy 27]

i'm sure this topic has been covered a few times in the past.

either way though. I only ever run on BP 98 unless its unavalible in which case i'll use mobil 98.

[Nurb608]

I've been running Shell 98 but have been recently advised to run the BP Ultimate. The only reason being that it will burn cleaner. Only downside compared to the Shell 98 though is that at very hot temps with the BP Ultimate, the engine may retard slightly before what it would if running the Shell.

The only time your likely to see these temps though are when your on the track.

[dutchy]

I'll get it wherever I can, as long as it's 98.

[Bloodnok]

I'm sure I've read somewhere (but now can't find a reference) that retailers in each specific area all get their petrol from the same source anyway to cut down on shipping costs - so there is essentially no difference in the petrol available between different brands in a specific area.

There is more variability with Ethanol based fuels. The ethanol content can vary - suppliers reduce the percentage at certain times of the year (and also recently due to cyclone inspired lack of supply). Only one chain (AFAIK) insists on mixing their own blend (obtaining the petrol from the area supplier, but using their own ethanol supply), and can thus guarantee the percentage is correct. This is why stations are often reluctant to quote an Octane number for Ethanol petrol - or quote a lower one than a true 10% Ethanol blend would give.

Another issue with ethanol is that it can hold water in suspension. So contamination of ethanol petrol with water isn't anywhere near as obvious as with non-ethanol blends.

[Nurb608]

I'm sure I've read somewhere (but now can't find a reference) that retailers in specific all get their petrol from the same source anyway - so there is essentially no difference in the petrol available between different brands in a specific area.

Pretty sure BP and Shell get their base petrol from the same place, however it's the additional cleaning agents etc that get added to it that make it slightly different.

[Bloodnok]

I think there's a few fairly major chains who are missing from the poll. I use one on a regular basis, and I've had to tick "Random Individual Business" despite them being a national chain...

[poita]

If it's not on the poll, just click the last one and say who it is

[Bloodnok]

If it's not on the poll, just click the last one and say who it is

Okay, the one vote for 'random individual businesses' so far is actually for United Petroleum.

[Vectracious]

Seat of the pants performance testing for differences in fuel is notoriously unreliable, no matter how much of an enthusiast you are ;-)



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[poita]

with my orange pos bp ultimate is all i use, getting great mileage out of it

the shopping trolley get e10 and loves it

[hazrd]

Used caltex vortex 98 in all of my cars and all have run perfect on it

Put ultimate in the astra last week on the way to Phillip island and saw no real difference between it and the vortex

[ChrisMaz]

United 98, purely because its the same price as Shell 95 and the Veccy seems to get better mileage and performance out of it. Probably all in my head though.

[vectra.lee]

Seat of the pants performance testing for differences in fuel is notoriously unreliable, no matter how much of an enthusiast you are ;-)

Thanks for the input.You're quite right, this thread is probably not going to give someone reliable data to make a conclusion about which petrol to use.But sometimes I feel that the driver knows alot through their own driving of the car and what they notice. It was that subjective response I was looking for.I just found it interesting how V-Power felt different to Vortex 98.Should try BP's Ultimate and see how that goes.Sorry about not including all the mainstream providers!! Didn't put in alot of research when posting the thread LOL.

[jamesfrancis]

Always use BP Ultimate 98 in my car and in both my quads. Might just be in my head but I swear I can feel the difference if I use other fuel...

[delemonte]

Tend to like the BP ultimate but usually end up getting Vortex 98 because it's conveniently close. Much of a muchness really!

[Wraith]

Just wanted to start a discussion based on what I noticed.Partly because I love my Veccy, and also because my Veccy asks for PULP, I've avoided using petrol from those individual service stations with names like Ezyway, Enhance etc...Since I bought my Veccy in March this year I've always used PULP 98 from Caltex Woolies, thought I'd save $2/fill.The question I wanna ask really comes down to a debate that I've read about before: Is PULP 98 really better than ULP 91 or PULP 95?However, my question is slightly different.I'm not really looking for statistics, because I think as driving enthusiasts, we have a feel for our cars and so we're capable of making our own judgements.Yesterday I tried Shell's V-Power and felt a difference compared to Vortex 98 from Caltex.If you're a Shell user, have you noticed this yourself?Basically, what petrol do you prefer and have you experienced any differences between Shell, Caltex, Mobil and BP?

I can answer yes to your 98ron shell vs caltex question, definitely notice a difference in my turbo vert, (for the better) over the years I've tried 2 or 3 tanks fulls back to back of the other brands as well and the shell has consistently been better, interestingly I've also tried shell 100 in that same car and noticed zero difference to 98, in fact it consumed the fuel at a quicker rate with a similar driving style...

Now I can only comment based on my 'seat of the pants' experience, so it may be a different story if verified on a dyno ??

Also it's to do with that car/engine only, ie. turbo TS Astra Z20LET engine...

In my old Calibra, it ran miles better on BP Ultimate than anything else, again that was an atmo V6 engine...

On one of my newer cars (Mazda 3 SP25) I only run 91ron and it seems to prefer or run better and smoother on Mobil fuel, that's an atmo 2.5ltr IL4 engine...

This is a very variable/debatable results kind of topic, but in short and IMHO 98 or 100ron fuels should only be used if the car/engine in question requires it...

[gman]

I always ran either Shell or United 98 or 100 octane fuels. Preference was always United and always ran United 100 for the track, sometimes with a little extra added (nitromethane anyone??)

BP has no ethanol from memory unlike most other 98's in Oz, so that might be part of the prob with it running higher temps (ethanol evaporates cooling the intake charge, even at 10% concentrations it can make a difference).

Now i'm running E85, Caltex and United are the only options unless I run Sucrogen E85 which is $2:25+/litre as its a race fuel (I have a 200Lt drum at home waiting to be used) :)

[JMZ]

i use caltex becuase it's closest to home. I've used so many types and they're all so close in performance and mileage that it's hard to determine which is better than the others.

I've tested E10 95% at both BP and Caltex on a road trip in a Corsa B (1.4L) from Brisbane to Townsville and got better mileage with Caltex by 20-30 kms.

However, the best mileage I've ever had in my 1.8L Astra was using Mobil 98% from Wild Horse Mountain on the Sunshine Coast. 650kms for a 47L fill.

[delemonte]

...in short and IMHO 98 or 100ron fuels should only be used if the car/engine in question requires it...

It doesn't hurt to advance the timing so that even an older car can somewhat take advantage of the higher octane (and cleaner burning, according to the marketing mob) but you're right... it's not usually worth the extra money in an older car.

In a slightly obscure case, I run variants of 98 octane fuel in my 1989 Pajero (which happens to be ethanol safe too) and have adjusted the timing because 90% of the time I run the car on LPG which is 102 octane minimum in Australia. It's actually significantly less sluggish than running on 91 without the timing advance...