Are different brands of fuel really different?

[mtbkym01]

I find this to be interesting, is there a difference between brands of fuel? for example is Caltex Vortex 98 really any different to BP Ultimate 98? At the ports where our fuel is delivered, almost always from Singapore, is it in a more "raw" form and then treated, or additives added depending on which company it is for?

If anyone knows specifics would be great

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by mtbkym01

I find this to be interesting, is there a difference between brands of fuel? for example is Caltex Vortex 98 really any different to BP Ultimate 98? At the ports where our fuel is delivered, almost always from Singapore, is it in a more "raw" form and then treated, or additives added depending on which company it is for?

If anyone knows specifics would be great

Answered it right there.

Are all cakes the same, they all use flour just add a few different things.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by mtbkym01

I find this to be interesting, is there a difference between brands of fuel? for example is Caltex Vortex 98 really any different to BP Ultimate 98? At the ports where our fuel is delivered, almost always from Singapore, is it in a more "raw" form and then treated, or additives added depending on which company it is for?

If anyone knows specifics would be great

You've answered your own question, but 99% of the time motor spirit is brought into Australia without dye and other market-specific additives.

[csv8]

My BF smells after filling up on Caltex 98 or Shell 98 but not on BP 98..for a few days afterwards. i20 doesnt..must be additives...

[Express]

The exhausts on my cars are louder when I use Vortex 98.

I know, I must be mad and I possibly am but I swear I hear a significant difference.

My tuners always tell me to use BP Ultimate.

[TheInterceptor]

Definitely a difference. The Subaru loves Caltex fuels but hates BP. It will ping on BP and use more of it. Shell fuel is in between the two. Typically in whoop whoop driving from coast to coast there is only BP available...

[Qwerty321]

The biggest difference is Gull vs the rest. I've been told that while all the other major ones (BP, Caltex etc.) all come from the same refinery at Marsden Point, Gull comes straight from Australia in it's proper form. Though, this might not apply that much to Australia now that I've read what I wrote...

Another thing is the ethanol content. BP Ultimate is 100% pure petrol, but Synergy 8000 is 10% ethanol. And ofc the detergents used by each company varies slightly.

[olfella]

I just got the latest Costco catalogue and they have an article on their fuel in that. It is Mobil fuel and Costco add their own 'brew' of additives as it is being loaded into the trucks for transporting to the servos. They say it contains detergents etc. I have been using their fuel for a while now and have no problems.

[malazn mafia]

Does Safeway/Caltex petrol make cars more sluggish and fuel inefficient or is it my imagination? However their LPG seems to be better.

I find Coles / Shell petrol fuel to be the best for power and economy. Their LPG is the opposite and car seems to be running on a mix of LPG and compressed air.

[FG50T]

I've had it explained to me buy a guy from Mobil when I was super paranoid about my engine. He told me it's one same batch of fuel that each company add their additive too. He told me 98 is 98 and any funny stuff I feel driving will be from the tank in the service station and how often the fuel there get's refreshed.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by FG50T

I've had it explained to me buy a guy from Mobil when I was super paranoid about my engine. He told me it's one same batch of fuel that each company add their additive too. He told me 98 is 98 and any funny stuff I feel driving will be from the tank in the service station and how often the fuel there get's refreshed.

Well if they all add their own additive, they are all different then aren't they!!!

Shell is different then BP because thay add different stuff to the base, just like Pepsi is different than Coke because they add different stuff to their sugary water.

[sprintman1]

Costco have been adding an oxygenate or similar but had problems recently and sent me an email apologising. Use their 98 or BP Ultimate when away.

[mtbkym01]

Ok, so different brands of fuel are different. So does everyone prefer to use the same brand all the time, or doesn't it really matter?

[Stefan]

I use BP or Caltex, never use Shell.

Alot of friends are similar, my car seems to run rougher on Shell, as well as creating soot all over the back of the car.

[grey_esp]

in my fg NA 6cyl I consistently get 50km less per tank if I use woolworths ULP Vs any other regular ULP i have used. I find BP 98 to be the best for power and economy and Vortex 98 next best.

[blackf6]

The pinky, purple look of normal unleaded is getting phased out. Soon unleaded will look yellow like premium unleaded. Little bit of useless industry info for ya.

[blackf6]

Originally Posted by olfella

I just got the latest Costco catalogue and they have an article on their fuel in that. It is Mobil fuel and Costco add their own 'brew' of additives as it is being loaded into the trucks for transporting to the servos. They say it contains detergents etc. I have been using their fuel for a while now and have no problems.

Mobil fuel? You do know BP owns Mobil?
So it is BP fuel.

[superfly]

Originally Posted by tempted

Does anyone know if the fuel at a Woolworths Caltex servo is exactly the same as the fuel sold at a regular Caltex servo?
I would prefer to go to Woolies to get the 4c discount but have heard that their fuel is nasty and inferior, hence the discount.
Is this a myth or are the rumours true?

They use the same fuel.

[superfly]

ULP can be very random as to what servo's sell but when it comes to the 95 or 98 RON options, these are very specific and not shared between different brand of petrol stations.

As mentioned above already, the high octane fuels are all very different. IMO the best fuel out there and most consistent is BP Ultimate 98. Vortex 98 would be next.

I always used BP Ultimate 98 in my old WRX (I still use the BP in my wife's WRX) but I now use Vortex 95 in the XR50. I use the Vortex 95 as I get a 4cent discount and rating it against Vortex 98 there wasn't much diff in economy or power but between 91 and 95 there was enough difference to warrant the extra cost.

About 10 years ago I did back to back dyno testing of the different fuels in my WRX and differences were of course found. If you get your car tuned with a particular fuel, you should stick with it. Different cars react differently to different fuels, so you should try the 3 main ones (BP, Caltex and Shell) and see which one works for you. Personally I will never use Shell.

And lastly, even spending the extra cash on 95 or 98 in a non turbo car can be worth it. Some ECU's will react well to the higher octane fuel where you'll get an increase in power and fuel economy.

[blackf6]

Shell is actually Viva Energy now.

[sprintman1]

Shell V-Power Racing 100 RON was good but hard to get and not around for long.

[devoGT]

Originally Posted by Express

The exhausts on my cars are louder when I use Vortex 98.

Funnily enough I noticed my exhaust sounded louder on Vortex 98 also.

I can't tell any difference between BP 98 and Shell V Power 98, the car drives same on both fuels.

I think it is more of a case of getting good fuel depending on the particular servo you visit rather than the brand, my theory is a high turnover servo would have fresher fuel.

Also, never get fuel at a servo at the same time as the tanker is filling the servo's tanks, the rubbish on the bottom gets disturbed and rises to the top.

[LTDHO]

So who is Costco buying their fuel off?

[Cav]

Me being an old fart I did my own fuel test towing a 2 tonnne caravan with an FGXXR6 ute.

I covered 300-350kms each day through western NSW and QLD sitting on 85-90kms/h. I used differing brands and types of fuel - 91, 95, 98.

The end result? Fuel consumption average of 17.5l/100kms. Yep, hardly any difference no matter what fuel I used. Some times it was 17.2, sometimes 17.8 - very little variance.

So, are you prepared to take the challenge?

Get your mate to fill your car with petrol and see if you can 1) tell the brand and 2) tell whether it was 95 or 98.

[FGX335]

When I was in the game, Mobil didn't have their own refinery in Brisbane, so we bought through BP. However, in Adelaide, we had the refinery and they didn't, so we sold to them.

If you look at the molecular structure of the fuels, they are all different, not just some additives. The blends are different for each customer, to meet their requirements. Also, some companies spend a lot of money to synthesize their products (think BP Ultimate and Shell V-Power), and they aren't going to pass the formula to their competitors to sell an identical product.

Sure, additives come into it, but the base fuel once refined isn't the same.

[AUS GRUNT]

I almost always fill up at the same servo every time, it used to be an caltex servo but has been united for a while now (was originally an ampol servo)...so does united have there own independent fuel or do they use a sub-brand aswell ?

[blackf6]

United use Caltex and BP, and add additives, and ethanol.

[JC]

I alternate between BP and Caltex too, with the odd sprinkling of United 100. I never use Shell, which is funny, because I used to work for them.

Originally Posted by superfly

ULP can be very random as to what servo's sell but when it comes to the 95 or 98 RON options, these are very specific and not shared between different brand of petrol stations.

As mentioned above already, the high octane fuels are all very different. IMO the best fuel out there and most consistent is BP Ultimate 98. Vortex 98 would be next.

I always used BP Ultimate 98 in my old WRX (I still use the BP in my wife's WRX) but I now use Vortex 95 in the XR50. I use the Vortex 95 as I get a 4cent discount and rating it against Vortex 98 there wasn't much diff in economy or power but between 91 and 95 there was enough difference to warrant the extra cost.

About 10 years ago I did back to back dyno testing of the different fuels in my WRX and differences were of course found. If you get your car tuned with a particular fuel, you should stick with it. Different cars react differently to different fuels, so you should try the 3 main ones (BP, Caltex and Shell) and see which one works for you. Personally I will never use Shell.

And lastly, even spending the extra cash on 95 or 98 in a non turbo car can be worth it. Some ECU's will react well to the higher octane fuel where you'll get an increase in power and fuel economy.

[LooLoo18]

Originally Posted by DeJaVu GT

Mobil fuel? You do know BP owns Mobil?
So it is BP fuel.

BP Dont own Mobil!!!

[olfella]

Originally Posted by DeJaVu GT

United use Caltex and BP, and add additives, and ethanol.

So going by what you said in post 18, it could be Mobil?