PULP 98 price differences

[T3rminator]

This is not a debate for which fuel is better. My car is tuned to 98 and I have been running BP Ultimate pretty much the last 3 years, but recently had a bad experience and the car now does not seem to like it. It will run really rough.

Decided to switch to vpower and the car runs much smoother, and it also seems to like mobil supreme 98. Vpower seems to give it a bit more oomph though.

However, I noticed that the price of vpower is consistently 4-8c per litre more expensive than supreme and ultimate. Are they doing this counter the coles voucher discounts? or is the cost associated with the additive they have put in there? Car really likes vpower but my wallet doesn't :(

I know some people will say all 98s are the same etc etc, but my car doesn't agree for some reason.

[vztrt]

Thought the 4c vouchers are now gone after the accc canned them? You only get the discount now if you spend some higher amount in store?

Anyway. Its funny I've heard about a couple of bad batches of ultimate running around in the north of melbourne. Glad i just use mobil.

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Thought the 4c vouchers are now gone after the accc canned them? You only get the discount now if you spend some higher amount in store?

Anyway. Its funny I've heard about a couple of bad batches of ultimate running around in the north of melbourne. Glad i just use mobil.

They always ask if I have a voucher when I pay so I assume it's still on? I think you have to spend $40 to get it.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

They always ask if I have a voucher when I pay so I assume it's still on? I think you have to spend $40 to get it.

Our local Coles/Shell is consistently at least 8c more than anyone else in town.

[Jack91]

Personally have never noticed a difference between 98's of different brands. Having said that I've never had an efi tuned for 98, but I had a crapload of timing in my old 302c.
Just the other day I was ranting to a mate how it gets me when people whine or debate the cost of petrol. I used to see idiots lining up out of the driveway of a Woolworths servo to get their stupid discount. Idling and stop start for I guess 20 minutes? I'm sure the same idiots would then grab a can of coke or bottle of water with all their savings. 4c a litre, 60 litres to fill, $2.40? Who cares? Try buying a bottle of water from a servo for less than $3. If your car likes it then don't be so tight!

[T3rminator]

When you are spending $20 a day on fuel it starts to add up. Having said that, I'm still using vpower but was just curious why the price difference.

[EBSXR6]

A mate works for a BMW dealer he runs the Motorcycle service department and they advise the customers not to use V Power

[Jack91]

Originally Posted by EBSXR6

A mate works for a BMW dealer he runs the Motorcycle service department and they advise the customers not to use V Power

When I bought my Honda they said no 98 at all. They also told me no full throttle for the first 1000km. Riiiiiight

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Our local Coles/Shell is consistently at least 8c more than anyone else in town.

I think this post says it all ^^^^^^, in the last 6 months I noticed Coles/shell fuel across the range is the dearest out of all the brands, I refuse to buy shell fuel at exorbitant prices.

Discount or no discount they are thieving mongrels!

[MITCHAY]

98 is always a rip anywhere you go or what brand you go with in my experience. I just suck it up and enjoy driving personally.

[blackf6]

Why blame the fuel? Have you cleaned your throttle body and inlet manifold recently? Underground storage tanks are the biggest problem in the fuel industry. Most servo's don't even bother getting the tanks cleaned once in a while.

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by blackf6

Why blame the fuel? Have you cleaned your throttle body and inlet manifold recently? Underground storage tanks are the biggest problem in the fuel industry. Most servo's don't even bother getting the tanks cleaned once in a while.

I noticed the car started to change behaviour roughly 3 months ago. It wouldn't run as smooth and was at times a bit jerky when getting on and off the throttle. At idle it was getting rougher and rougher. One day it started to cough and splatter with smoke coming out the tail pipe.

I changed the O2 sensors, and it ran ok for a few days but it wasn't behaving the same as it was 3+ months ago. I changed to Vpower just to see what would happen and all the coughing and spluttering went away, and it is much smoother getting on and off the throttle.

After using vpower for a couple of weeks I went back to Ultimate. It ran ok for a couple of days then started to miss behave again. Went back to Vpower and Mobil and it was running smooth again. I don't know why. It's now been about 3 weeks since I ran Ultimate. Tank is almost empty so might give it another try. My car was tuned on Ultimate 98 (3 years ago) so I don't know why its playing up on that fuel.

[Trump]

BP changed the formulation of their 98RON product some time ago (contemporaneous with that ridiculous "dirt busting" ad campaign). Initial rough running with this new blend was widespread from what I can gather, but the rough running stopped after a couple of tanks went through the fuel system.

Have a chat to your tuner and get their input.

[turbo4]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Our local Coles/Shell is consistently at least 8c more than anyone else in town.

Found that out the hard way the other day. Paid $1.66 then found that both Caltex and BP were 10 cents cheaper. They are only 1km away from each other!

[T3rminator]

This morning, eastern suburbs of Melbourne......

2 x Shell stations selling Vpower $1.58.
2kms down the road, Supreme 98+ $1.36.
1km down the road, BP Ultimate $1.38.

That's freaken 20c gap!! That's the biggest gap I've ever noticed.

Let me turn the question around, are BP and Mobil taking short cuts with their 98?

[Lugh]

My ute started playing up on BP Ultimate - and engine wise it's just a bog stock barra 190 that should almost run on chip oil...... It could be hard to start and would idle rough and splutter when you tried to move off cold. I'd been running that fuel in a few cars out of convenience for years without issue so fuel quality didn't occur to me until I was out west and filled up with some mystery fuel at a tiny little general store. The problem started to go away and by the end of that tank she was all good. Filled up with bp98 back in town later and the problem started coming back.

To cut the rest of the story short, I burn about $50 a day in fuel so I have plenty of opportunity to compare, and my ute definitely does not like whatever the BP Ultimate has in it.

[LG17]

I live near a very small country town and 98 has just arrived!
I'm not sure what brand it is (forgot to ask the small independent servo) but it's great!
My old GT Corty has a new lease on life running it.
It was $1.65 I think.

[csv8]

The difference between truck diesel and Premium diesel is 2c a litre. So, why is 98 up to 20c a litre more than 91!!!!!!!! 98 in Rockhampton is $164.9 at BP.....

[Sabantien]

Originally Posted by Trump

BP changed the formulation of their 98RON product some time ago (contemporaneous with that ridiculous "dirt busting" ad campaign). Initial rough running with this new blend was widespread from what I can gather, but the rough running stopped after a couple of tanks went through the fuel system.

They do say two tanks will clean out your engine or whatever. Maybe this is what's happening?

Has anyone kept with it despite the problems? Would be interesting to see if it does come good and or improves things in the long run.

I used to use 98 all the time, but have cut down to 91 due to lack of work. Slightly less fuel efficient (nothing scientific, but since reseting my trip computer on the 91 the average has gone up a little), but I suspect given the huge price difference, i'm coming out ahead in any case.

I have found the Woolworths places are consistently cheaper, but it tends to do more with location. I always fill up when visiting my brother because fuel is consistently 10-20c cheaper there. It's not far away, but not that close it's worth the drive just to fill up.

[Slash]

All with in 2km where I live i have Coles/shell, united, Caltex, 7-11, Woolworths/Caltex.
The price difference from 91 to 98 differ.

Coles/shell 21c
United 16c
Caltex 16c
7-11 16c
Woolworths/Caltex 17c

Coles 91 price is 4-5 cents more than the other servos.

I usually fill up on 7-11 or Caltex these days. My xr6t is tuned on 98 and I've run all the different brands with no differences. I haven't used BP with the new formulation as it's further out of my way.

[T3rminator]

The 7-11 guy told me Supreme 98 will always be 16c more than standard ULP. That gap is set.

He also laughed when i asked why vPower was so much more expensive...didnt give me an explanation....just kept telling me to download the 7-11 app

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Sabantien

I used to use 98 all the time, but have cut down to 91 due to lack of work. Slightly less fuel efficient (nothing scientific, but since reseting my trip computer on the 91 the average has gone up a little), but I suspect given the huge price difference, i'm coming out ahead in any case.
.

You are. Unless you car really has a benefit from higher octane its a waste of money.

If you want your fuel system cleaned liqu moly make a fuel system that I found did more in 100km then 98 ever would.

[Lugh]

I had a '96 corolla on it that I used to run almost exclusively on Bp Ultimate. it'd get around 9l/100 on 91 and 95 wasn't much different. On ultimate it used to get 7l/100 or better if I wasn't flogging the poor thing.
That's roughly 18% better economy, and at $1.25 for 91 and $1.45 for ultimate it's roughly 18% more in cost. So I got more poke and didn't have to fill up as often for roughly zero cost.

Over 5000km on each fuel I did a test with the RTV - Average of 12.6 on 91, and average of 12.1 on 98. That was checked with logbooks and the trip computer. So for the big lazy aussie motor, the 98 is certainly not a money saver, even if the ute would run on it properly.

For interest, I have found that 95 is its favorite drink - averaging mid to high 11's per 100, seemingly without losing performance over the 98, and without any of the starting/cold issues. Problem is that 95 is getting hard to find round here.

[lucas2]

Usually Coles/ Shell is 2c more expensive on its base price with no discounts. With a fuel voucher (4c off p/L) it becomes cheaper than the competitors in my area. The ACCC campaigned to remove the larger discounts (14-40c off per liter) and were successful. However, if you spend a certain amount in store at a Coles Express you can qualify for 10c off per liter.

Personally, I use BP98 and 9/10 times I get it from the exact same pump at the same service station. No issues so far.

[VICFPV]

Stay away from Vpower. Use Caltex. It's the most consistent quality petrol. We at the dealership use caltex or seven 11. Volvo dealer.

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by VICFPV

Stay away from Vpower. Use Caltex. It's the most consistent quality petrol. We at the dealership use caltex or seven 11. Volvo dealer.

What's wrong with v power?

[03 GHIA]

Originally Posted by VICFPV

Stay away from Vpower. Use Caltex. It's the most consistent quality petrol. We at the dealership use caltex or seven 11. Volvo dealer.

I have the opposite experience with Caltex. My XR is tuned for 98, and will hardly idle on Caltex 98 when cold and sometimes stall, with Shell the idle perfectly. When warm I can't tell a difference. BP and 7-11 somewhere in-between.
Much the same experience as the OP. It used to run just fine with Caltex, then all of a sudden it didn't.
Spent ages troubleshooting (filters, cleaning TB & inlet manifold, cleaning injectors), tried different servos (but still Caltex). Finally tried Vpower for a few tanks and it was great. Went back to Caltex and poor cold idle again...

No idea why, but that's how it is.

[Professor Farnsworth]

i've noticed that ever since the ACCC or whoever it was dis-allowed stations from being able to advertise the "discount" price, in my area at least, Coles/Shell has been consistently more expensive than other outlets. In one instance, the Coles was 10c more than the BP right across the road - for a week or more. I've since switched from VPower to BP Ultimate.

[prydey]

If you want to accurately compare prices across different servos and different brands, you can't just use a one day snapshot. Nearly all servos run a price cycle. To be more accurate you would have to note the prices every day for a week or two at least and then work out whether the price differences are real or just apparent.

Quite often, when you see price discrepancies it's just the outlets being at different times in their cycle.

I'm not sure how prices are set, whether they are dictated by the fuel provider or whether individual outlets can set their own price but regardless, the servos themselves don't make a lot of profit from the fuel. That is why they all push the upsell, and stock a large range of supermarket items.

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by prydey

the servos themselves don't make a lot of profit from the fuel. That is why they all push the upsell, and stock a large range of supermarket items.

That's what I was thinking, so why the huge price difference? Either vpower's additive are more expensive (better quality?), or the other's are taking a short cut (savings) somewhere along the process, or vpower are taking a bigger margin.