Unlead Petrol

[johnydep]

I'm guessing that this topic has been done before, but it's the first for me.

I've been using Premium fuel for years, in the Territory, the Honda and the SS-V. BP Ultimate and Caltex 98.

In the Territory and the Honda I could feel no difference and notice no fuel economy advantage between the two.

The SS-V has only had the tow fuels, always filled from empty, and I think that have noticed a difference. The first time was on our Adelaide to Melbourne trip; BP to Melbourne on one tank with about 80 km left in the tank. And Caltex 98 back to Adelaide, again one tank but this time with 120 km left. Now this could be anything -wind, speed, etc. So I though nothing off it.

A couple of days ago I filled the tank with Caltex 98 from the Woolworths station. After about 10 km I noticed that the engine felt like it was spinning up faster and with a different note.

I could be wrong, or it could be the slightly cooler air temp. But it is a nice surprise.

Thing I might stick with Caltex for a while.

Anyone else notice any difference in fuels?

What's the Ethanol fuels like?

[fordman302]

I use vortex 98 and have always been happy with it, I seem to loose a bit of economy if I use bp, oh and my car feels a heap better on a crisp cold morning, makes a huge difference

[auxr]

Have always used BP Ultimate without any problems, for some reason better response than Caltex Vortex - the XR8 for some reason runs a lot smoother and the economy seems to be marginally better.

[johnydep]

Looks like we're all getting different results from the fuels. Wonder if it depends on the brew date?

I've always used BP Ultimate, thinking that it is the best, but could never really feel any difference. I'll keep swapping between the BP and Caltex for a while to see if the difference I can feel is sustained. But at the moment I'm liking the Vortex

Might give Ethanol 85 a go soon.

[Kieron]

Manual FG XR8 here, been running it mostly on Caltex 95 (have their fuel card) for 5 years, tried many times switching to 98, just one tank then a few tanks in a row etc and the only thing I ever noticed was a better idle. This is driving mostlly to/from work and urban driving on weekends. So for me its a waste of money.

[trance]

Ever since playing around with the tune on my 33, I have stuck with either Caltex Vortex 98 or BP Ultimate 98. In saying that, I put 1x tank of United P100 in my XR8 to see how it went and it ran pretty clean (Even got some sweet Ethanol wafting).

[Professor Farnsworth]

Have run the XR Turbo on VPower only since I bought it new (6800km now) and it goes like a firecracker. Never run anything else so can't compare.

[castellan]

I would think you should state where you live because there could be a difference in where it's refined or it could be imported fuel and what car you have as well and is it stock standard or modified .

Petrol formula change from winter to summer as well you will see a different colour as well.

My Fords like running on the Caltex and my holdens hate it, why i don't know.

[vztrt]

I was getting 8.5l/100 from Vortex 98 when running back home from QLD in the T ute. But the ute always gets 98. The regular XR just gets 91.

When I use to have the SR I did a test (using one type of Fuel each month) to see what the benifits were and to see if 98 was the most effective. Things I found were that Ulitmate 98 helped the car in the morning as it was smooth and ran well, it also ave my an extra 40km a tank. United 95 (E10 Ethenol) gave me the same fuel economy as 91 and BP 95 and all three fuels felt the same at different temps and conditions. Running 91 the car felt a tad more sluggish. I ended up sticking with United 95 as it was the best bang for buck for my driving. When I ended up moving in with the missus I went to regular 91 as the drives I was doing were pretty much stop start to and from work and it was slightly better (nothing special but the servo is around the corner).

My normal response to what fuel to use is that a person needs to do his/her own testing and find whats the best for them. Marketing of fuel doesn't make your car run better or give it better fuel economy.

[LooLoo18]

For those in Vic you will soon see 7-11 stores will be branded as using Mobil fuel this is a big push to try and get customers back in there stores

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

When I had my BA XR8, I tried all sorts of different fuels, from 91 to 95 to 98 and ethanol blend, across all different brands of fuel. And I used to make sure I ran multiple tanks at a time to ensure engine adaption.

All of this was graphed to determine best economy and best value for money.

In the end, the result was that Caltex Vortex 98 gave me the best value for money. This was closely followed by BP Ultimate, which is what I predominantly used simply because I could get that cheaper (although it was a much further drive, approx 30km return trip) than the Caltex Vortex 98.

And for the record, the Shell Optimax performed as an absolute dog in the BA so was dropped from the selection process after only a few tanks (one of which was in country NSW somewhere between Vic and QLD and then a few tanks here in Sale).

This was all determined over approximately 40,000km of travel.

Craig H

[bobthebilda]

Originally Posted by castellan

I would think you should state where you live because there could be a difference in where it's refined or it could be imported fuel and what car you have as well and is it stock standard or modified .

Petrol formula change from winter to summer as well you will see a different colour as well.

My Fords like running on the Caltex and my holdens hate it, why i don't know.

You are correct. There are heaps of variables that go into making fuel these days. Conventional Oil production hasnt increased since 2005 and the world is starting to see the dregs of the oil world being blended into mixes today. Additionally, a litre refined in oz may reach your tank in a few days, one from singapore could be 30 days old before you use it.

Get a **** mix from a petrol station with old tanks that has petrol supplied from singapore, and you could see a huge difference from the station next door, that has new tanks, and is made from saudi oil that has been refined locally.

Some countries these days are having to build special refineries just so they can refine the crap they get out of the ground. Refining is just like turning the kettle on. Use water in the kettle and you get steam, use a days toilet takings in the kettle and you get steam. Only one of them would you consume after the steam returned to a liquid.

People would also be delusional if they think petrol from the same brand are the same on a week to week basis. There are very few refineries in the world that do not use feedstock (crude oil) from different oil fields.

[damo76]

I always use 98 in my older cars, a couple reasons are older cars are designed to run on 95 octane leaded fuel now unleaded is 91 and if i use that the car will ping and often pre-ignition or dieseling.
I rarely have to change spark plugs when i run 98 as it's a much cleaner burn and leaves no carbon.
I use 98 in everything lawnmower, cars and boat.

[XBROO]

Originally Posted by LooLoo18

For those in Vic you will soon see 7-11 stores will be branded as using Mobil fuel this is a big push to try and get customers back in there stores

I notice this is happening in QLD as well.

[galaxy xr8]

I used to use BP Ultimate until they closed down the only BP store in central Bendigo that stocked Ultimate, now you have to go to a BP servo that is out on the edge of town in order to get it, and I don't go that way often so now I use Clatex 98 (woolworths) as it has taken over where the BP once was that I bought from. No drama's here with Caltex.

[Powdered Toast Man]

The SS is also one of the cars of modern factory tune that can make the most of the higher octane. It adjusts accordingly (supposedly) so that's why it would have felt different. As for the economy, I would say that there were many factors for that.

[rjr]

Originally Posted by castellan

I would think you should state where you live because there could be a difference in where it's refined or it could be imported fuel and what car you have as well and is it stock standard or modified .

Petrol formula change from winter to summer as well you will see a different colour as well.

My Fords like running on the Caltex and my holdens hate it, why i don't know.

Take Western Australia as an example. You have a BP refinery there.

With secret [not many people know]underground pipelines [or trucks] that refinery supplies all the other oil company terminals and the airport with fuel. They seperate the fuel being transfered with a pipeline pig. [google it]

What BP can't supply will be imported.

I personally don't know where BP import their fuel from [maybe someone here knows] but some could come from a refinery in the eastern states or from an overseas refinery.

If it comes in from overseas it's tested and if it meets Australian standards it's released for sale. If its off spec then they have to re-blend it until it meets spec. Then it's released for sale.

Transfer this across all states [except SA] and this is how our fuel distribution works.

So the brand you buy might not be the brand it was made as or where it was made. I personally don't take any notice of the various brands but I tend to go to the same service stations where I have always had good fuel sold to me.[Woolworths dockets]

tl:dr ...there are a lot of things going on in the oil industry that the general public know nothing about and the oil company's aren't going to tell you.

[pajoda]

I was under the impression that fuel from one brand was transferred to others as required, as described above. I was also under the impression that the additives unique to each brand is what separates them. Is this correct?

[LooLoo18]

Originally Posted by pajoda

I was under the impression that fuel from one brand was transferred to others as required, as described above. I was also under the impression that the additives unique to each brand is what separates them. Is this correct?

Yep correct on both

[Itsme]

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