who`s deisel fuel do you use.

[Craiglxviii]

We could try listening to those members on here who work/ have worked at the refining companies/ refineries, or driven the distribution tankers for same.

 

[Frontstep]

I know a driver for Sainsburys he hasn't the foggiest idea about much that goes on in the trailer he just picks it up and drops it off.
A relative delivers Gas products similarly he has an idea but not likely to be snapped up by Centrica.

 

[JBell]

My Father worked for Mobil, he said it all comes from the same hole in the ground, it is all refined the same way and it all has to adhere to BS standards, the only difference is the additives companies put in.

Effectively they remove Diesel and put an incredibly cheap additive in (cleaners) so they actually make more money

 

[Umarnewcastle]

Shell v power

 

[oigle]

Hello all,

I was buying Diesel from any petrol pump. Till once a technical person from the Dutch Car Ass. Told me that in general cheap fuel stations are buying the rest of the diesel which is staying in the big tanks of the big oil companies. According to him, this fuel contains more heavy petrol substances than the diesel which is sold by the big oil company. He advise me to use a diesel from big companies. I am buying now from an Esso Station which is nearby my home.

Regards,

Robert

That is such a lot of bull.... I spent 5 years working for Shell Oil and KNOW that all diesel is the same. The number of "unbranded" tankers filling up at the Shell refinery beggared belief. In Oz, we only have about 3 refineries left now. Most fuels come from Singapore in huge ships and the product off loads into storage tanks from where, with NO extra additives, it is distributed to whatever tankers turn up.
Don't be conned by the bulls... It is often the only "defence" companies have got against the discount supermarkets - bulls... about the product being different.

The only comment I would make is that it is safer to buy from a high volume station than from a quiet little country one - much less chance of contamination etc.

 

[LazzaH]

About a year ago I filled up with Sainsburys diesel. The engine sounded like a bag of spanners until I could use it up. Went back to Shell and it went back to being smooth & quiet (for a 4 pot diesel).
I ran on Shell V Power Nitro for a while and it did feel very slightly better but I'm using mostly Shell Fuelsave now and that is fine. It's also pretty much as cheap as I can get around here.
I won't be going back to Sainsburys. It might have just been a bad tankful but it really did sound bad.

 

[Ben Longden]

Most fuels come from Singapore in huge ships and the product off loads into storage tanks from where, with NO extra additives, it is distributed to whatever tankers turn up.
.

Hey Oigle..

This is facinating.
So who produces BP Ultimate 98 octane? Ditto BP Ultimate Diesel? is this all marketing spin?

What fuels are locally made?
Does the imported stuff have the same QA standards as the local brew?

I was advised by a local mechanic to avoid the Woolworths 91 octane fuel, as it damages fuel injection systems. The owner said the fuel was the greatest source of income he has had in years. He now replaces at least five injection systems a week, compared to one a month.

Thoughts? Comments?
Whats the best brew? (petrol and diesel)

 

[turbopete]

as oigle (and others) has said, the difference between the fuels are only the additives they put in

just about every country/region has minimum standards that must be adhered to, like the UK/European BS590 for diesel. cheaper outlets may use fewer additives, but theres a minimum standard. the 'ultimate' stuff claims to run cleaner (so higher detergent additive levels) and has higher cetane/octane levels (so more of the appropriate additive) than the regular stuff. the base fuel is all the same. refined to a level (determined by cost and minimum standards for a given market) required then additives added as required by the brands.

as an aside, when i lived in Carlisle, i had Asda and Tesco filling stations locally, as well as a few 'big brand' names. on my cars i couldnt tell the branded ones apart other than price (shell was cheapest, on a par with supermarkets most of the time there, shame its not the same here!) so nothing to tell there. where it got interesting was the Asda/Tesco comparison. now i knew people who used nothing but tesco fuel and had no issues. BUT my 210 ran off colour (down on power slightly) and lost around 5mpg running on tesco fuel. fill with Asda fuel and all was well again. so when i had my Ford Puma, i tried the same trick. again i lost some power and MPG was hit on tesco fuel, but asda stuff was fine!

 

[range rover]

That's the exact result I found last year when visiting my Daughter who lived in Inverness at that time. We went for a drive to John O Groats and on the way down I thought I would fill her up again, and that would be enough to get home. At the time I filled at Tesco's the mpg was reading a shade under 38, from I pulled out of their forecourt the consumption fell steadily to around 33 ! I couldn't believe it, I suppose it came as quite a shock to the injectors after being fed Ultimate up to that point. I see our local station is on 99.9 for diesel tonight, not Ultimate though.

 

[turbopete]

That's the exact result I found last year when visiting my Daughter who lived in Inverness at that time. We went for a drive to John O Groats and on the way down I thought I would fill her up again, and that would be enough to get home. At the time I filled at Tesco's the mpg was reading a shade under 38, from I pulled out of their forecourt the consumption fell steadily to around 33 ! I couldn't believe it, I suppose it came as quite a shock to the injectors after being fed Ultimate up to that point. I see our local station is on 99.9 for diesel tonight, not Ultimate though.

i know what you mean. asda etc are supposed to be bringing diesel down to 97.9 (or 97.7) in the next day or so too.

at the time when i had my experiences, there were loads of people banging on about supermarket fuel is cr@p, use branded fuel, so when shell was the same price, i passed it daily, and i could get LOTS of driver points, i used shell! then i wasnt near that filling station so i went to Asda and noticed no change, so i thought it was just people trying to get you to buy branded fuel. when i used tesco fuel though, i could see why it was believed that 'supermarket' fuel was cr@p. the amount the MPG and power dropped, it was worthwhile doing the 2 mile detour every fill up to fill with Asda fuel!

and FWIW the last time i saw a tanker at Morrisons, it was a Texaco branded tanker!

 

[geraldrobins]

That's the exact result I found last year when visiting my Daughter who lived in Inverness at that time. We went for a drive to John O Groats and on the way down I thought I would fill her up again, and that would be enough to get home. At the time I filled at Tesco's the mpg was reading a shade under 38, from I pulled out of their forecourt the consumption fell steadily to around 33 ! I couldn't believe it, I suppose it came as quite a shock to the injectors after being fed Ultimate up to that point. I see our local station is on 99.9 for diesel tonight, not Ultimate though.

You really cant base mpg comparisons on one journey. It needs to be over an extended range.
I've done return journeys on the same tankful and there has been noticeable difference in mpg.

 

[range rover]

I know what you mean, but the consumption went into sharp reverse the minute I filled up with the supermarket diesel, I am 100% sure it was the 'new' fuel.

 

[oigle]

Hey Oigle..

This is facinating.
So who produces BP Ultimate 98 octane? Ditto BP Ultimate Diesel? is this all marketing spin?

What fuels are locally made?
Does the imported stuff have the same QA standards as the local brew?

I was advised by a local mechanic to avoid the Woolworths 91 octane fuel, as it damages fuel injection systems. The owner said the fuel was the greatest source of income he has had in years. He now replaces at least five injection systems a week, compared to one a month.

Thoughts? Comments?
Whats the best brew? (petrol and diesel)

Hi Ben.
My previous post kind of refers to some time ago but is still relevant. As I said, there are only 3 refineries left operating here now - Mobil in Geelong. Caltex at Brisbane and BP in Perth. Most of our fuels are imported from Singapore. What that means is if you live in Brisbane, you will get either Caltex or brand X from Singapore, when you fill. Similar applies to other areas. Woolworths diesel comes from the Caltex refinery in Qld but not in other areas - all depends on location and imports. It is a total mixed bag and one could NEVER say what fuel you are buying. The grades of petrol and diesel are produced at the refinery (and are Gov't controlled) so if you buy 98 octane Shell or BP or whatever, it will be the 98 octane supplied by the refinery/importer in your area. Branding makes no difference and "additives" are a joke. Same for premium diesels and ordinary diesels - they are a product of the refinery and branding is irrevelant - it is purely dependent on your locality. What used to be Caltex in Melbourne is now Singaporean for instance since 2014.
Ships from Singapore offload in many ports and all distribution is done from there to all brands of servos and of course sell under those names.
What I am saying is "buy the octane or cetane rating you want but don't consider the brand of servo selling it" Woolies (Caltex) and Coles (Shell) sell just as good a product as anyone else.

Cheers

Ian.

 

[Looking]

I know what you mean, but the consumption went into sharp reverse the minute I filled up with the supermarket diesel, I am 100% sure it was the 'new' fuel.

I would put big money on ,you couldn't tell if it was cheap diesel or the most expensive diesel in your tank if you didn't fill it yourself.

A back wind can have a dramatic effect on MPG so can the mind.

 

[turbopete]

I would put big money on ,you couldn't tell if it was cheap diesel or the most expensive diesel in your tank if you didn't fill it yourself.

A back wind can have a dramatic effect on MPG so can the mind.

cheap or expensive doesnt come into it. i ran asda fuel usually but tesco fuel the cars ran really sick. at that time, if someone filled my car up at tesco instead of asda, i KNEW!

 

[Looking]

cheap or expensive doesnt come into it. i ran asda fuel usually but tesco fuel the cars ran really sick. at that time, if someone filled my car up at tesco instead of asda, i KNEW!

I knew you would!

 

[turbopete]

I knew you would!

when a car does the same trips week in, week out, and suddenly drops 6mpg and feels like theres 2-300kgs in the boot power wise, id say it was a pretty good indication.

that said, ive had cars in the past where it didnt make any difference at all. but at the time (8 years or so ago) in an E300turbodiesel (210) and a Ford Puma, the difference was almost unreal. the puma felt like it had been raided and the 125bhp 1.7 engine swapped with the 90bhp 1.6 version, for example.

once i refilled with another brand (supermarket or otherwise) the power returned, and the MPG came back. i will admit, my driving style may have been part of the reason i noticed the difference (i used the power available to best effect quite regularly) BUT it was VERY noticeable.

 

[C350Carl]

This is from my C350 CDI which is just swapped on Sunday for an E250 CDI.

Now it's not scientific and I don't claim it to actually 'prove' anything. It's various journeys in various locations at all times of the year.

But you can see that with the same drivers (me and the wife) over similar journeys that Shell is nearly 5mpg better than Tesco. But that could be a whole host of reasons as to why.

Problem I have at the moment is that my nearest Shell is on the A1M and it is 12ppl dearer than Tesco (97.7 vs 109.7ppl). There is a BP in Darlington but that is a 25mile round trip. So any potential savings are negated straight away.

I have vowed with the E250 to go out of my way though and use the Shell/BP purely to ensure it stays running tip top as I intend to keep this one for 4-5yrs rather than the usual 2-3.

 

[Jeddy]

A few figures for another C350 CDI averaged over around 10,000 miles. The majority of this is exactly the same daily commute, so pretty repeatable.

Shell 36.8
Shell V Power 37.6 (includes a trip to Brussels and Wales)
BP 36.7
BP Ultimate 36.0
Sainsburys (local supermarket) 36.5

although actual figures have varied from 34.9 (holiday) to 40.1 (trip to Brussels)

Given the V power and Ultimate cost around 10p (9%) more I'm thinking they are a waste of money for me.
Shell Ordinary and Sainsburys are around the same price for now and equally convenient so I think I'll stick to Shell ordinary.

 

[Yugguy]

BP. cos its local and I have a nectar card.