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View Full Version : Petrol availability for long 4wd tracks



4evershiva
25th July 2014, 12:33 PM
Hi All,

I know I did a mistake of taking a petrol 4wd, that aside. I got a V6 petrol Disco 3 and was impressed with its 4wd capability with the help of fellow Aulro members on a trip to glass house mountains. Even since then I have been 4wding and have added, on board compressor, bash plate and rock sliders. want to install llams and you know the list goes on.

Eventually I want her ready to do the cape York and the simpson desert tracks. I know the options of adding long range fuel tank and jerry cans, however, my question is what is availability of 98 octane petrol for these tracks. Is it worth building her or stop and sell her and get a diesel disco 4. don't have the cash to buy the diesel but atleast I don't want to keep spending on the disco 3.


Can I put normal petrol at all? will it be a issue??

Advices please.

isuzurover
25th July 2014, 12:39 PM
We had a petrol rrc with us when we did the canning stock route. The owner was wishing he had bought a diesel by the end. In most remote areas opal was the only petrol available.

101RRS
25th July 2014, 12:52 PM
Your not likely to find 98 every where you will want it but take some octane booster with you and use the available petrol.

Garry

TerryO
25th July 2014, 12:54 PM
I'm seriously considering buying a V8 D4 and that would also be used for outback trips.

Is a petrol engine 4x4 ideal for this? In my opinion the answer is no, however plenty of people drive petrol 4x4's all over Australia and most every outback track and have done so for many years.

There are pluses and minues of owning both diesel and petrol 4x4's, however I tend to lean towards the much lower purchase and maintenance costs and much better reliability of petrol engined 4x4's. especially once they are out of the manufacturer warranty period.

Sure the fuel usuage off road is terrible and and petrol is hard to find sometimes but good planning which might include a slightly different route will get you to most destinations without to much fuss.

Will this mean that I will 100% buy a V8 D4? Only if a good one comes up at the right price, otherwise I'll buy another diesel.

Good luck with your decision.

4evershiva
25th July 2014, 01:06 PM
the reason I went with petrol was,
1. know nothing about 4wding
2. price was cheap like was a great bargain with only 50,000kms on the clock

Now I am more into 4wding and want a diesel...maybe do the local 4wding for another year or so and then resell this for the disco 4 (diesel)

Redback
25th July 2014, 01:12 PM
I'm seriously considering buying a V8 D4 and that would also be used for outback trips.

Is a petrol engine 4x4 ideal for this? In my opinion the answer is no, however plenty of people drive petrol 4x4's all over Australia and most every outback track and have done so for many years.

There are pluses and minues of owning both diesel and petrol 4x4's, however I tend to lean towards the much lower purchase and maintenance costs and much better reliability of petrol engined 4x4's. especially once they are out of the manufacturer warranty period.

Sure the fuel usuage off road is terrible and and petrol is hard to find sometimes but good planning which might include a slightly different route will get you to most destinations without to much fuss.

Will this mean that I will 100% buy a V8 D4? Only if a good one comes up at the right price, otherwise I'll buy another diesel.

Good luck with your decision.

These vehicles are usually old school petrol and will run on anything, new modern petrol engine won't, 95 would be the minimum, from memory some of the more remote outback stations don't carry petrol at all, I think Rabbit Flat is one.

The guys that still drive old petrol engined vehicles(ie)Cruisers, Patrols, usually have up around 260ltrs of fuel from the vehicles, a mate of mines old 80 series had 260ltrs, when he did the Canning, he got a 200ltr fuel drop and still topped up at the Kunawarritji Community:eek:

BigJon
25th July 2014, 01:17 PM
Rabbit Flat is one.



I think Rabbit Flat is closed now, unless it has reopened recently.

Epic pooh
25th July 2014, 03:57 PM
An 80 or 100 series 6cyl petrol uses fuel at about twice the rate of a modern d3/4 v8. They are gutless and horrifically inefficient engines.

Fair point on fuel quality but they will run on any fuel with octane booster (mine has had to run on 91 on occasion without octane booster - be gentle, no harm done).

NomadicD3
25th July 2014, 05:17 PM
These vehicles are usually old school petrol and will run on anything, new modern petrol engine won't, 95 would be the minimum, from memory some of the more remote outback stations don't carry petrol at all, I think Rabbit Flat is one.

The guys that still drive old petrol engined vehicles(ie)Cruisers, Patrols, usually have up around 260ltrs of fuel from the vehicles, a mate of mines old 80 series had 260ltrs, when he did the Canning, he got a 200ltr fuel drop and still topped up at the Kunawarritji Community:eek:



Hi Redback,
I find myself in the unusual position of disagreeing with you here. One of best mates has done a complete lap of Aus., including the Birdsville, Oodnadatta, Gunbarrel and Savanah way, in his 4.4ltr petrol v8 range rover sport and has run his car on every form of pertol including opal and has never had any problems with it.
I think TerryO is on the money here, with a little planning, driving a petrol car almost anywhere in Aus is achievable. Just ask the backpackers:wasntme:


Rabbit flat is definitely closed and the access road is barricaded off with a no entry sign, I was there in June.

TerryO
26th July 2014, 09:25 AM
Attached us a pretty good test on many if the best known octane boosters on the market, the good thing about them is they say the lower the octane the more the increase. With a good octane booster even Opal should do the trick if need be.

As for places to buy petrol in outback Aus, I will try and find a chart I saw recently that shows roughly 90% of places sell petrol as well as diesel and most sell 95 octane now.

Octane Boosters | Fuel Tech Experts (http://www.fueltechexperts.com/2008/08/08/octane-boosters-which-is-best/)

I hope this helps anyone considering using a petrol engined 4x4 for doing outback touring and has been put off after hearing story's that aren't 100% up to date.

Graeme
26th July 2014, 09:34 AM
My understanding is that modern petrol engines adapt to lower octane fuels using knock detection so should only result in lower performance and probably increased fuel consumption, although some manufacturer's algorithms result in more performance degradation than warranted.

Epic pooh
26th July 2014, 11:20 AM
I've used nulon pro at times and carry a bottle when touring.

Never tried opal but thanks for that info nomadic - same engine as me so very good to know !

I think the engine ecu will respond to lower octane fuel as you say Graeme, but I've not noticed when I've had to use 91 - but when using low grade fuels as I said I do take it easy unless I've added nulon (in which case I drive as usual). The main downside of octane boosters is that they add $20 or so to each tank of fuel !

nismine01
26th July 2014, 12:05 PM
Whilst on the fuel issued,
I plan on going up the 'Old Ghan Track' next April but can't find fuel stops after Oodnadatta.
Does anyone have any information on fuel availability in the remote top of South Australia?
I'm thinking about eight days and taking in Chambers Pillar, towing a caravan (yeah I know, dangerous) Adelaide to the Alice.
Planning has started, just stuck on the fuel issue at the moment, I'll worry about the roads closer to travel time.

Cheers

Mike:cool:

gossamer
26th July 2014, 03:03 PM
Whilst on the fuel issued,
I plan on going up the 'Old Ghan Track' next April but can't find fuel stops after Oodnadatta.
Does anyone have any information on fuel availability in the remote top of South Australia?
I'm thinking about eight days and taking in Chambers Pillar, towing a caravan (yeah I know, dangerous) Adelaide to the Alice.
Planning has started, just stuck on the fuel issue at the moment, I'll worry about the roads closer to travel time.

Cheers

Mike:cool:

Can fill up at Mt Dare. Mt dare to Alice via chambers pillars is only 450 ish ks
We traveled Flinders ranges Strezlecki track, Camerons cnr, Innaminka, Birdsville, Birdsville track, Oodndatta track to alice via Finke and Chambers pillars with a petrol Pajero towing a 1700kg camper trailer. Our economy was up around the 20l/100. We carried 2 jerries on the trailer and 2 of those short 20L jerries on the roof. I calculated the bit between Innaminka and Birdsville was going to be the only touch and go road with 2 jerries hence why i had the 4 but once we got to Birdsville i dropped 2 of the jerries and the mount i made at the tip because i didnt need them any more. We filled up at Mt dare ducked out to lamberts on the way to Chambers and then into Alice with no issues. Brother inlaw for some reason didnt fill both his tanks (prado) at Mt Dare so grabbed some Opal at Finke. We also did Cape York on the same trip with just the 2 jerries on the roof.
Each of the fuel companies has a plan my route on their website and also the fuel finder app's are quite handy.

Drizzle
30th July 2014, 12:20 AM
Hi All,

I know I did a mistake of taking a petrol 4wd, that aside. I got a V6 petrol Disco 3 and was impressed with its 4wd capability with the help of fellow Aulro members on a trip to glass house mountains. Even since then I have been 4wding and have added, on board compressor, bash plate and rock sliders. want to install llams and you know the list goes on.

Eventually I want her ready to do the cape York and the simpson desert tracks. I know the options of adding long range fuel tank and jerry cans, however, my question is what is availability of 98 octane petrol for these tracks. Is it worth building her or stop and sell her and get a diesel disco 4. don't have the cash to buy the diesel but atleast I don't want to keep spending on the disco 3.


Can I put normal petrol at all? will it be a issue??

Advices please.

Choosing a petrol 4wd is not a mistake, its a personal choice. The cost difference between a petrol and diesel was significant enough for us to choose the petrol as we would never recover the premium price of the diesel when we looked at similar second hand vehicles. Everyone's situation will be different, you will need to do the math to see what works best for you with purchase price difference v expected km's travelled per year and subsequent fuel usage.

We own a V6 petrol D3 and have just returned from one month of touring over 9000km through the outback. We did the red centre, crossed the Simpson, toured SA around Innamincka and Coongie Lakes etc and outback Qld. Like most people, I choose to use premium unleaded when available, but places like Mt Dare only sell regular 91 unleaded. I think Innamincka also only had 91? Everywhere we went unleaded petrol was available. The D3 user manual states to use fuel no lower than RON 90, so you'll be fine. You definitely don't need 98, again that's a personal choice. We crossed the Simpson using 91 and noticed no significant reduced performance (if any at all?), distance was 515km from Mt Dare to Birdsville and used 135 litres. That was the only leg of the entire trip that we used jerry cans.

I'll post a trip review in the next few days after I get a chance to transfer all the photos onto the computer and sort them out.

All the modifications we have done to our D3 can be easily removed and fitted to a D4 when we decide to upgrade when the time arises, saving even more funds in the future.

Plan your trips for the fuel stops, save your money by not trading in for a diesel now, and enjoy the capabilities of your V6 D3 for now.

If you decide to upgrade to a D4 in future years, weigh up the petrol v diesel again and see if you can not only justify the price premium, but also think what other mods can be done to the vehicle with the money saved in the short term by choosing petrol over diesel.

We're already planning Cape York for next year, might see you there! :D

4evershiva
30th July 2014, 06:16 AM
Choosing a petrol 4wd is not a mistake, its a personal choice. The cost difference between a petrol and diesel was significant enough for us to choose the petrol as we would never recover the premium price of the diesel when we looked at similar second hand vehicles. Everyone's situation will be different, you will need to do the math to see what works best for you with purchase price difference v expected km's travelled per year and subsequent fuel usage.

We own a V6 petrol D3 and have just returned from one month of touring over 9000km through the outback. We did the red centre, crossed the Simpson, toured SA around Innamincka and Coongie Lakes etc and outback Qld. Like most people, I choose to use premium unleaded when available, but places like Mt Dare only sell regular 91 unleaded. I think Innamincka also only had 91? Everywhere we went unleaded petrol was available. The D3 user manual states to use fuel no lower than RON 90, so you'll be fine. You definitely don't need 98, again that's a personal choice. We crossed the Simpson using 91 and noticed no significant reduced performance (if any at all?), distance was 515km from Mt Dare to Birdsville and used 135 litres. That was the only leg of the entire trip that we used jerry cans.

I'll post a trip review in the next few days after I get a chance to transfer all the photos onto the computer and sort them out.

All the modifications we have done to our D3 can be easily removed and fitted to a D4 when we decide to upgrade when the time arises, saving even more funds in the future.

Plan your trips for the fuel stops, save your money by not trading in for a diesel now, and enjoy the capabilities of your V6 D3 for now.

If you decide to upgrade to a D4 in future years, weigh up the petrol v diesel again and see if you can not only justify the price premium, but also think what other mods can be done to the vehicle with the money saved in the short term by choosing petrol over diesel.

We're already planning Cape York for next year, might see you there! :D

so glad to see this comment. feels better. please keep us all informed about the cape York trip. I would love to join you depending on my situation.