Thread: Is one diesel better than another?

Originally Posted by jakeslouw

Yep. To a certain extent.

Each ship delivers semi-refined fuel. Each company gets a load of light crude and they then process accordingly.
I very much doubt if shipping companies ship pre-refined petrol: petrol has more explosive force than dynamite, ounce for ounce.....

The companies (BP, Caltex, Castrol, etc) each refine or receive refined fuel from a 3rd party: BP might even buy "raw" petrol from Caltex to reduce the cost of having to set up a refinery.

They will then add their additives and sell the petrol to us.

Same happens with diesel, paraffin, kerosene, etc.

Castrol does not sell or make fuel. They are lubricant company owned by BP.

Here we have diesel arrive by ship, not sure for petrol, but there are large storage tanks. From memory BP supply petrol and Shell supply diesel. Caltex / Woolworths just by from them. But my understanding speaking to some delivery drivers is that additives may be added at the station.

Originally Posted by CraigE

Here we have diesel arrive by ship, not sure for petrol, but there are large storage tanks. From memory BP supply petrol and Shell supply diesel. Caltex / Woolworths just by from them. But my understanding speaking to some delivery drivers is that additives may be added at the station.

We used to add additive to the truck compartment if we remembered. Very hit and miss with measurement and memory.

I always try to buy diesel from outlets that have a higher turnover of the fuel. Means there is a slightly lower chance of picking up diesel bug and any other contaminants are being disbursed amongst a lot of people... Truck depots are good. I also use an additive once in a while to keep the diesel bug at bay and this also boosts the cetane so I know what good 'bang' feels like.

Over here in New Zealand, Gull Diesel from WA is reasonable and is usually always cheaper. I haven't noticed any problems with it yet.

Originally Posted by land864

I had heard that BP Ultimate Diesel was the best available.

Guess what. They don't sell it in Vic

I used the BP Ultimate unleaded in the litle 2 seater and have to say that the performance seemed noticibly better than the other Performace Unleadeds available.

BP Ultimate gets me about 100kms further with day to day city/hwy and better again when its all hwy driving.

The regular shell was my next choice. But if other suppliers are starting to sell premium diesel then it's worth giving it a go.

That's my 2 cents

Dont touch catlex due to their alliance with woolworths. I stick to shell and bp but cant really say whether either gives me better range or economy. Might be doing a big road trip soon so might give this a little test.

Might go BP on the way up and Shell on the way home.

Originally Posted by midal

I totally agree.

I dont! When I was dealing with the boffins at Holden and Mitsubishi in Adelaide we often spoke of the engine troubles experienced in Perth!

Perths fuel was different, and often caused pinging and more problems than anywhere in the country.

Your fuel was different


As for placebo effect, I regularly drive to Adelaide, cruise on, highway mode... Then turn around and come home hours later...

Shell gives mileage on par with BP Ultimate, but Caltex gives less by a noticeable margin every time.

Caltex petrol here, if we put it in the wifes old Vitara, makes it run like a dog.
No placebo, continually observed...
I even fuelled it up because I had a docket once, dropped it home.
That evening the wife said "You put Woolies fuel in didnt you"...
The car was running like a dog.

A bottle of octane boost made it liveable for the week. But we wont put it in again.

As for fuel in our area....

United has a truck come to see it every few days branded "United" they also fill the Mobil station.
Shell has a "Shell" branded tanker..
BP has a BP branded tanker
Caltex has an unbranded tanker come to town.

I know one of the tech guys at Mobil Port Stanvac (now closed) told me they blended to clients requests....

The name on the truck is no indication of the fuel source. United (and their ilk) do not refine and are at liberty to purchase from any supplier, usually the cheapest terminal gate price. I have regularly loaded a Caltex truck at a BP terminal. Differences in fuel quality are far more likely to be due to the retailers' fuel hygene.