Who distributes the best diesel fuel?

[dhumphri]

Just wondering if anyone has found big differences between diesel fuels that the main sellers distribute. (ie is shell better than BP etc and why).

Am running a TD5 so would be interested in any personal experiences relating to this engine. Regards Daz

[DEFENDERZOOK]

i have found that most of the no-name type servos.....the cheap fuel places......
have mainly bio-diesel.......


and i recently heard that shell is a no-no when it comes to fuel.....
and i think caltex was the other no-no......


BP is supposed to be ok i think......

[George130]

Used to use shell whenever possible. Now I don't have my shell card I have been using BP and caltex. It was this forum that raised the shell no no.

[drivesafe]

I only use Shell or BP and haven’t had a problem.

Caltex / Ampol / Woolworths are third world rated and although the quality of diesel was supposed comply to higher minimum quality standards by late last year, Caltex, for what ever reason, has managed to get an extension to when it has to comply.

BP guarantees the quality of it’s fuel at the bowser while I believe Shell only guarantees the quality when it leaves the refinery, as to what effect that has on their fuel at the bowser, I don’t know.

At around $15,000 to replace the donk in the RR, I'll pass on the Bio mix.

Cheers.

[rick130]

On their published specs, BP has the best cetane (ignitability) numbers, (51) closely followed by Shell, (49) then Caltex/Woolworths (46).
Drivesafe, are you sure regarding Caltex and "third world rated" ? There was a question mark a few years back before the Caltex/Woolies tie up as Woolies werer importing bulk diesel from wherever they could get it, but surely that's well past as they are all supposed to comply with the latest Aus Standard which is based on the Euro spec (although the Euro spec is a 51 Cetane minimum, which it seeems only BP meets) as well as the 50ppm maximum sulphur and lcertain lubricity levels.
Don't know Mobils' spec, they don't publish one, although the only time I've used it, about 4 weeks ago the Tdi really liked it.

[jase]

what area / state you live in depends on where your fuel comes from NOT the signs on the bowsers
In melb (& sorrounds) for example BP no longer have a refinery and all BP fuels comes from mobil refinary
I haven't checked lately but last year Mobil and BP were the only Majors to have low sulpher
Woolworths no longer import bulk fuel its 99% caltex
others (independants) do import bulk fuel but also do buy off the majors
& some fuel is also blended (ethonol ect) in backyards
Personally I use BP / mobil around home and stick to majors when away, Unless you know where your indepenant get his fuel (and some buy loads where ever they are going cheap not always from the same place) then its best to avoid them IMO

Jase
FYI
Biodiesel (if made correctly & on spec) is waaaay better in may regards than dino (petroleum) diesel.
Cleaner
NO sulpher,
better lubrication ect ect
But also depends what base stock they use canola being one of the best but makes bio around $1/ltr to produce compared to tallows ect at $0.90/ltr so again you need to do homework on what they are using Most bio refinarys have stocks of mny grades from 100% canola blends to 100% crap blend and its up to the purcahser what the get, many buy the cheapest (= biggest profit) so get 10% canola 90% crap

[PeterM]

We've got a VW Golf tdi and BP is the fuel that VW recommends for use followed by Shell.

[drivesafe]

A good mate of mine is right into Audis and VWs and was the owner of a Rangy for a good few years.

He’s got a TT now and is a fanatic about looking after it, as such he and most of the Audi owners he hangs around with seem to have lots of time on their hands ( obviously unlike Landy owners ) and they spend their time look up info about every aspect relating to their vehicles.

He put me onto BP / Shell / Mobil fuels years ago and keeps me up to date on what's what in that and a number of other areas.

One of the many sites where he frequents had some details of the current state of play regarding fuel quality in Australia. I find out where the data is an post a link if it’s relevant.

As posted, I only use BP and Shell. I stopped using Mobil after filled up at a Mobil servo where I put 104 litres in my tank, which still had at least 10 litres in it. Not bad for a 100 lt tank and when I raised this discrepancy with Mobil, they didn’t seem to think it was much of a problem.

Cheers


PS. Off subject a bit but to give you an idea of how fanatical these guys are about their cars, you know how the wives get together and have things like Tupperware parties, well these fanatics have things like car cleaning product seminars.

They meet at some workshop and arrange for a car care specialist to come along and show them all the latest cleaning aids and polishes and the correct way to use them, they find out about things like the 37 different shaped wheel cleaning brushes.

Shouldn’t knock, he’s put me onto some great polishes and the likes.

[discowhite]

on my recent trip to QLD and back i tested this theroy out.
im now parranoid about crappy quality/bio fuels. basically the clearer
the diesal the better it should be!
well i can tell you that only the top brand stations fuel out of the bowsers
was clear! every time i stoped to fill up i put a bit in a clear plastic cup to have a look, the ones that were clear i used, the ones that wernt i went else where. what i did also find was that BP dose have very clear fuel but they WERE 2-4c more expensive than the others. which was a problem because there are a lot of BP's

i tried to run my td5 90 on bio and accidently mixed bio and its crap for
td5's! dont notice it around town as much as the open roads. lack of power and fuel consumption goes through the roof!


cheers phil.

[drivesafe]

Hi discowhite, I use to fill up my D1 with the cheapest fuel I could find and I was also running fuel treatment in my fuel.

Still had to get the injectors serviced about every 100,000 kms or so, to stop the TDi smoking.

I’ve just just clocked up 150,000 kms in the Range Rover. The only time it smokes and has always done it, is for a split second when I floor it. Never run anything but BP / Shell and for the first year or so, Mobil. I have never put injector cleaners in the fuel and don’t need the injector serviced yet.

Yes, the better quality fuel is dearer but you save heaps more on much reduced servicing cost.

Cheers