Fuel - BP Ultimate vs The Others

[seldo]

I know there have been a zillion threads about fuel, but I just thought I'd toss this in.
I've always sworn by BP Ultimate and have used it almost exclusively in my Senator. The other day I thought I was very low on fuel (gauge and computer contradicting each other...but that's another story) and so I pulled into the first sizeable servo I could find - a high volume Mobil and filled with their best brew which I think they call Mobil 8000.
Result - mild detonation almost instantly, even on only light throttle.
So - it's back to BP again...

[wagnman]

Yeh I have always used BP Ultimate ever since my car was tuned the very first time. I have never had a bad batch and I try to use the same servo as much as possible.

I have had to use SHELL optimax once (WAAAAY back when it was still available) and while the car didnt ping or anything it felt a little bit softer (probably my imagination more than an issue with the fuel though).

I always stear clear of the independant servos for the SS because of the mods, I want to be sure that only good fuel goes in.

[GODSMACK]

2 stroke mower fuel FTMFW!!!! :jester:

Ive personally found that i get more kms (average of about 50) from Caltex 98 RON than any of the other fuels, and car seems to idle smoother too..

I found Shell Optimax to be the worst for fuel consumption, and i noticed a slightly rougher idle too.

[DansVEPanno]

My ex's brother was (maybe still is) a fuel specialist in the Australian army. He always swore by BP Ultimate. He also told me that all the BP fuels were better quality then their equivalent competitors and he only used BP fuel when he had the choice.

Since I got the 195kW SV6 3 or so months ago I've tested a few tanks of 91 RON against BP Ultimate 98 and for the distance I get per dollar, it's cheaper for me to use BP 98 RON.

And it sounds like it'll also be cheaper when it comes to engine maintenance, so win, win!

[Goatie]

ive noticed boost98 is available in my area. might compare it to ultimate :)

[Red CV8 R]

I originally ran Optimax in my previous VXII SS but when everyone reckoned BP Ultimate was the go I moved to that. I continued using this even in my then new CV8-R Monaro fuel but over many months I had multiple consecutive bad batches of this fuel from different servos so I moved to Mobil Synergy 8000 for a while. Car always felt sluggish on this fuel.

So I tried Caltex 98 and haven't looked back. The Monaro loves this fuel and when I switch to anything else I really notice the difference. Even decent batches of BP Ultimate. I also now only use Caltex 98 in my turbo Passat too as it also shows a noticeable difference when running this fuel.

[Bandit]

when i had the Monaro i used Optimax ..
now use BP Ultimate ..however, I have used the Mobil equivalent and it was fine...also..

[VX2VESS]

I've used ultimate 98 since it was available, 2003?

occasionally I'll try some others for a tank.

I've tried Mobil 8000 last tank can't say i noticed any detonation since, but also not used past half throttle. maybe i should chuck the gauge back to knock monitoring. been watching temp and oil pressure.

[wagnman]

I've used ultimate 98 since it was available, 2003?

occasionally I'll try some others for a tank.

I've tried Mobil 8000 last tank can't say i noticed any detonation since, but also not used past half throttle. maybe i should chuck the gauge back to knock monitoring. been watching temp and oil pressure.

Geez bloke!

Noit having a go here but HOW THE HELL can you go any distance at all and not go past half throttle?

I cant drive for long with out giving it a squirt LOL! I must be a hopeless rev head... But I love it! LOL!

[HSVQUE]

I've tryed them all.. in Turbo 6's, N/a V8's, Boosted V8's and I can tell you BP is the best.. maybe not for economy but for performance and reliability Ultimate wins..

My Mum who owns a Renult v6 laguna & has used ultimate for years filled up the other day with shell 100 as the fuel was very low and shell was the closest servo the car instantly felt like it was dropping cylinders and the pollution warning light on the dash lit up.. ran the shell fuel down filled back up with BP ultimate and now its fine again even the pollution light has turned off..

I dont trust any of these companys that have these fuel discounts.. Something has to give somewhere for them to pass on the price cuts.


Geez bloke!

Not having a go here but HOW THE HELL can you go any distance at all and not go past half throttle?

Maybe he has a 600kw ls1 and has that much wheel spin he doesnt need to go over half throttle. :D



Rob

[VX2VESS]

Geez bloke!

Noit having a go here but HOW THE HELL can you go any distance at all and not go past half throttle?

I cant drive for long with out giving it a squirt LOL! I must be a hopeless rev head... But I love it! LOL!

easy no need, been there done that no need to do it all the time. i did give it a bit more on a safe spot on the way home to check. got .2 .3 retard. i'll test again after some more BP.

Not sure how you can squirt so often. i was doing 60 hit it and was doing over 100 in a couple of hundred mtrs or less, before having to brake again.

[silvervyss]

Our local Albury Shell servo stopped selling 95 octane last week; and put in its place the new e10 cheap fuel which is a bummer. Tried shell 98 a while ago, and my car actually used more fuel and i couldn't feel the supposed power difference. Filled up 98 octane at the local Apco, and suprise suprise. No increase in power, and using more fuel. Might start using BP Ultimate.

[HSVQUE]

e10 isnt that bad man.. you should try it.. 95 octane, 10% ethanol.. and cheap!

[NickS]

I originally ran Optimax in my previous VXII SS but when everyone reckoned BP Ultimate was the go I moved to that. I continued using this even in my then new CV8-R Monaro fuel but over many months I had multiple consecutive bad batches of this fuel from different servos so I moved to Mobil Synergy 8000 for a while. Car always felt sluggish on this fuel.

So I tried Caltex 98 and haven't looked back. The Monaro loves this fuel and when I switch to anything else I really notice the difference. Even decent batches of BP Ultimate. I also now only use Caltex 98 in my turbo Passat too as it also shows a noticeable difference when running this fuel.

:goodjob: ... EXACTLY the same as me mate.

Always used Shell, changed to BP as everyone said it was the best ... wasn't hugely impressed so went to Caltex 98, haven't anything but that for at least 2 years in all of our cars.

:bow:

[silvervyss]

e10 isnt that bad man.. you should try it.. 95 octane, 10% ethanol.. and cheap!

Bit hesitant because of the 10% ethanol.

[benniemc]

I've tryed Liberty's Power98 fuel, which is e10 based, and BP Premo and Ultimate, and I get around 440-460 kms from the e10 and 95RON Premo, and up to 530 before the fuel light comes on with Ultimate.

The car feels alot stronger on the Ultimate too, like it wants to go!

[Ineeda]

I exclusively used Mobil 8000 ,which has been great and offered no problems.
Vpower 2 tanks and resulting in pinging. have used caltex twice and found it too be good as well, however the mobil station is right next door and closest caltex is 15 mins away.

each to their own.

[RED R8]

sounds like many varied opinions...I have only ever used BP Ultimate seems to work for my car.

[KingClifton]

2 stroke mower fuel FTMFW!!!! :jester:

Ive personally found that i get more kms (average of about 50) from Caltex 98 RON than any of the other fuels, and car seems to idle smoother too..

I found Shell Optimax to be the worst for fuel consumption, and i noticed a slightly rougher idle too.


I always thought this was just characteristic of the LS2...kinda liked it...but after switching from V-Power to Shell Unleaded 95 it's much less pronounced.

Reason for switch was price hike from 10cpl premium (cf RON91) to 13cpl - 13% dearer compared to RON91. Fuel economy hasn't suffered and feels like theres more low-end/mid-range torque with Unleaded95 than V-Power.

[white lie]

I usually use BP Ultimate, simply because its the nearest servo. I find I usually get more kms to a tank from Caltex Vortex 98, but after filling up 2 cars there at the same time, driving home (5-10kms) and both trip computers and fuel gauges didn't register the change. My GTS had 50odd litres put in and my Senator around 30L. The GTS took about an hour before the fuel gauge finally said full (it kept going up in 10L increments every 10 minutes or so) and I left the Senator overnight before checking it again. Anything over 20L registers straight away usually. I nearly went back because I thought i'd paid for fuel I didn't get... I haven't been back to that servo since!

[HYMEY]

I have used them all too. I log knock retard, generally I use Shell V power. I hugely prefer BP over Shell. But its all thats available. BP is much more dense then the others. Whilst I have not done any testing with it in my ute I have with road bikes and dirt bikes. I have the run leaner jet sizes because of the higher density then shell. If I raced my bike in an enduro on BP it would always have more tendency to foul plugs so I had to run hotter plugs leaner mixtures to compensate, But once sorted it ran like a bat out of hell. With 2 strokes 95 ron fuels are more popular, they burn better in an oil mix, run less timing and leaner mixtures and I have made more power with shell 95 over v power on a dyno with proper tuning to suit in a 13:1 comp TM300. A tip I got from Pete Maddison, Robbie Maddisons Dad. Shell 95 is basically deleaded Shell 100.

I have found similiar results with Vortex 98. I have gotten similiar economy to shell, but I can run 2 degrees more timing with it, the engine also runs slightly richer on it, Meaning it likes more timing to get best results, Driving back home last week, the amount of vortex 98 available reduced, I switch back to Shell, instantly the car ran slightly leaner on the open road, of consistent logs proving its less dense then caltex 98. I richened it up and pulled timing and the car pulled noticably smoother.

[SS Enforcer]

My ex's brother was (maybe still is) a fuel specialist in the Australian army. He always swore by BP Ultimate. He also told me that all the BP fuels were better quality then their equivalent competitors and he only used BP fuel when he had the choice.



I'm gonna give you a tip regarding the other BP fuels and that is they are ALL shared by the majors. It just depends on which state your in. I work in the fuel industry and can tell you all the fuel is shared between each other. In Sydney the diesel is either Shell or Caltex regardless of where you buy it from. The ulp is the same again mostly all shared except for the imported ulp distributed to Shell ,Mobil and some independents when needed.

In Brisbane it's either Caltex or BP Fuel, Melbourne it's Mobil or Shell, WA it's BP.

The performance fuels are generally kept seperate the 95 and boost 98 fuels can be anyones base 95 with ethanol or other adder adder that can change on a monthly basis. Mobil and BP were sharing the base 98 and adding there respective addatives from Botany for 98 and now they get there 98 from Vopac which is used for storage in Sydney and which could come from anywhere.

cheers

[VX2VESS]

I'm gonna give you a tip regarding the other BP fuels and that is they are ALL shared by the majors. It just depends on which state your in. I work in the fuel industry and can tell you all the fuel is shared between each other. In Sydney the diesel is either Shell or Caltex regardless of where you buy it from. The ulp is the same again mostly all shared except for the imported ulp distributed to Shell ,Mobil and some independents when needed.

In Brisbane it's either Caltex or BP Fuel, Melbourne it's Mobil or Shell, WA it's BP.

The performance fuels are generally kept seperate the 95 and boost 98 fuels can be anyones base 95 with ethanol or other adder adder that can change on a monthly basis. Mobil and BP were sharing the base 98 and adding there respective addatives from Botany for 98 and now they get there 98 from Vopac which is used for storage in Sydney and which could come from anywhere.

cheers

so Mobil and BP are the same in Sydney except the additives. maybe bps additives contain some sort of octane boost? how else do you explain Seldo's post.

So they all share fuels in one way or another. This supports price collaboration between the majors theory, if they share fuel why not pricing.

[HYMEY]

I do know BP Ultimate comes from WA and I have done enough testing with it for 10 years on bikes, but in saying that there is a bit of swapping and sharing taking place, this would be happening in todays market. It is fairly illegal to supply something thats not what it is, but who knows what goes on. I dont know the technical name for it but companies do it to save on transport cost. And there are legal loop holes that allow it. Shipping BP from WA to Eastern Australia isn't cheap. Caltex 98 and Shell 98 are brewed on the east coast, but there is definately a difference between the brews. I can see it going from Caltex to Shell most noticably. I rarely use BP Ultimate these days, I have achieved best results with boost 98. But I can't buy it here either.

[VX2VESS]

I do know BP Ultimate comes from WA and I have done enough testing with it for 10 years on bikes, but in saying that there is a bit of swapping and sharing taking place, this would be happening in todays market. It is fairly illegal to supply something thats not what it is, but who knows what goes on. I dont know the technical name for it but companies do it to save on transport cost. And there are legal loop holes that allow it. Shipping BP from WA to Eastern Australia isn't cheap. Caltex 98 and Shell 98 are brewed on the east coast, but there is definately a difference between the brews. I can see it going from Caltex to Shell most noticably. I rarely use BP Ultimate these days, I have achieved best results with boost 98. But I can't buy it here either.

i believe before this new Vopac supplier enforcer mentioned, That Sydney Ultimate came from Brisbane.

[VYSHSV8]

BP Ultimate 98, Caltex Vortex 98 or Peak 98 either way all come from the same place BP over here as I was told by a few of the delivery guys..

[Dane VN V8]

sounds like many varied opinions...I have only ever used BP Ultimate seems to work for my car.

Same, never tried any other kind of petrol in my car except for bp ultimate, when I had the ss I used caltex vortex 98 or whatever its called and noticed it pinged a bit so tried bp ultimate and stuck with that.

[chookboots]

I use BP Ultimate on a 6 litre VE and it works great. No problems.

[SSV8TE]

Gday all ,
Just another good report on the Bp ultimate.
I have used shell v power for years. I put a tank of Bp ultimate in my ute by request of my tuner and the tune was done. When the tank ran out i filled up again with vpower. Pinging started. I didnt think any different and went back to tuner who advised me about the qualities of fuel and different ron figures in each different fuel station. Went back after vpower ran out and filled with Bp again and within minutes pinging gone.
From the advice of my tuner and others i have found that Bp is more consistent with 98 Ron where as others vary from 94 Ron to 98 Ron. Luck of draw. But Bp i have had no drama's since finding a stable petrol station.
When i say stable i mean a station with good underground tanks and a regular turnover of fuel supplies.
Cheers,

Andy.

[Capt.LS2]

I have also used all of the major brands of fuel in my car and have to say that I agree with most observations on here.

V-Power - runs rougher and less km's from a tank.
Ultimate - no problems to report
Vortex 98 - smooth and usually get more km's out of a tank.

My car did have a tendency to ping on V-Power however I recently changed my plugs to Bosch F4's (from memory) and I noticed a difference in smoothness and more low down grunt. Maybe it's my imagination? Who knows. Interestingly it does not ping any more on the Shell product.

Just my 2c.

Alex.

[Pickles]

Well, I've got a mate who's been involved in the wholesale & retail side of the fuel industry for well over 30 years, & he says there's not much difference, if any, between the various brands, when using the same octane ratings--because sometimes it comes from the same place.
I'm in the habit myself of using BP Ultimate, because I feel good about using the BP product, but I've also used Vortex 98, & the Mobil product-what is it 8000 or something like that--& I've not noticed any difference at all.
The only thing that I try to insist on, is to use fuel from one of the majors-Shell, Mobil, or Caltex.
Our GTO isn't tuned at all, it's entirely standard, but as I've said, I've never noticed any difference.
Cheers, Pickles.

[macca33]

I use BP Ultimate 99% of the time, with Mobil 8000 occasionally - both smell exactly the same.

FWIW, I have had a couple of dodgy batches of BP Ultimate over time - on one occasion, it more than likely cost me a new fuel pump (plenty of foreign bodies in the fuel tank when it was emptied) and another time the car simply ran like crap.

Cheers,

Macca

[swingtan]

I've tryed them all.. in Turbo 6's, N/a V8's, <snip> filled up the other day with shell 100 as the fuel was very low and shell was the closest servo the car instantly felt like it was dropping cylinders and the pollution warning light on the dash lit up.. ran the shell fuel down filled back up with BP ultimate and now its fine again even the pollution light has turned off..

Where did you get V-Power Racing from? Shell stopped shipping it a couple of months back.


e10 isnt that bad man.. you should try it.. 95 octane, 10% ethanol.. and cheap!

Good statement. E10 has some nice surprises in it.


Bit hesitant because of the 10% ethanol.

All Holdens from at least the VZ are certified to run on E10 by Holden. I even have a sticker in the petrol cap door stating this.



OK, on to more techo stuff.

For all those that have "tried" different fuels by rolling in to the local servo and just filling up, you can throw your testing results in the bin ( at least for the higher octane fuels ). Remember that the computers that run our cars are "learning computers" ( to steal a line from Terminator ). They learn how the car is running and in nearly all cases apply "Long Term Fuel Trims" to correct the mixtures. Change fuel types and start using one that requires different trims and it'll run rough until the trims come back in. To further complicate this, the trims are only calculated during "Closed Loop" or light throttle application. They are then applied across the range, meaning that once you enter "Power Enrichment" mode, the trims are just a guess based on light throttle use.

For most people, the only thing you will be testing is "how does your tune work with a particular fuel". It's not "how good is the fuel". If you are going to try different fuels, at the very least, reset the PCM/ECM when you change fuels so you start from the same point.

The next issue is the actual makeup of the fuel. I've said it before, that any fuel with an Ethanol content may need a couple of tanks to clean out any water sitting in the bottom of the tank. This of course may result in other contaminants being flushed into the fuel system and clogging the fuel filter. My old trick was to dump some metho in the tank every 6 months to clear out any moisture. Don't forget that Ethanol requires a different AFR for clean burning, this will amplify the problem of the fuel trims above as well.

There is absolutely no doubt that the "best" fuel that we used to get, was V-Power Racing, as long as you tuned for it. I could run an additional 6' of timing across the board with VP-R when the tune suited. It did need it's own VE table though and it wasn't available every where, but for all out power on a pump grade fuel, you simply could not beat it.

To a lesser extent, there will be differences between the various 98 RON fuels. But the differences will be enough to make direct comparisons hard to do. Each one should probably have the tune looked at to ensure everything is optimal. I've only done a couple of tests with 98 and that was only because VP-R is no longer available.

Ethanol based fuels are actually very good, as long as you tune for them as well. I'm currently testing E10 from shell and it's quite a good fuel. Again, it needs a tune to get the most out of it, but when set up, it will almost take the same timing as 98 RON fuel. E85 would be nice to try out.....

In the end though, the "best" fuel to use should be the fuel that was used when the car was tuned. This is because the various parameters in the tune have been optimised for the composition of that fuel. As has been said, if you run 91RON, it's not going to matter much. If you have tuned to a ragged edge on a certain 98RON fuel, I wouldn't be filling up with E10 and expecting a happy result. The same goes for the opposite, tuning for E10 then going to straight 98 won't be a great joy either. Swapping between brands of 98 will be a lot better, but would probably like a PCM/ECM reset to start things from scratch.

Simon.

[HYMEY]

great post simon, another thing to add. When in closed loop if the car is ve table is lean the long term fuel trims add fuel by a percentage so once the car goes into pe the percentage is added on. However if the car is rich down low the fuel trims become negative in this case the negative trims are ignored once the engine goes into pe to avoid topend lean out. Either way a true test requires a tune to suit.

cheers

[SS Enforcer]

i believe before this new Vopac supplier enforcer mentioned, That Sydney Ultimate came from Brisbane.

Vopac is just for storage and their fuel can come from anywhere. Woolies used to store their dodgy indian fuel there. Currently Shell, BP and Mobil are renting storage space of them.

The best tip I can give for fuel is to purchase from a big 4 retailer at a big busy site. This will ensure your fuel is dirt free and hasn't been in the grind for long where it will accumulate water. I use Caltex 98 but only because it's convenient for me and will put any brand 98 fuel in my car if it needs it and can't tell the difference from one brand to the next.

cheers

[zapher007]

When i put in Caltex 98 my car backfires which is cool!!

ha ha

[vessloveit]

I have used BP Ultimate almost exclusively since having my SS tuned on the recommendation of my tuner. However he has seen some dodgy Ultimate.

Recently I decided to try the E10 95 RON by my SOTP meter car has not lost any grunt however it looks like I may be using about 1 more litre per 100kms but when the E10 is abour 20c per litre cheaper I may stick with the E10 and have it tuned for it.

[taztassio]

2 stroke mower fuel FTMFW!!!! :jester:

Ive personally found that i get more kms (average of about 50) from Caltex 98 RON than any of the other fuels, and car seems to idle smoother too..

I found Shell Optimax to be the worst for fuel consumption, and i noticed a slightly rougher idle too.

I found i get less km's from caltex Vortex, but more power, and less (marginally) from shell v-power, but a bit better economy.

the thing is tho, that if they have refinery problems, they will sell their fuel to other brands, so you can NEVER EVER be sure that you are getting 100% shell, or caltex or mobile.

also, more food for thought, most of the motorcycle guys i know swear by mobile 8000

[ShanghaiVZ]

Considering I work for coles EXP, I have always purchased my petrol from BP usually 95 or 98 yesterday I filled with 98 and 2 fuel containers as it was 118.9 :D. I have always used BP for years and no problems to report, Why change when I have no reason too.

[SS Enforcer]

Considering I work for coles EXP, I have always purchased my petrol from BP usually 95 or 98 yesterday I filled with 98 and 2 fuel containers as it was 118.9 :D. I have always used BP for years and no problems to report, Why change when I have no reason too.

Your BP 95 is the same as your Shell 95 just like all the Ulp ,E10, and diesel it's shell fuel. The BP tankers load out of Shell in Sydney but will sometimes load out of Mobil using Caltex fuel. I have been watching Linfox's Mobil B Doubles loading out of Shell for the past few weeks now and am trying to work out what they are loading. It can only be E10 or 98 petrol going by the DG placarding for Mobil sites.

cheers

[Vulture]

I've tryed Liberty's Power98 fuel, which is e10 based, and BP Premo and Ultimate, and I get around 440-460 kms from the e10 and 95RON Premo, and up to 530 before the fuel light comes on with Ultimate.

Worth remembering that the E10 based fuels are not 'high density' fuels, so you would expect them to deliver less Km per tank than the high density fuels like BP Ultimate (ie a tank of Ultimate will actually weigh more than a tank of E10).

Also, I think it is crazy to compare one fuel with another on the basis of one tank here or there. I went through a stage where the BP seemed to cause pinging all the time but now it is better. So many variables: service station, tune, atmospheric pressure, temperatures, storage times etc.

[boyley]

I know there have been a zillion threads about fuel, but I just thought I'd toss this in.
I've always sworn by BP Ultimate and have used it almost exclusively in my Senator. The other day I thought I was very low on fuel (gauge and computer contradicting each other...but that's another story) and so I pulled into the first sizeable servo I could find - a high volume Mobil and filled with their best brew which I think they call Mobil 8000.
Result - mild detonation almost instantly, even on only light throttle.
So - it's back to BP again...

Seldo you just keep getting older mate, you're alike a tin of Taubmans, keep on keeping on. I use BP exclusivelt because Tasmania only have one 98 fuel.

[HYMEY]

I think its normally all in peoples heads Paul, Unless you see it on a w/b or can see kr on a log its hard to tell the difference between them unless of course you are going from 95 to 98. I switched from Shell 95 to Shell 98 in a VZ yesty and picked up over 15rwkw with more timing. I say get it from a servo that turns over a lot of fuel, Like vpower from a big coles outlet etc.

[Alister]

I say get it from a servo that turns over a lot of fuel, Like vpower from a big coles outlet etc.

^^^ Good advice.

Considering BP servos have been a dying breed since 2005, I'd be careful where you fill up with your BP 95RON or Ultimate.

[SS Enforcer]

I think its normally all in peoples heads Paul, Unless you see it on a w/b or can see kr on a log its hard to tell the difference between them unless of course you are going from 95 to 98. I switched from Shell 95 to Shell 98 in a VZ yesty and picked up over 15rwkw with more timing. I say get it from a servo that turns over a lot of fuel, Like vpower from a big coles outlet etc.

It must be Joel and as you know I deliver the stuff and have done for years and it never ceases to amaze me that you can tell someone that it comes from the same place and out of the same tank but they swear there is a difference. The marketers have done a good job earning brand loyalty.

cheers

[Red CV8 R]

There is no doubt that some of the effect can be in ones head but on the other hand you can certainly tell when you get a bad batch of fuel! Often this is nothing to do with the source but the retailer.

Speaking of marketing it is funny that I ended up as a Caltex convert because I used to think it was cheapo fuel and refused to use it. I only tried it one day because of the issues I had with all the other 98 fuels available.

This thread is great I must say, some good info in here from those in the industry :)

[Kami]

yet to find a batch of bad fuel in my stock vx ss.
altho when driving my skyline i find bp to always be better off than shell.

but each car seems to be different

these days im using safeway petrol - caltex (safeway discount card yeehaw).
finding 91 ron to be the best for my ls1. get shite loads more kms for little power loss - only bottom end power which driving around the city i rarely notice anyway. highway driving is alot better also. driving back from albury to melb i use 1/3 of a tank for 330kms of driving. up against a little under 1/2 for 95 ron and over 1/2 using 98 ron... strange figures but i fill up every 3rd week instead of every week (over 3/4 of a tank for 98 ron) on the same driving/acceleration

cheers

[karter42]

I have done some solid testing with Caltex 98, Shell 98 and BP 98, but in a 2 stroke application. To be honest, I do not notice any difference between them in my LS1'a at all however, there seems to be a difference when testing in a kart.

Using a ratio of 20:1 castor/synthetic oil in all tests on the same day, 20 laps per test. (Using Alfano onboard timing and data acquisition system)

Caltex 98
Laptimes consistent 45.3 seconds, head temp 218 degrees, 11,500 revs

Shell 98
Laptimes consistent 45.3 seconds, head temp 222 degrees, 11,300 revs

BP 98
Laptimes consistent 45.1 seconds, head temp 220 degrees, 11,800 revs

A little more fuel delivery was required with the BP, an 8th of a turn infact on the high speed jet.

The problem is though, this testing was on a relativelty static weather day where the temperature in the testing session only varied by a couple of degrees. But, even though I was the only person on the track while the testing was being done, there was a little bit of extra rubber going down which in turn creates a bit more grip so there is a chance there was a couple of tenths gained in laptimes when it came to testing the BP because of this.

The interesting part though was the head and revs, more revs with the BP and the head temp was a tad lower than the shell. this could also be because of the extra fuel delivery required with the BP which has kept the head temp a little cooler.

The real test of course would be on the dyno in a controlled environment. I really do not think there is much in it and not worth the effort to take the next step and test fuel on the dyno. We can only run 98 ron, no ethanol by the current rule book.

So in my personal findings only, nothing in it really at all but I continue to use BP in my karts and LS1's, just because of the extra revs acheived :)

Dave

[SS Enforcer]

yet to find a batch of bad fuel in my stock vx ss.
altho when driving my skyline i find bp to always be better off than shell.

but each car seems to be different

these days im using safeway petrol - caltex (safeway discount card yeehaw).
finding 91 ron to be the best for my ls1. get shite loads more kms for little power loss - only bottom end power which driving around the city i rarely notice anyway. highway driving is alot better also. driving back from albury to melb i use 1/3 of a tank for 330kms of driving. up against a little under 1/2 for 95 ron and over 1/2 using 98 ron... strange figures but i fill up every 3rd week instead of every week (over 3/4 of a tank for 98 ron) on the same driving/acceleration

cheers

Your still pissed from New Years Eve ... right ?

cheers

[vxberwag]

I work for a major refiner and part of my job involves blending 91 & 95 Ron fuel, we do not make 98 Ron as its either imported or sourced from another major. The refinery I work for and the other refinery here in Victoria supplies most of the Victorian market majors and some independents. The point I am trying to make is it doesn’t really matter who you buy from as its initially blended from up to 6 components to meet a very tight specification with up to 20 different tests prior to being released to the market place. Variances in fuel quality are more likely to be poor practices in distribution than quality of a particular brand fuel.
I don’t even know where the fuel I put in my tank is sourced. The chances are though the fuel you put in your tank will more than likely come from the refinery that is your state.

[Drewie]

I have a stock VX SS except for a cat back system. Have always used the
98 RON fuel mostly the BP, I realise the VX is factory tuned to run on 91 RON,
so is there any advantage/disadvantage in running the 98 fuel? The fuel companies say you get a bit more mileage and it is cleaner but can the VX take advantage of the better fuel like the latter cars can, or is it just a case of with the 98 there is less chance of the knock sensors retarding the timing?
But would a good batch of 91 keep the timing in the same range as the 98.
Not sure if the VX gets much advantage from the 98 fuel in a stocker.

[cuttercv8z]

Iv only ever used BP ultimate 98 in my cv8z monaro and have never had any problems.

[pmac]

I have a stock VX SS except for a cat back system. Have always used the
98 RON fuel mostly the BP, I realise the VX is factory tuned to run on 91 RON,
so is there any advantage/disadvantage in running the 98 fuel? The fuel companies say you get a bit more mileage and it is cleaner but can the VX take advantage of the better fuel like the latter cars can, or is it just a case of with the 98 there is less chance of the knock sensors retarding the timing?
But would a good batch of 91 keep the timing in the same range as the 98.
Not sure if the VX gets much advantage from the 98 fuel in a stocker.


ur fuel injectors are cleaner, prob the only advantage, otherwise power increases etc are very minor

[SS Enforcer]

I have a stock VX SS except for a cat back system. Have always used the
98 RON fuel mostly the BP, I realise the VX is factory tuned to run on 91 RON,
so is there any advantage/disadvantage in running the 98 fuel? The fuel companies say you get a bit more mileage and it is cleaner but can the VX take advantage of the better fuel like the latter cars can, or is it just a case of with the 98 there is less chance of the knock sensors retarding the timing?
But would a good batch of 91 keep the timing in the same range as the 98.
Not sure if the VX gets much advantage from the 98 fuel in a stocker.

Heres the thing with your car and that is it has 2 timing tables in it, an upper and lower one. If you run 91 ron fuel it will run on or near to the lower table but on 98 fuel it will run on the upper table which produces more power due to the increased timing.

cheers


I work for a major refiner and part of my job involves blending 91 & 95 Ron fuel, we do not make 98 Ron as its either imported or sourced from another major. The refinery I work for and the other refinery here in Victoria supplies most of the Victorian market majors and some independents. The point I am trying to make is it doesn’t really matter who you buy from as its initially blended from up to 6 components to meet a very tight specification with up to 20 different tests prior to being released to the market place. Variances in fuel quality are more likely to be poor practices in distribution than quality of a particular brand fuel.
I don’t even know where the fuel I put in my tank is sourced. The chances are though the fuel you put in your tank will more than likely come from the refinery that is your state.

Well said mate the only differences I notice is the density can change for the same product sometimes quite a fair bit .

Is there much blending required of the imported fuels or does it get slotted straight ito the system if it's on spec ?

cheers