Premium Fuel Question

[VZ HSV #1]

Guys,
How do they make premium fuel, what is the difference in relation between 98-95-91 octane.
Also what is the difference between the Shell, BP and Caltex brands, wouldn't it all be the same??

Cheers
Scotty

[JNP304]

Im not sure on the process exactly but I am lead to belive premium fuel is more refined giving it a highter octane rating. Making it more expensive to buy. A lot of fuel tankers pick the fuel up from the same refinery but must get different batches ect? Different quality. Any tanker drivers on here confirm this?
I know with gas tankers there are some batches that are better than others, the cheaper servos (no name) getting the poorer quality gas, watered down if you like with a stronger mix of butane and whatever else crap they put in.

You would think sticking to bigger name servos that you are buying a quality product but you can never be sure. There is also a lot of cheap nasty fuel imported direct from Asia (not refined here). I have heard on more than one occasion the tanker drivers having sand and even parts of sea creatures in the bottom of the tank after unloading. I know this sounds made up but this is what I have heard as fact. The overseas ship once unloaded needs a ballast of water to weigh it down for the return trip and doesnt flush out properly when loaded up again overseas. Hence all sorts of crap getting into the fuel. Id hate to think im putting any of that fuel in the car.

When I was at Nissan we had fuel pump fail on a Partol Diesel. (sand residue in the fuel tank (owner had filled up at liberty) about 5 years ago that was.

[Aussie V8]

Shell makes claims that Optimax is a "high density fuel" and therefore you get more kilometres out of the same amount of fuel.

There have been rumours that Shell Optimax goes "off" faster than any other brand of fuelwhen exposed to air, like when pumping into your tank.

I did a trip to Canberra recently and the trip north was using Optimax. When I filled, the trip was showing 11.9lt/100klm and I worked out the MPG to be ~24.5MPG by calculator. I could only get Caltex and filled with Vortex98 for the remaining trip into Canberra and the trip south. The trip was again showing 11.9lt/100klm but the calculator (# of Litres divided to give gallons, number of kilometres divided to give miles) showed ~26 mpg. Make me wonder :confused:

Either way, I would not recommend high octane (RON) fuel if your car is not specified for it. You are just throwing your money away.

[wally01]

Shell makes claims that Optimax is a "high density fuel" and therefore you get more kilometres out of the same amount of fuel.

There have been rumours that Shell Optimax goes "off" faster than any other brand of fuelwhen exposed to air, like when pumping into your tank.

I did a trip to Canberra recently and the trip north was using Optimax. When I filled, the trip was showing 11.9lt/100klm and I worked out the MPG to be ~24.5MPG by calculator. I could only get Caltex and filled with Vortex98 for the remaining trip into Canberra and the trip south. The trip was again showing 11.9lt/100klm but the calculator (# of Litres divided to give gallons, number of kilometres divided to give miles) showed ~26 mpg. Make me wonder :confused:

Either way, I would not recommend high octane (RON) fuel if your car is not specified for it. You are just throwing your money away.

I myself would not say that it's just throwning your money away ,i own a V6 it runs better on Premium and goe's further ,this is shell fuel at 6 cents per litre more than Regular ,doesn't make much difference ,i only spend $60 a week and go no where that matters and my Wagon use's heaps when on regular and there is a huge difference to fuel usage on Premium , and i don't drive like a granny .

[Drewie]

The premium 98 fuel is also supposed to contain more detergents which is supposed to keep injectors and the fuel system cleaner. Whether it does or not who knows might be just advertising blurb.

[nathnrach]

newer cars are designed to run on standard ulp... running 98 octane in the will really only hurt your wallet... not much better economy or performance... it all depends on the batch aswell, ive had one batch of fuel absolutely terrible, and the other one like it was on avgas... sad thing is you can never tell... you just get to know which servo you like and which ones you dont...
and personally i dont use shell at all... its a detergent based fuel... meaning in the short term it keeps things clean, but long term it can cause serious damage... can cause similar to electrolysis... erosion etc... and premature wear...

[Aussie V8]

newer cars are designed to run on standard ulp... running 98 octane in the will really only hurt your wallet... not much better economy or performance... it all depends on the batch aswell, ive had one batch of fuel absolutely terrible, and the other one like it was on avgas... sad thing is you can never tell... you just get to know which servo you like and which ones you dont...
and personally i dont use shell at all... its a detergent based fuel... meaning in the short term it keeps things clean, but long term it can cause serious damage... can cause similar to electrolysis... erosion etc... and premature wear...

I agree with your comments there nathnrach.

I especially like the comment about Shell as I remembered that owners of Sport Bikes can never use Optimax because of it's corrosive qualities attacking the types of seals used in mainly bikes.

[wally01]

I don't have much choice where i am BP or Shell Bp is on the wrong side of the and i use the shopping docket for me 4 cents big deal but i use them ,and i drive past shell 4 times a day ,just easier i guess .

Might try BP if i go that way on Friday .

Might be time to try some others.

But our Wagon doe;s better on Premium than regular.

[Dacious]

I agree with your comments there nathnrach.

I especially like the comment about Shell as I remembered that owners of Sport Bikes can never use Optimax because of it's corrosive qualities attacking the types of seals used in mainly bikes.

Er, no, that's only true of the part-ethanol mix. Opticrap don't work in a lot of bike because it is denser, doesn't feed as well through non-injected carbs and causes lean running. Lots of people seized 250 Proddy racers on it when it was intro'd.

Fuel conforming to PULP standard is more closely controlled than ULP. The spirit is either boosted with benzine which is a carcinogen, so its' use is being controlled. These days, they use a thing looks like a space station called a catalytic cracker to create long chain hydrocarbon molecules under heat and pressure which can't exist otherwise. These oxygenates raise the octane level. Needless to say, to 'pressurecook' fuel safely, the cracker costs a lot, but allows higher octane fuel to be created without nasties like benzine, which has long been banned in Europe.

Most good quality ULP has scrubbers and scourers to keep fuel systems clean apart from the cheapo stuff.

[bsbozzy]

Im pretty sure the difference between the fuels is the higher the octane, the slower the fuel burns

[GTO Coupe]

I dont know why but my GTO seems to run best on Vortex 98, most other people I talk to with LS1s or LS2s seem to agree that the Caltex 98 octane is best? The Shell Optimax especially seems to make my car run rough?