Premium Fuels - Trend Towards

Ron,
The nephew had an XR6 falcon and calculated he got an extra 40K out of a tank full and the vehicle ran much better anyway.

After discovering that, he would not use 91, always 98 as he reasoned the price difference came out about equal, $/K.

I only ever use 95 around town (V8 Petrol 100 series) and 98 when towing the van. I've never run 91 RON in it so I cannot make a comparison there, but, working on the nephews findings, I have no complaints using premium.

Cheers, Bruce.

Adf not to mention the price of a beer these days. I could drive the new Jimny for a week on the price of one schooner!

Cheer,s Baz

Yet Yamaha told me that because my cruiser is a lower revving bike compared to a sports bike, not to bother with the higher rated fuel.

Hmm, Winton eh? I spent a few years around Corfield in the '80's, on Malboona.

Had to check where Malboona was, Stu. Don't know that area too well, though did load a mob of cows out of Harwood a few years ago. You know the pub is shut now.........only opens for special occasions. :-(

We had an '80's type day yesterday. 44 deg, new record max temp for February for Winton, and topped it off with a 4 hr blackout, about 9pm. Lot of cars driving around last night, no doubt keeping young children, and their parents, cool. :-)

Bob

What's the price difference between Ultimate and "standard" diesel, Stu?

Usually chasing petrol when am offered a choice in diesel.

Bob

G'day Bob,

I'm not sure that there is a difference in price.
I could be wrong though.

"Vortex" is 1-2c/L higher than "Truck diesel " at outlets selling both in Tamworth.
I don't know what the difference really is, but I'm paying the extra 1-2c/L

Mark

Vortex diesel just has cleaners in it.

From the horse's mouth.

I always use BP Ultimate when refueling (if available of course!)...

Cheers, Baz

I always try to use BP, get better mileage, don't notice a difference power wise. Shell is my next choice, fuel consumption is slightly lower, but only very slightly. Years ago before the advent of CRD, fuels made a huge difference, Mobil for example was absolutely terrible stuff - no power and terrible consumption. I have been informed, by others on this forum, that there is no difference between BP, Shell, whatever, but figures over multiple tanks don't lie!

Gday Chris
So if i put PULP in my mower, will it suck the grass out of the ground instead of just cutting it?

I always use PULP in my motorbikes and small engines. As Chris said, performance is a bit better, and the cost is negligable.

hi idler chris
don't know if you are aware of this but if you use hi octane petrol in small motors that manufactures recommend std for the hi octane will cause the valves to over heat and waup
i have personely experienced this problem in briggs /robin /and honda auxilary motors and a honda and yamaha m/bikes particularly in the summer months
i dont deny that the performance is better and noticable
but there is a down side cheers

the exhaust valves are the one that warp

mazcan posted:
don't know if you are aware of this but if you use hi octane petrol in small motors that manufactures recommend std for the hi octane will cause the valves to over heat and waup
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over the last eight years I have dismantled many hundreds of mower engines that have been donated to a local church by mower shops. The church sells the metal along with aluminium cans etc to a scrap metal dealer. I have no idea what type of fuel they have been using but I can't remember finding burnt valves in any of them.

Octane rating by the way is just a measure of the fuel's resistance to detonation. It does not mean the fuel produces more power.

Detonation will occur if the pressure or temperature in the cylinder exceeds the level the fuel was designed for. All of the fuel ignites instantly resulting in a single hammer like blow to the piston.

When the octane rating is correct the fuel will explode. An explosion is a rapid but controlled burning on an expanding flame front. It builds up pressure and pushes the piston down the cylinder.

Bazooka - I don't know of any ECU that can sense the oil type - but there are engines (Ford and Chrysler to my knowledge, and probably a lot more) fitted with an oil viscosity sensor, that can sense the oil viscosity - and if it falls outside the parameters set in the ECU, then the engine will either throw a code or refuse to start.

The oil viscosity sensor on the Chryslers uses a miniature tuning fork which is vibrated via an electrical current. The amplitude of vibration is measured and the sensor determines the oil viscosity from this vibration.
The sensor then sends a "go" or "no go" signal to the ECU and the ECU reacts according to how it has been programmed.

Correct oil viscosity is crucial for many modern engines, as there are often many small oilways and orifices in the latest engines where oil has to traverse, and thick oil affects the operation of many crucial engine components, such as injection pumps and variable valve timing mechanisms.
The "excessive oil viscosity" code can also be utilised to warn when an engine oil change is needed.

Cheers, Ron.

Thanks Ron. Sounds more to the point.

I saw diesel same price as ulp on a drive up the QLD coast last week, first time almost forever I have seen it the same, let alone like it used to be, cheaper.
Back in Adelaide, diesel is around 10c more, but at times can be 20c more or even 30c now and then when we are really getting gouged.

For the most part those days are well and truly gone with the requirements and specifications on diesel fues these days.

Also, it doesn't get the same level of marketing discounts that ULP does.

Cheers, Baz

gbc
"Old school petrol motors like the big Nissan 6 won't notice too much difference".
This is consistent with advice I have received;
*) If your motor recommends a higher octane, it will deliver better economy that should make up for a reasonable $/litre increase in the fuel.
If you use lower octane, both performance and economy will drop
*) If your motor is older or recommends lower octane, then using higher octane will not quite give you benefit to the same extent as above
CJ

Ultimately many of the vehicles manufactured these days require or perform better with a fuel with a higher Ron rating – no use giving people apples if it is oranges they need, I guess?

Cheers, Baz – The Landy

Apples & Oranges indeed , yes some vehicles do require the premium BUT an increasing amount run perfectly well on fuels such as E95 or straight 95 or 91 .. EG the FJ cruiser in my driveway , absolutely no difference in performance or economy by using 98 which out our way attracts a premium of 20c per lt ,,,, what Caltex is doing is slowly but surely forcing us to buy 'apples' at a premium price by deleting the option of buying the 'oranges' …….

I have never not been able to get unleaded at a Caltex. I guess your caltex is an independent so you might wish to take it up with them. Being a small outlet, I guess the supplier in Muttaburra just stocks one fuel as it then satisfies most of their customers. Longreach Caltex servos all have 91 unleaded.

Slow one , the problem is not Muttaburra or even the Caltex in Longreach , have look the next time you go for a trip to the Coast , and take note for the trip after that , you will find that Caltex in particular is changing bowsers that were 91 and 95 to their premium priced 98 ron , yes they still keep 1 or 2 bowsers out of the 10/12 as 91 but the rest are slowly getting changed to their premium fuels , or the ploy that was used in Noosa just before Xmas while fuel hit low low prices , pull into a Caltex and the 91 & 95 bowsers have the lovely sign "OUT of ORDER".