Petrol Prices???????

Ride a COWasaki and don't worry, be happy :)))))))

We recently had a discussion on our club site on the same thing (holden4x4.com) and some basic research from one of our members found that BP has the highest Cetane rating available, with caltex (woolies fuel) being the lowest. Low cetane levels will make your engine run noisier and rougher and higher cetane equates to more 'bang for your buck' so to speak

From experience, I can get up to 80km a tank more with BP than I can with caltex fuel and the engine runs smoother and quieter ( and we all know how noisy isuzu engines are normally!)

Cobber

I think part of the problem is the perception that to offer 4c/l discount the fuel must be at least 4c/l more, so a lot of people don't even look at Coles / Woolworths stations.
I know that I drive past my local independant to get to my local Coles (500m down the road), and if the petrol is not 4c/l cheaper will happily do a u turn, but I do have a number of friends who just fill up at the independent because the Coles must be more expensive (becasue of the discount).
In WA, I don't think it is a fuel content issue, as we only have 1 refinery (BP) and almost all pertol (except for a few independents) comes from there.

Just a thought

RD

"Over the past few months I have noticed that the price of Petrol at Woolworths WITHOUT the 4cents discount has been sometimes 6 to 10 cents cheaper than the BP service station 60 metres up the road"

This is interesting, because where I live, Coles and Woolworths are at least / or 6 cents per litre before the discount than the independants, so naturally, I go straight past the so called "discount" kings and go to the independants, so I still end up buying for 1 to 2 cents per litre cheaper without having to go and spend $30 or more just to get a voucher that is useless.

I have also noticed that Woolworths have 2 different prices at 2 different outlets seperated by only 15Km, so whats the go there.

We are being sucked in by these "discount" outlets and people are buying the scam. Eventually, these 2 discounters will dominate the market and then none of us will be able to afford to drive anywhere. It may not be in my lifetime, but I reckon it will happen.

Do I care about the price well yes, it would be nice to pay 90cent a litre agene but it isn’t going to happen.

I need it so I pay for it, occasionally it’s a bit painful but if I was rely that worried about it I would be driving a 1.5litre 4cyilnder econo box. Hell my next car is most likely going to be a V8

I think, psychologically, that people work with round numbers.
We kicked up a stink when petrol reached a dollar a litre.
Now we are paying between $80 and $85 per tank.
This has now become accepted, it varies about $3 or $4 per tank.
When petrol reaches $100 a tank people will start complaining again.
then we will concentrate on those days where petrol is cheaper.
Techie

work for caltex and have never heard of this cetane thing...all i know is that we did a quiet test around the servos i town and found the woolies one...woolies caltex now...to have more ethanol....

rule of thumb...you get what you pay for....pay for cheap fuel you get cheap fuel....ethanol thins the petrol out makng it "watery" and in the long run ruin the ebgine and everthing else thats goes......

Im not saying that caltex has the best fuel because i dont want to start a debate but just remember quality.......

there is only one way that they make it cheaper....Johny is a great friend of our ethanol plant and will do anything to keep it going!!

also - do a testyour self......ULP is supposed to be purple - bright - the duller it is the more additives it has...

Laura B

In Melbourne there are 2 refinaries , Shell and Mobil , they do litre swaps with BP and Caltex to teh states that htey have refinaries in. The indipendants will purchase fuel from Mobil or Hastings depending on who has a lower gate price.

Cetane rating for the big three:
Caltex - 46.
BP - 51.
Shell - 49.

Cetane is the % volume of cetane ( n-hexadecane, Cetane Number = 100 ) in
alpha methyl naphthalene ( Cetane Number = 0 ), that provides the specified
standard of 13 degrees ( crankshaft angle ) ignition delay at the identical
compression ratio to that of the fuel sample. These days, heptamethyl
nonane - with a Cetane Number of 15 - is used in place of alpha methyl
naphthalene because it is a more stable reference compound.

It's obvious from the above that the higher the cetane number ( 100 = normal
alkane, 15 = iso-alkane ), then the lower the octane number ( 100 = iso-alkane,
0 = normal alkane ). This is because the desirable property of gasoline to
prevent knock is the ability to resist autoignition, whereas for diesel, the
desirable property is to autoignite. The octane number of normal alkanes
decreases as carbon chain length increases, whereas the cetane number
increases as the carbon chain length increases. Many other factors also
affect the cetane number, and around 0.5 volume % of cetane number
improvers will increase the cetane number by 10 units. Cetane number
improvers can be alkyl nitrates, primary amyl nitrates, nitrites, or peroxides.

In general, aromatics and alcohols have low cetane numbers ( that's why
people using methanol in diesels convert it to dimethyl ether ).One of
the obvious effects of running on low cetane number fuel is the increase
in engine noise.

Typically engines are designed to use fuels with Cetane Numbers of 40-55,
because below 38 a more rapid increase in ignition delay. The significance of
the cetane number increases with the speed of the engine, and large, low
speed diesel engines often only specify viscosity, combustion and
contaminant levels, as Cetane Number requirement of the engine is met by
most distillate and residual fuels that have the appropriate propeties.
High speed diesel engines ( as in cars and trucks ) virtually all are designed
to accept fuels around 50 Cetane Numbers, with higher numbers being a
waste.

Most engines show an increase in ignition delay when the cetane
number is decreased from around 50 to 40, with an increase of 2 degrees
being typical, and minimal advantages accrue of lower CN fuels are used

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Cobber,
I'm no expert on oil based fuels but i will give my fourby the best.

I notice a marginal difference in the smoothness of my diesel engine using bp as opposed to mobil fuel.

If i'm not as happy with mobil diesel, why would I even consider trying to save $3 by buying fuel from a supermarket chain?

Barnesy