Found this thread on another forum
Which Fuel? Heard the saying "You are what you eat"?
Use the highest octane fuel you can. After speaking directly to fuel distributors, wholesalers etc I found out the following info,
All W.A. fuel comes the BP refinery in Kwinana. Which would mean that it doesn't matter which Petrol Station company you go to to fill up at as all the fuel comes from the same place, right?
Wrong!!!
Its not the refinery that matters. Each company adds in their own 'secret' additives to improve the fuel. Each company states that their mix is better than their competitor but as long as the octane reading is the same, eg; BP Ultimate 98 (98 Octane) then it doesn't matter.
Where the issue lies is with the individual Petrol Station. This means one BP could be different to another.
What am I talking about you ask, well let me explain.
For example, a BP in Armadale (building) could be only 5 years old since the last refurbishment, but how old are the underground storage drums that the fuel sits in? Some distributors I spoke to stated some petrol stations have storage drums 20 to 30 years old. These drums over time have sediment build up, water may of leaked into them and most importantly how often are these drums cleaned and inspected???
This is the place where fuel may be contaminated.
It obviously costs a large amount of money to service and clean the drums, so usually only the distributor owned stations are done. (I'm not saying privately owned ones don't get done, but not as stringent and often).
Why does each companys fuel have a different colour? This is because they put a dye in the fuel as to be able to distinguish between theirs and another companies should there be a complaint received or issue with the fuel.
The best advice they could give me was;
1. Find a Company, (BP, Shell etc) and fuel type (BP Ultimate etc) that your happy to use.
2. Always try and fill up at the same petrol station. (You would then obviously know which station has given you bad fuel)
3. Try not to mix you fuels between companies.
Hope this helps.
Madmax