Fuel Issues

[dezz]

You cannot possibly compare fuel economy of 2-3 different branded fuels unless you drive the exact same route, with the exact same tire pressures, load, and everything else you can't replicate...

[MP_R33]

You cannot possibly compare fuel economy of 2-3 different branded fuels unless you drive the exact same route, with the exact same tire pressures, load, and everything else you can't replicate...

yer i get what your saying, its just when i was using shell i was getting 450 and nothing over it for the 2 months i was using it as soon as i was using ultimate i cracked 500 about 3 weeks into using it.

I by no means drive the same route, although my tyre pressure will be very similar as i fill it up every week after i fill up fuel and as for the load it may vary a few kgs.

I believe i did get better fuel economy using ultimate as i can get over 500kms now which i never could with shell no matter how much i Grannyd it and how many hwy kms i drove. (to an extent)

Not comparing to 3 different types just the 2 im sure you will also find many people on this forum that can compare one fuel to another and notice better economy...

Edited October 24, 2008 by MP_R33

[paulr33]

Personally from my experience it depends on where the servo is located. I noticed the inner city suburbs tend to have better fuels.

I have no hard evidence to prove it, but i do notice the car tends to run smoother and have a little bit more urge when I fill up at the inner city servos. :S

well that would make sense, inner city suburbs stores churn through more fuel

so they fill up from the main tankers more often so the fuel is always fresh

when fuel remains in the takes for longer, it looses its octane rating over time (unsure how long)

so a less busy servo is more likely to have more-stale fuel in its main tanks

[R31Nismoid]

underground tanks wont loose octane for months

temp is much more controller, no sunlight etc.

That shouldnt even factor

[R33GTRKid]

we did fuel tests for racing - vortex 98 consistently came back as more combustable than ultimate 98 and ultimate always leaves black shite over the back of things....

[BeEnAr]

I can say I have the same problem at the moment. I work for BP Head office and the last 4 tanks of fuel I have put in of Ultimate have made my car run like a shitty old falcon (read bag of shit). I don't know what has happened in the refining process but I filled up at 3 different servos. BP Melton, BP Taylors Lakes and BP Swan Street Richmond. Different trucks filled up each location and they were different weeks, I ran a tank of Vortex through before the BP and I gotta say my car ran better on it. Mobil it ran okay too and Shell it runs like shit again. Also V-Power goes stale much faster than the others do both in the car and in the ground.

I am thinking of calling in to one of the depots and picking up some toluene for a burn.

I will not be putting BP in again until they sort the problem with the fuel out. Will be Vortex for me for a while.

On a side note you can't get V-Power racing anymore, they stopped making it ages ago and anyone who is still selling it is either getting rid of the stale months old crap they have left, or, is selling standard V-Power as Racing (they do it too). United 100 octane has more ethanol in it but like an earlier post said I don't think they make it anymore due to lack of sales for such a niche fuel.

[Helio]

There are no bad batches of fuel, it all comes from the same place. If there is an issue then it would most likely reside at site level. I would suggest that you contact bp if you believe there is a problem with the fuel that you purchased. See the link below for bp's Fuel Guarantee, and some other info that might be of use.

Dirk Diggler, I would thought working for bp you would raise this as an issue with one of the business managers. From your post, you put Vortex in first, and all others after ran crap, so maybe that was the issue if your particular problem is related to fuel quality. Or it might be your car? And Toluene will end up giving you sooty spark plugs due to the high carbon content.

bp Fuel Guarantee

Fuel News

[MP_R33]

Well at this point in time im going to change to either synergy or vortex lol

Opinions on them? my cars stock

Edited October 24, 2008 by MP_R33

[Johnny]

Well at this point in time im going to change to either synergy or vortex lol

Opinions on them? my cars stock

Hey bro, I havent tried anything else apart from shell v-power; I was under the impresion that all these premium fuels had to be 98octane??

Ill try some synergy, vortex etc. next time and check my knocks on the pfchc

Maybe go for shell cos i havent had any problems with it.

[Dunno]

i always use bp utimate never had a problem apparantly vortex is good to

[iamhe77]

Well at this point in time im going to change to either synergy or vortex lol

Opinions on them? my cars stock

Don't know what it is like now, but the last time I used Mobil Synergy 8000, the old R31 seized and the entire fuel system needed to be replaced (including pump) and was directly attributed to poor fuel. I used to fill up exclusively with 8000, but that was about 6 years ago. No way that is going in my NM35.

I usually fill up on either V-Power or Ultimate and I have found that the car gets better mileage on the BP (~650kms before the light comes on, compared to ~620kms with V-Power).

Oh, and my brother used to work at Safeway Petrol and gave me some real horror stories about their fuel... So I don't really use Caltex either.

[BeEnAr]

There are no bad batches of fuel, it all comes from the same place. If there is an issue then it would most likely reside at site level. I would suggest that you contact bp if you believe there is a problem with the fuel that you purchased. See the link below for bp's Fuel Guarantee, and some other info that might be of use.

Dirk Diggler, I would thought working for bp you would raise this as an issue with one of the business managers. From your post, you put Vortex in first, and all others after ran crap, so maybe that was the issue if your particular problem is related to fuel quality. Or it might be your car? And Toluene will end up giving you sooty spark plugs due to the high carbon content.

bp Fuel Guarantee

Fuel News

Hey mate,

There are such things as bad batches of fuel, they do come out of the same place, what I should have said is that it depends on the in ground tanks at the site and how old the fuel is.. I will be raising the issue at work on Monday and see what happens as 4 tanks from 3 high volume servos that have all been bad is a bit much!

I used Vortex this weekend and have not had an issue.

Could be my car and I am not ruling that out yet as have had a few issues couple of weeks ago that could be the cause, but I like to blame the fuel as it's easier to do and I am not the only one nor is the OP, who have fuel problems from questionable fuel quality

[BRUNSKIGTST]

I also had fuel problem befor my car got written off, befor then i always had stalling while rolling, bad when starting the car, powerloss when i hit 3k rev and wont go over that because fuel cut out, and all sort of trouble, i look every where on forum saying it gremlin problem, tried changing my fuel pump relay nothin, my afm nothin, fuel filter nothin, coil packs fine, plugs fine, either was fuel pump or a fuel leak some where. so while i pre app i ask my teacher if i can chuck car on hoist which he let me and look at the fuel lines nothin all good and then look at the tank, because when i filled my car to full tank it always leaked abit from some where and i ask a friend he said all cars to that if u over fill it im like ok , so i check it anyway and it eneded up the brather hose from my fuel tank which had a massive crack so every time i hit a left corner i got fuel leak and fuel smell in my car and also bit of air went in the lines which made me have those problem changed the hose $10 and all fixed till i smashed it the next day :mad: :PBJ: :( sorry for life story dood but had no problem useing fuel with Mobile 98 and shell, even United 98 is good i heard united buy 98 from shell and sell it cheaper than shell so i go united when ever i dont have discount for shell lolz

Edited October 26, 2008 by BRUNSKIGTST

[MP_R33]

well from what i have researched this is what i have picked up on each fuel from everyone.

BP Ultimate - GOOD lol

Caltex Vortex - Mixed opinions, few horror stories

Shell V-Power - Good although octane drops alot quicker and leaves u with a dirty rear bar.

Mobil Synergy 8000 - Same as vortex

I have heard mobil do not have any ethanol in their fuel, is this a good or a bad thing?

[DIOR 33]

hi everyone im from SA i have had the same problem from BP Ultimate over the past few months, it would have good days but bad days as well but with the same responce as your car so i use mobil 8000 and no problem i find its a bit more responsive as well

Hey all!

I live in the western suburbs and recently filled my tank up (42 odd litres) of BP Ultimate, i then noticed as soon as i drove it for a while something wasn't right!

The car was idling not necessarily rough but out of tune, turning it on was also a struggle as it would stall or want to..

bp ultimate/vortex 98 is what i use, never had a problem

your car must have the gheys

Bp Ultimate is 98, but im sure our vortex is caltex fuel and it's 96 not 98, and shell v-power is 98 but to much ethonol (spelling)

[MP_R33]

yer i was thinking using synergy 8000, although i have been hearing a few stories of y not to.

I have found that ultimate is the best but its not doing my carany good so :S

[DIOR 33]

yeah im happy with mobil and wont use bp again

you really notice when you go from only ever using BP and i have had my car 2 years to using in my case mobil and the responce and idol is way better

[MP_R33]

i will make a last minute decision tomorrow by the looks of things, either mobil, caltex or bp again lol

[Stagea_Neo]

Did your mates dad test for any contaminants?

I'd suggest it is related to the servo you visted, not related to the type/brand of fuel

and/or original source, otherwise we'd here a heap of other people complaining, not

so much in this forum but in the public arena also.

I highly doubt the owners/staff adding anything to the fuel also.

Does it look like a dodgy servo, not looked after/run down?

There was a suggestion of tanks getting low and picking up crap.

The tank/pump systems are filtered so this would have to be screwed also.

Entry points for the crap into the servo's tanks... take note of the breather pipes

sticking about 3metres out of the ground, they look like the breather pipe out the back

of your house near the dunny. Have they got caps at the top to stop crap falling in

from overhaning trees etc...?

(from memory sometimes there's no cap but a flared top with mesh or a litle raised/vented lid)

Also if you wish to have a further sticky beak around the servo , lift up dip dipstic

cap(s) on the ground they are a thick metal disc with a little cut out, check there's a big

brass screw cap there and it's sealed.

If i'ts not a screw cap probably a lever type brass cap, again check it's sealed, if not take a quick

pick with your phone, bit of data/leverage to possibly work with at a later stage.

There should be some similar one's for the fillers as well where the tankers plug in.

Other than that I can only think of a cracked tank which is very rare as they are built to last and i mean last...

In this regard i could only think land movement, given the dry conditions over recent years.

Is the ground your walking on at the servo cracked everywhere, repaired patchy concrete

Although if the staff see you what are the outcomes.....they call security, cops, big argument who knows..

Perhaps politely ask the onsite staff member/manager before doing so, as really they should not have

anything to hide and may help out.

Gilbarco is the company that usually sets all the pumps up, services and test etc.. not sure about the

tank, fuel contamination side of things.

There's a weights/measurements govt dept. if memory serves me correct, to complain about

the pump putting out the wrong fuel amount..again not sure about contaminants.

I used to work in a servo b4 anyone asks.

The owners dont make much of the fuel, if at all, sometimes it has to be subsidised for the local / franchise

owner by the Petroleum company to balance things out. (my givem a fair go bit)

Not sure how it is these days worse/better.

They have to make a lot of the money of instore product, hence the prices

See how you go, hope I havent put in grand/bad ideas in your's or anyone's head, just a fyi, something to

work with.

..................

My Fuel's Used

20-30km daily driver approx

Start/Stop Traffic

Safeway Vortex 2-3 months straight no issue. 320-350km

Shell V-Power 2-3 months straight no issue. 340-370km

Last six month there abouts alternate between the two.

V-Power makes the car drive just that little bit better in my opinion.

BP Ultimate one or twice. 300km approx

Mobile ??? what is it.. one or twice. 300km approx

I drove a bit harder when using these so no comment on the economy side of things

As for the ethanol fuels well no comment as yet with the series 2 stag havent touched

it although thinking about it. However Nissan don't recommend it on pre 200? something

vehicles.

However on my R31 (rip) it used to love ethanol, slighly advanced ignition, ford xr6 4 spray injectors

from an el i think, extractors and pod, nothin else, get around 300-600km depending on my foot

with a mix of start/stop driving and open road. This also had all new high pressure efi hose throughout,

where ever i found it old stuff, put new stuff in.

Best in the R31 was 810km hwy trip one tank, think there was something like 3-5 litres

left in the tank, went put put put around one corner near home then on the straight it picked up

again...headed straight for he servo..... it was amusing but not the best thing to do.

This was using BP Ultimate. I went past Wangaratta somewhere and back, with 1 drive locally to pick

up booze and no more driving untill we went home a few days later.

I better shut up now, sorry for the biblical sized reply, just noticed the scroll bar, got in some sought of typing zone.

Edited October 27, 2008 by Stagea_Neo