Bp Ultimate 98, Is It Really The Only Fuel To Use?

[KrazyKong]

With all the dramas BP is going through overseas with oil spills, it got me wondering about petrol for our cars. I was told sometime back that BP was the only company who guaranteed their petrol to be 98 Octane. So does that mean Shell or Caltex don't? Is their 98 octane inferior? I was happy to be using BP and still am, but have noticed with the petrol prices staying lower for most of the week that for where I live, BP is the most expensive.

So are other folks using 98 octane from non BP service stations? What's the scoop?

[Race_Bred]

I use Mobil Synergy in my 33 gtst, never had a problem with it, my car always feels staunchy and the price is reasonable 1 or 2 days a week. I've noticed BP is dearer, i've also heard it's good stuff but personally i don't rate it.

[mad082]

it depends on what state you are in. bp doesn't have a refinery in every state. none of the oil companies do, so in some states bp might be caltex 98 or something like that, and in other states the caltex might be bp. it's cheaper for them to buy fuel off another company than ship it there. you are safe to run any 98 really. any issues you may get from using a different brand fuel will more than likely be from the fault of the individual station rather than the brand of fuel.

[tiberis]

^^^ thats what i believe as well.

i stay away from certain stations, (known card scams, known dodgy fuel) but apart from that i just go for the cheapest.

and with that, i can't believe your guys over east didn't jump on the FuelWatch bandwagon... it's such a useful tool. every day i get a list of the cheapest places to pick up 98 from my house to work, then i just stop off at which i need to, so i'm always getting the cheapest

[KrazyKong]

^^^ thats what i believe as well.

i stay away from certain stations, (known card scams, known dodgy fuel) but apart from that i just go for the cheapest.

and with that, i can't believe your guys over east didn't jump on the FuelWatch bandwagon... it's such a useful tool. every day i get a list of the cheapest places to pick up 98 from my house to work, then i just stop off at which i need to, so i'm always getting the cheapest

I wish we had it. Would be so helpful in finding the cheaper prices. Right now it use to be Tuesday would be the cheap day for petrol, then it extended into Wednesdays and would be put up in price later that night. Thus I get my petrol every Wednesday evening. But lately over the past month or so, that price has stayed on until Thursday and even some gas stations, Friday. Thus it's a bit all over the place right now as some in this area still up their prices up on Wednesday, others Friday night.

I don't know why FuelWatch was canned, but I was looking forward to being able to login and see prices on a daily basis. Just means we are more informed.

And as far as staying away from certain service stations, I don't like going to the one off gas station companies. I don't know why but feel safer going to companies I've heard of before.

But maybe I've watched too much Today Tonight or ACA, but I have been many stories about dodgy gas stations who sell 91 as 98, or the fuel with lots of water in it. That could even happen with a Shell/Caltex/BP/Mobil as well.

Edited June 26, 2010 by KrazyKong

[r33cruiser]

Ive found it to be much of a muchness.

Caltex, shell, bp. I have noticed no differences, and no changes in knock.

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

Different stories from different ppls opinions.

I use to use Shell, was ok, but my mechanic had a bit of issuse with Shell and he switched to BP Ultimate.

Some have said they get less knock with BP then with Shell, a steadier idle.

I have used Caltex once and was ok.

Mobil Synergy 8000 would be my next choice after BP.

[KrazyKong]

Also all depends on what service stations are next to your daily routes or home. I have to drive about 6kms round trip to get to my nearest BP.

There's a shell that's a lot closer but don't like going to that station much. The good thing is it's always busy so the turnover of petrol is high. The bad being is so poorly laid out, you can easily sit there for 15mins before even getting out of the car to start pumping.

If the prices were the same I'd stick with BP all the way, but seeing as how some Caltex and Shells have 98 10-12c cheaper, I got my wondering.

In QLD, who refines our petrol anyway? If it's BP, then wouldn't Shell/Caltex have the exact same petrol batches in their pumps too?

[Galois]

And as far as staying away from certain service stations, I don't like going to the one off gas station companies. I don't know why but feel safer going to companies I've heard of before.

lol as usual kong i agree, for some reason i'd like to go to a service station which see's a massive turnover than one that is a bit further out, a bit less controlled and a bit more suss. guess i've had a few bad impressions, not everyone is in for honest, decent and good work

Also all depends on what service stations are next to your daily routes or home. I have to drive about 6kms round trip to get to my nearest BP.

If the prices were the same I'd stick with BP all the way, but seeing as how some Caltex and Shells have 98 10-12c cheaper, I got my wondering.

i have the luck (?) of driving 20km to work/uni every day lol

thats a pretty massive difference, i'll have to keep more of a lookout.

i've never had any trouble with different fuels. im mostly stock with a bit of extra boost (still searching for the reason) and any 98 has been good

[GTR-N1]

it depends on what state you are in. bp doesn't have a refinery in every state. none of the oil companies do, so in some states bp might be caltex 98 or something like that, and in other states the caltex might be bp. it's cheaper for them to buy fuel off another company than ship it there. you are safe to run any 98 really. any issues you may get from using a different brand fuel will more than likely be from the fault of the individual station rather than the brand of fuel.

^^^ That's about it in a nutshell.

I remember that any fuel we could get during the oil embargo of 1979 was precious stuff for our cars, no matter where you got it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_energy_crisis

Petrol queues could be as long as 250m. Kingswoods were downsized to Commodores.

My Alfetta GTV would ping if it didn't get 'super' so the methylbenzene went in after a fill of 'regular' lol

[bozodos]

toluene?!??!?!

[gfunkk]

on the topic of BP buying other companies fuels, dont they add stuff to the fuel? thats what makes the 98 "ultimate" ??

a while back some guy did a test over a few weeks, buying different fuels and monitoring knock levels and BP was the best followed by shell

[KrazyKong]

Gfunkk that was my understanding (granted it was word of mouth), that BP Ultimate was indeed the best fuel to use. Also that they were the only company who guaranteed you were actually getting 98 octane petrol. Whose to say what I was told was correct. Could be a load of bull. Thank goodness for these forums though as its always good to hear other peoples thoughts on this.

Don't all companies though have their "special" additives they advertise for their fuels?

[mad082]

i'd heard that bp ultimate was a minimum 98, while the other 98's were an average of 98, so some batches might be higher, some might be lower. but i think it still comes down to what i said above about what state you are in and what refineries there are. i think that until such time as you can get some off the record info from people in the know it will only ever remain as theories and rumours.

[GTR-N1]

toluene?!??!?!

Yep, but Shell marketed it as methylbenzene. Somewhat carcinogenic too.

[3LGODZILA]

this old bloke at my work swares by BP, even if its premium or wateva he said hes had traces of water from places like gull

[GTR-N1]

...had traces of water from places like "Gull"

No doubt about it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gull