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Thread ID: 130843	2013-04-18 07:54:00	Petrol prices and octane ratings	gradebdan (2186)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1337331	2013-04-18 07:54:00	I was having a discussion with a friend about discount coupons, AA rewards, countdown vouchers etc. He will pay $216 at BP and use his AA card where as I will go to Z and pay $206 with a countdown discount. His point:- BP fuel is the best and the cheaper others are "diluted" and he swears he gets more economy and performance with BP.... It used to be said that all NZ fuel came from Marsden Point and only the label on the truck was different. Can any one let me know if this is still a fact please.	gradebdan (2186)
1337332	2013-04-18 08:18:00	One way is to fill it up .. do a drive say 91 and fill up again and note the difference and when this fuel is gone or near empty ... fill up with the other 91 and do the same trip and calc. But I have no idea, Shell or Z have some videos that say their fuels are better so I dunno ... they say Z 95 better than 98 :waughh: For us we just use the AA Smartfuel card (BP) b/c Caltex are so few around where we are. We don't buy heaps of groceries so we get the more 6c than the 4c discount also with the Smartfuel card you can collect the discounts up and then do a 50L fill with that 50c or $1 off each litre of fuel. Requires some planning thou.	Nomad (952)
1337333	2013-04-18 09:32:00	From memory I think all NZ fuel is refined at Marsden point and then it goes to the different company's who put there own additives in it. I'm not to sure about Gull though as I have heard or read that they import there fuel already refined. :)	Trev (427)
1337334	2013-04-18 10:50:00	If it has the same octane rating then it should perform the same or it's false advertising. The rest is marketing BS. An exception is the "green" fuels with a high alcohol content that give less power and mileage. I reset my trip meter every time I fill up and have never noticed a significant difference no matter where I fill up - people convince themselves what they believe is true regardless of evidence some times. While we are on the subject don't use high octane fuels unless your engine is specifically designed for it, it won't do any harm but it's throwing money away for no gain.There is actually less energy available in higher octane fuel not more, the higher number indicates a greater amount of "knock" resistance and is necessary to prevent high compression and high performance engines from pre-igniting and running poorly, some performance engines can even be damaged by running the wrong fuel but the same is not true the other way around. Some engines are designed to run on either, I have a V6 camry and it runs very well on either and feels about the same to drive - but it will do on average 50KM greater distance on a tank of 98 than it will on 95 making it slightly cheaper to run on the more expensive fuel. It pays to check what your car is meant to run on. I confirmed mine when I started resetting the trip meter as I mentioned.	dugimodo (138)
1337335	2013-04-18 10:57:00	I heard from a friend who rides a motocycle, she said that overseas in Europe if she bought the same fuel type number the one in NZ has much less performance. I was talking about it on a car forum and they said that NZ uses different standards for the fuels.	Nomad (952)
1337336	2013-04-18 11:24:00	From memory I think all NZ fuel is refined at Marsden point and then it goes to the different company's who put there own additives in it. I'm not to sure about Gull though as I have heard or read that they import there fuel already refined. :) I believe that Gull import their fuel from Singapore and that it has Ethanol added. Most modern cars have Octane sensors which adjust the tuning to suit the fuel.	mzee (3324)
1337337	2013-04-18 11:40:00	As I understand it, each tanker fills up from the same tank, then depending on which company they are supplying, the additives for that company are then added. The additives they use can effect milage and performance depending on how your vehicle is tuned. My last car ran better on Mobil fuel, the car I have now runs better on Challenge fuel. Around town it is as much as 50km, on a long trip on the open road, it can be as much as 150km further. Sounds wierd but I fill up from empty to full every time and reset the trip meter and also feed the info into my GPS as get a pretty acurate reading each time. I have also tried it on 95, it didnt like it one bit, it over-ran, was noticably down on performance and economy was worse. As already suggested (and if you can afford it), fill up a tank at a time, and try differnet fuel companies and see what works best in your car, if you find one works better than the others, stick with it and dont mix fuels. I spend about $350 to $450 a month on fuel and getting that extra milage makes a big difference over all.	Iantech (16386)
1337338	2013-04-18 20:33:00	I was having a discussion with a friend about discount coupons, AA rewards, countdown vouchers etc . He will pay $216 at BP and use his AA card where as I will go to Z and pay $206 with a countdown discount . His point:- BP fuel is the best and the cheaper others are "diluted" and he swears he gets more economy and performance with BP . . . . It used to be said that all NZ fuel came from Marsden Point and only the label on the truck was different . Can any one let me know if this is still a fact please . You and your friend have raised several points and myths . Fuel companies do not dilute the fuel however they do have branded additives to the fuel . As has been said a lot of it is marketing which unless its in a clinically clean a controlled lab you will not be able to tell the differance in the performance of that fuel . Your driving patterns, weather, vehicle maintainance etc etc tc are to many variables to prove or disprove the quality of fuel to the average motorist . Second consideration in the quality of fuel is actually not the ron number but the mon rating although the ron rating is most used as a standard for your Octane rating on the fuel . Ron is a internatonal standard the refining process , storage etc effect the mon rating . Hence that container of fuel in the back of your garden shed can go "off" what has happened is the mon rating has decreased over time . As foir the discount vouchers they make no differance they are just marketing from the companies who supply them as loss leaders through various promotions . So many players in the game now even the oil companies are doing promotions offset by whats sold in the shops attached to the service stations . Really you dont question the mark up on a Mars bar for example? Finally this debate is as old as the hills! In the 1980s Shell UK createdselling a Fuel claiming to give extra performance that was found to cause problems, a lot has happened since then as all the Oil Companies jumped on board including the removal of lead from fuel . I worked for Shell/Texaco and BP Reasearch in the UK for several years .	coldfront (15814)
1337339	2013-04-19 05:00:00	I never really thought much about the different brands of fuel. I know certain fuels have additives (as discussed) but I don't really think they make a big difference to performance/economy. If you keep your filters clean, your oil fresh and drive/maintain your vehicle well I'd say that would make up any difference in fuel consumption.	The Error Guy (14052)
1337340	2013-04-19 05:31:00	An exception is the "green" fuels with a high alcohol content that give less power and mileage . I disagree! Using Gull's ethanol-based 91 octane fuel I get much better mileage (up to 700km per fill around town, 800+ out of town) than I do out of any other brand , and it is the only standard octane fuel that doesn't pink under load in my Mazda 6 . Mazda say that their engine automatically adjusts for octane rating, and when I asked my regular servicing agent about bad pinking on regular fuel (when I can't get to a Gull station) they told me they could'nt retard the ignition as it was all computer controlled . When I refill with Gull (after using other brands) after about 2 Km the engine is noticeably quieter and smoother, and there is no power loss at all, I can cruise up quite steep grades in 5th no trouble at all . The worst I've had in recent time was Mobil, and I had to go top up with super as soon as I got some tank room because I couldn't go up any hill without pinking unless I dropped down to third, and it would pink on the flat if I put my foot down in town, even in 4th . Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
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