Fuel

Engine, Exhaust, Drivetrain, ECU Issues and Fixes
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goron59
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Post by goron59 »

I remember many, many years ago when I lived in Scotland as a student and worked in a filling station part time. All the petrol and diesel came from a refinery in Grangemouth and it supplied all of the makes, Esso, BP, Shell etc. The only difference was the additives that the various manufacturers used. At least that's what the tanker drivers used to tell me.


Well of course, you didn't think different companies used different wells for crude?

It's all down to the refinery process, quality control, and additives

What happens after the truck pours it into a dirty badger-infested hole in the ground round the back of your supermarket, is another matter altogether!


Used to have 2016 Macan Turbo PHCKCL70
Previously a 2014 Macan Turbo.
Now a 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR

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Paul
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Post by Paul »

I use the nearest garage which happens to be Texaco and fill with their premium fuel when near home. When on the road I use the garage at the motorway service station or wherever I have stopped for a break, I don't care whose fuel it is.
Regarding different fuels, I believe there is a network of pipes around the country for moving fuel between major storage facilities and different companies batch flow their fuel through these to their distribution depots around the country, so they all get a bit mixed up, especially at the interface between batches.


Now use Motorway service station fuel is for me a definate no go area.

It is always way more expensive than elsewhere are there is no reason other than greed for it to be so.

Its not as though the delivery tankers have to make much of a detour, from the refinery in Cheshire to the Sevice Station there is all of about theee miles so hardly any excessive delivery costs. Same for all other Mway service stations the tankers age going past them anyway.


I too begrudge the premiums charged on the motorway networks (Europe wide!) BUT, captive market / supply and demand / huge ground rents and concession costs etc......the alternative is to leave the m-way in unfamiliar surroundings, drive to the next town / village, to find there is no fuel / they're shut because it's after 6.00 pm and so on....spending an extra £8. 00 on a tank of fuel is painful at the time, but in the grand scheme doesn't actually touch the sides
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Col Lamb
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Post by Col Lamb »

What a bundle of joy you are Paul

Was not a problem with the oil burners and their 500+ mile range

But now with the gas guzzling Turbo range means I may have to bite the bullet but not unless I really have to.
Col
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Paul
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Post by Paul »

What a bundle of joy you are Paul

Was not a problem with the oil burners and their 500+ mile range

But now with the gas guzzling Turbo range means I may have to bite the bullet but not unless I really have to.



Yes Col, "range anxiety" is new to me too. Went to Buckmore Park (Chatham) a few weeks ago. Its about 170 miles each way but mostly M4 / M25 (and it was quite early going up so maybe a tad over the limit )
Coming home I was nearly brave enough to try and get into Bristol for fuel but chickened out at Leigh Delamere services....only put £30 in 'though to see us safely home
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gjross
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Post by gjross »

I have only used BP ultimate and only at a petrol station that has high turnover.
That was advice I have read up and given by a few people to use high turnover petrol stations.

BP ultimate has been very smooth indeed in all my cars.


I only ever use BP Ultimate in my current 5-series. The engine definitely runs smoother, much quieter on cold starts and the higher MPG easily outstrips the price increase over regular fuel. Even The Wife can tell the difference, so that's telling eh?

No reason not to use premium IMHO.
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ScotMac
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Post by ScotMac »

A lot of "normal people" with "normal cars" would NEVER use premium fuel - I suppose I can see why.
Kasfranks99
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Post by Kasfranks99 »

I was doing a little testing in one of my other cars and used supermarket fuel and then went back to my normal BP Ultimate fuel.
The difference was very noticeable in the way the car drove and how much smoother BP ultimate was.
Very little difference in cost too.
This was only 95 Ron but very noticeable.

I certainly did not expect such a difference.
Obviously all the additional additives BP put in help. Didn't bother checking the MPG as its the way the car runs which is important to me....

Only ever used Premium fuel for GTS...
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microbe
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Post by microbe »

Is anybody still using Shell V power petrol. I haven't for a while and noticed that the price difference between standard and V power was 18p a litre in my local Shell. I was happy paying the extra 6p or so but cannot see the justification for an extra 18p
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GMAN75
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Post by GMAN75 »

This may not go down well but I fundamentally disagree with there being little difference in premium fuels.

Porsche engines are, fundamentally, quite highly developed pieces of kit and have been tuned to be efficient and to produce their power at certain compression levels. The internals of an ICE are basically: inlet, compression, ignition and exhaust. Air in, squeeze, bang, exhaust. The problem with petrol (ie gasoline) is that high compression can lead to premature ignition. That is what the octane is there for - previously, leaded fuel was used to retard ignition, now you have some tricky chemistry that is less lethal! The higher the octane, the more premature the ignition, the higher the compression and therefore the more efficiency in the engine. This then leads to higher/more efficient performance. This will apply equally to performance diesels.

If there is premature ignition, the engine's knock sensors kick in and retard performance - basically to stop the engine from rattling itself to pieces. Granted it may not happen immediately but over time this causes undue wear and tear on the engine - or so I am led to believe.

Anyway, that is essentially my view. I will always aim to put the higher octane stuff in. Obviously if you're banging around in an everyday rep mobile there isn't a need for the higher octane. You can use it, but it's wasted on the car.

Porsche, in its manuals, always recommend using the higher octane stuff. This is primarily why.

G

PS...sorry...I'm still using V Power! :D
Last edited by GMAN75 on Mon Jul 23, 2018 5:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Col Lamb
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Post by Col Lamb »

GMAN75 wrote: Mon Jul 23, 2018 5:06 pm This may not go down well but I fundamentally disagree with there being little difference in premium fuels.

Porsche engines are, fundamentally, quite highly developed pieces of kit and have been tuned to be efficient and to produce their power at certain compression levels. The internals of a ICE are basically: inlet, compression, ignition and exhaust. Air in, squeeze, bang, exhaust. The problem with petrol (ie gasoline) is that high compression can lead to premature ignition. That is what the octane is there for - previously, leaded fuel use to retard ignition now you have some tricky chemistry that is less lethal! The higher the octane, the more premature the ignition, the higher the compression and therefore the more efficiency in the engine. This then leads to higher/more efficient performance. This will apply equally to performance diesels.

If there is premature ignition, the engine's knock sensors kick in and retard performance - basically to stop the engine from rattling itself to pieces. Granted it may not happen immediately but over time this causes undue wear and tear on the engine - or so I am led to believe.

Anyway, that is essentially my view. I will always aim to put the higher octane stuff in. Obviously if you're banging around in an everyday rep mobile there isn't a need for the higher octane. You can use it, but it's wasted on the car.

Porsche, in its manuals, always recommend using the higher octane stuff. This is primarily why.

G

PS...sorry...I'm still using V Power! :D
Thanks for the explanation.

V Power only for my Macan.

BTW, the manual does state not to use full throttle is you use lower octane fuel.
Col
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