Petrol Quality

artvandelay48

Is it possible that the quality of petrol will vary between provider? I ask this because I have seen a variation in the distance I can drive on a tank of gas in roughly the same conditions. This can vary by as much as 10%. I have noticed this when I have used the car mainly to commute to work in moderately heavy, yet consistent, conditions.

Has anyone else noticed a drop-off of fuel performance between providers? IF so, which are the best?

My father in law drives a taxi (he's nice, honest!) and he won't buy petrol in Applegreen as he says it definitely doesn't last as long. I'm not entirely sure about it myself, I drive varying distances so unless I actually measured it, I wouldn't know.

Ardennes1944

i always use topaz personally. always think i get further on their petrol

L1011

The basic fuel will all meet standards but different post-delivery additives can have an affect, as can the ethanol content and octane which will vary. 0% (rare) to 75 (rare again) ethanol come under the standards here; and any octane higher than 95 does too.

The most consistant fuel should be from somewhere that is guaranteed to be supplied by Whitegate refinery, its sole petrol output is *meant* to be 99.2 octane, 5% ethanol. But it only supplies about 40% of the fuel needs of the island and is the only refinery here; all other fuel comes in pre-refined to different standards.

Maxol are meant to be solely supplied off Whitegate, anyway.

diarmuid05

This is something i've often wondered....

Very hard to measure though...
Definitely some weeks my tank seem to empty faster.

R.O.R

I use either Topaz, Applegreen or Tesco and get practically the same distance from a full tank, over the same boring journey, day in day out.

Think it all comes from one or 2 places anyway.

artvandelay48

R.O.R wrote: »

I use either Topaz, Applegreen or Tesco and get practically the same distance from a full tank, over the same boring journey, day in day out.

Think it all comes from one or 2 places anyway.

I noticed that petrol from tesco lasted a good bit but the petrol I bought recently from loughlinstown esso has gone quickly...

padma

I drive long distances and to me the best out there is Topaz by far. I won't buy anything else as I've noticed a difference in the mileage I get from it. My local topaz hovers at 129.9 per litre, though the maxol and amber and texaco down the road come in at 127.9./128.9.

Big Nasty

Here's another theory for ya: Buying fuel when it's cold out

On a cold day, gasoline, just like any other liquid, will condense as it gets closer and closer to freezing (as it gets hotter, the molecules move away from each other, eventually the point where they completely separate, which is called "evaporation").

Therefore, ten pounds of gasoline will take up less space on a cold day, than on a hot one.

When you buy ten gallons of gasoline in January, you will get more pounds of gasoline than if you bought that same ten gallons in July.

It's the weight of the gasoline, not the volume, that determines how much you can drive your car before you have to fill up again.

Tea 1000

It's not an exact science, as I've often found variations even if I filled up at the same pump in the same forecourt each time.
What made a bigger difference to me when brimming the tank was the angle of the ground. If the ground is sloped so that the nose of the car is down and the car is slightly tilted away from the filler cap, you'll get more in! So your tank will last more miles. The opposite is true for the reverse.
Sounds obvious, but many people don't think of it!

L1011

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Here's another theory for ya: Buying fuel when it's cold out

Pumps correct for that and have for years. You're buying x litres at a specific temperature, corrected for what temperature it actually is.

Mr Benevolent

I personally think it's down to variations in driving environment, driver's mood etc.

ShiresV2

artvandelay48 wrote: »

Is it possible that the quality of petrol will vary between provider?

I believe that there could be one chain that at one time in the past was selling low octane petrol as premium (95RON). My engine pinged like a bag of spanners whenever I filled up there, and someone in the trade mentioned it to me separately.

artvandelay48

Confab wrote: »

I personally think it's down to variations in driving environment, driver's mood etc.

me too... but I have observed this in the same conditions, mood etc

Atlantic Dawn

Perhaps it goes down to how fine looking the girl behind the till was in the garage in question and what form it puts you in when you get back behind the wheel .

mathepac

OSI wrote: »

... Unless the petrol is kept a constant temperature all year round, it's density will change with the temperature. ...

Automotive fuels (in Ireland) are stored in underground tanks at the filling stations. These tanks, due to their depth underground, are impervious to ambient temperature changes, which only become an issue once the fuel is in the tank on the car and if the fuel is petrol.