[BMW //MPOWER]

Originally Posted by skyskie

there is a shell v-power 100 octane, which is in carlton on princes highway near the st george football stadium. not sure about the other ones though, cos i've so far only seen it there. i use that one when i'm in that area, but other than that i use shell v-power. has anybody spotted other places that have v-power 100 octane???

The 100 octane is a 5% ethanol blend, which is better for performance, but worse for fuel economy. My local shell, Neutral Bay and Cammeray both stock it. Personally i use the V Power 98 Octane.

[skyskie]

Originally Posted by BMW //MPOWER

The 100 octane is a 5% ethanol blend, which is better for performance, but worse for fuel economy. My local shell, Neutral Bay and Cammeray both stock it. Personally i use the V Power 98 Octane.

i've noticed using the 100octane does seem to affect fuel efficiency, same goes with bp ultimate. as for caltex vortex..... i havent actually used that.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I think I'll stick with the 98 V power...

[astra]

i forgwt if i said this before or not... but isn't it a good idea to alternate between brands? i heard that somewhere...

[docbeemer]

Originally Posted by astra

i forgwt if i said this before or not... but isn't it a good idea to alternate between brands? i heard that somewhere...

Not trying to sound nasty but why bother? It's just petrol. The only difference between brands will be lack of impurities, ethanol content and consistency of actual octane content (ie is the 98 octane that you're paying 10c a litre extra for, actually 98 octane? I doubt it.)

So changing brands really changes nothing but changing octanes would (eg nothing wrong with saving some $ by using 95 octane but once in while use 98 octane).

hope this helps

[astra]

Originally Posted by docbeemer

Not trying to sound nasty but why bother? It's just petrol. The only difference between brands will be lack of impurities, ethanol content and consistency of actual octane content (ie is the 98 octane that you're paying 10c a litre extra for, actually 98 octane? I doubt it.)

So changing brands really changes nothing but changing octanes would (eg nothing wrong with saving some $ by using 95 octane but once in while use 98 octane).

hope this helps

i was just bringing up something i heard?

as for me though, i just use what i am near when i need fuel, so long as it is a shell, caltex or bp

[docbeemer]

^I always fill up with 98 octane so i try to get 4c litre or more off when I can, plus there is a shell right near my house so I tend to use that.

People tend to over-intellectualise the petrol they use. If you follow the car manufacturers' recommendations and buy from a reputable brand (like those you've mentioned) then you can't go wrong. Not something to lose any sleep over. If you go to some of the sections in the main forum on choice of fuel the discussion is crazy- I don't even bother to add my 2c worth.

nuff said

[danielt]

I've started using Shell 95 octane and haven't noticed a different in performance. When I first got the car I was using Shell 98 Octane (V-power).

[docbeemer]

Yep, and I'm thinking about doing that too. The price performance ratio doesn't add up with 98 octane- but, probably stupidly, I still do.

How many K's a year do you guys do?

If 98 is 10c a litre more and you do 25,000 Kms at say an average of 10L / 100Km, then it's only costing you around $250 a year more to use 98 octane.

I suppose the decision is up to the individual and whether the benefit (or perceived benefit) from 98 over 95 is worth $250 a year...

[docbeemer]

^good point.

Actually 98 octane is about 5c/litre more expensive than 95 octane not 10c therefore with that distance travelled and consumption (probably closer to 12 or 13L/100km for most of us 335 drivers ), the savings are closer to $150 per year.

But if consumption is better or power delivery better (anyone tried this on a dyno in australia?) with 98 then the economics becomes very thin indeed.

good pick up JameB, and the reason why I tend to stick to 98 (If I can afford to get a 335 then what's $150 eh?)

Originally Posted by docbeemer

^good point.

Actually 98 octane is about 5c/litre more expensive than 95 octane not 10c therefore with that distance travelled and consumption (probably closer to 12 or 13L/100km for most of us 335 drivers ), the savings are closer to $150 per year.

But if consumption is better or power delivery better (anyone tried this on a dyno in australia?) with 98 then the economics becomes very thin indeed.

good pick up JameB, and the reason why I tend to stick to 98 (If I can afford to get a 335 then what's $150 eh?)

Thanks :-)

I do have to say though, that where I buy petrol (North side of Sydney), 98 is almost always 10c a litre more than 95... 5c would be great!

Yes, I have to agree that if someone can afford a 100k+ car (or $50K+ car for that matter!) then $150-$250 a year shouldn't be much of a problem for them, so I'm a little surprised to hear owners using 95 octane.

I'm a little biased on petrol prices though, as being from the UK, prices in Aus still seem filthy cheap to me. At the moment, petrol is around $2.30 a litre in the UK, so even if petrol was to go to $1.75 a litre I wouldn't be overly fussed (add that to the fact I cover far less miles/Kms per year, living in Sydney).

[docbeemer]

Originally Posted by JameB

Thanks :-)

I do have to say though, that where I buy petrol (North side of Sydney), 98 is almost always 10c a litre more than 95... 5c would be great!

Yes, I have to agree that if someone can afford a 100k+ car (or $50K+ car for that matter!) then $150-$250 a year shouldn't be much of a problem for them, so I'm a little surprised to hear owners using 95 octane.

I'm a little biased on petrol prices though, as being from the UK, prices in Aus still seem filthy cheap to me. At the moment, petrol is around $2.30 a litre in the UK, so even if petrol was to go to $1.75 a litre I wouldn't be overly fussed (add that to the fact I cover far less miles/Kms per year, living in Sydney).

your view on petrol prices may be a bit narrow. If you look at all the costs of owning a car then there are more important issues such as initial purchase price, depreciation (the biggest bit), the average wage of a country, maintenance others. The UK has higher wages and their cars are cheaper (esp used cars- how much for an E39 M5?) but petrol is more expensive- so it's really complex to calculate the overall costs of car ownership. But since this is a petrol thread- yes our fuel is cheaper than europe but not the usa and the taxes drivers pay don't go back to support them with better roads etc.

The other problem is that is doesn't cost anywhere near 10c /litre more to produce 98 octane so their profit margins are huge (where's the competition ACCC????)

Originally Posted by docbeemer

your view on petrol prices may be a bit narrow. If you look at all the costs of owning a car then there are more important issues such as initial purchase price, depreciation (the biggest bit), the average wage of a country, maintenance others. The UK has higher wages and their cars are cheaper (esp used cars- how much for an E39 M5?) but petrol is more expensive- so it's really complex to calculate the overall costs of car ownership. But since this is a petrol thread- yes our fuel is cheaper than europe but not the usa and the taxes drivers pay don't go back to support them with better roads etc.

The other problem is that is doesn't cost anywhere near 10c /litre more to produce 98 octane so their profit margins are huge (where's the competition ACCC????)

Yes and no. I tend to try to narrow my views on specific things as I find that people tend to overcomplicate things, for the sake of overcomplication. I agree that there are far more important factors, from a financial perspective, in running a car than petrol. I have leased a couple of cars in the past and am fully aware of the hidden running costs for a car <sigh> Ignorance was bliss before LOL

You are right though, I've really only touched on petrol in this thread as I could digress no end on the other running costs. I guess my point is, that say your running costs for a car are $5,000 pa (excluding depreciation), and that includes 95 octane...you are only going to be paying $5,150 or thereabouts if you use 98 octane. That works out at $10-$15 more per month.

Now, saying that, you regularly hear about families who get into strife when interest rates go up 0.25% or petrol prices go up 10c a litre. Many people are borrowing beyond their capacity to repay their debts, especially with rising house prices and so an extra $10 on the mortgage a month supposedly hits many people hard.

I guess where I am coming from is if one buys a pretty expensive car (a luxury, not a necessity as many cheap cars can get you from A to B) but cannot afford the extra $10 a month for 98 octane then there is an issue there (just like in my mortgage analogy). Each to their own with how they run their finances, but personally, if $250 a year in petrol was a big deal to me, I'd be strongly thinking about whether I should be spending so much money on a BMW.

[docbeemer]

^ I totally agree. (It's hard to know which wavelength people are on when contributing to the forums.) I think that the problem is that credit has become too easy to get and the banks do this because the profits they make (just check the differential between reserve bank interest rates and credit card rates!!) greatly outweigh the risk of defaults on loans. Thus people borrow up to their limit and leave no breathing space. But I digress....

I suspect the real reason this thread (and many others in the main section) about fuel is related to safety (for the engine and injectors) and performance anyway. So 98 or 95 from a reputable brand? Moot point I reckon!

[wayman519]

Shell v power 91 or 93 aki. 250,000km on the clock.