Petrol - Does the brand make a difference?

[Pinkowl]

What brand of petrol do you pump? And why? Some of my friends swear by Mobil. Others prefer Shell etc. Is there really a difference between these brands as long as I am using the same grade? Or more importantly, can you feel the difference? Or is it all in the mind?

[Sky8807]

Hi,

I pump shell, one of the reasons is becos of the bonus points awarded with my shell card. Second reason is I believe that shell petrol is clean, meaning cleaning the engine system like valves, and the passages the fuel flow. If you drive a carburettor engine you can verify by looking into the throat to witness it, if yours is fuel injection then only during top overhaul then you can see your valves to confirm.

 

I also pump other brand of petrol to try out at times out of curiousity and convienence. In theory there should not be any different using the same petrol grade, but in practice, there are occasion that the different brand does feel different.

 

What is important is to check and verify yourself the brand and station nearest you or the most convienent to you that give you good feeling after filling up. Only when you venture and try it out then u will know whether there is a different between these brand.

[Nero156]

I have been using Shell for more than 2 years, mainly out of convenience and also the bonus point system they have.

 

Recently, I tried Mobil on my Alfa156... I THINK the car seems smoother and a tad quieter. But I have no way to verify or measure this...

[Sky8807]

I also noticed that shell is not so smooth as compared to exxon/mobil. If you find mobil is smoother, why not change to mobil for a couple of refuel to convince yourself of the the feeling.

[Madarmour]

Friend, nice to see you here too! I think I'm quite numb but I seriously could not feel the difference between Mobil (current petrol), Shell, Caltex, SPC. Can't feel the difference between 95 and 98 RON too!

[Turbobrick]

One point to note, I believe Esso and Mobil have the same type of petrol now. All Synergy series and I personally pump Esso for the past 5yrs, collected plenty of points

 

I did tried Caltex, Shell and BP and only Shell was agreeable with my brick. The rest gave poor economy, donno why

[Nero156]

Doc, its great to see familiar names here as well. I'm currently trying to determine what is the best fuel for my babe. But up here in the north, Shell is the most convenient.

 

When I get a chance to see you again, I would like to check out your ICE unit again. The itch has started...

[Turbobrick]

Do U use regular 95, 98 or XO/Vpower?

[Turbobrick]

Esso and Mobil giving away same gifts right?

[Mondeo]

It's also depend the car, like my babe is using 95, and handbook has stated there's no obviously different when using higher grade like 98

[Turbobrick]

Yeah for some cars using a max of 92 or 95 is more than enough.

 

Usually only turbo or high revving cars need higher octane to suppress detonation.

[Nero156]

Was using XO, then switched to V-Power for a while. Now using Mobil 98.

 

V-Power is pretty good IMO, and I need to do a few more tanks of Mobil to get a good comparison. Preliminary comparison seems to suggest that Mobil returns slightly better mileage...

[Roadblock]

Nero, I assume your driving condition is constant throughout the numerous tanks that you are used up in the comparison.

[Turbobrick]

Do U take the whole tank's mileage and divide by your next fillup litres?

[Nero156]

Yes, I divide a full tank's mileage by the subsequent full tank fill-up volume. There seems to be about 20-30 km / full tank improvement using Mobil.

 

But then, its still a bit too early for any reliable conclusion, as driving style and traffic conditions may differ slightly. If I still continue to clock the additional mileage over the next few tanks, then I will be more convinced.

[Turbobrick]

So what's your average mileage with Shell?

[Guyver]

What i feel is that all petrol is the same.... maybe for Shell might be different cos they have their own refinery here... so they can add this... add that.... but from my experience.... i get less milage with octane 98 .... and get better milage with octane 92.... i pump SPC petrol at Bukit Timah.... guess don't have to say why.....

[Fabiaman]

I used to pump the Caltex 95 for many months now. Because of the recent hike in petrol by Caltex & BP. I changed to pump Esso 95 today.

 

Holly molly! The engine responded very well to the change like as if I modded something on the car! The engine seems more energetic and willing as compared to Caltex previously.

 

I think I will try out Shell again and even BP later to decide once and for all which petrol I would like. For sure Esso makes my day today!