BP Ultimate Diesel

[Satch]

Been running my W211 320Cdi on this stuff for over a month and must say that I am impressed (although not by the price) as there is a marked improvement in performance and a reduction in noise. MPG may be a bit better, but hard to tell as I have not been driving to my usual patterns recently.

However after driving around on near empty in search of an outlet which had some of this elixir, yesterday I was forced to fill up with Diesel Ordinaire. Arrghhh! Even my wife, who is one of the mechanically unsympathetic, noticed the difference

So what other options are there? I run my petrol car on Shell Optimax but as far as I can tell there is no Shell equivalent to BP Ultimate Diesel yet.

 

[richy]

Don't BP do Unleaded "Ultimate"? I'm sure I've seen it.

As for optimax I run me old Alpina BM 7 3.5 on it and it does make a difference. But at that price and only 14 MPG it doesn't bear thinking about running a daily car on !

Nice to see someone else notice the stuff, even in diesel, question is is it really worth the extra, clean injectors, long term wear etc...

 

[Brian WH]

Details of BP Ultimate

Ultimate Unleaded

Ultimate Diesel

 

[RichardM]

I ran mine on BP Ultimate Diesel for about 6 full tanks (~3000 miles) and like you was then forced into filling up at another garage, Esso and I haven't really noticed a difference in performance, but the car does seem noisier.

 

[jimmy]

I have been using BP Ultimate Diesel since the end of September, the car is noticably quieter, performance may be slightly better and MPG is the same, maybe a bit better.

The most noticable difference is the reduction of black smoke that my chipped diesel turbo used to chuck out the back, hardly noticable at all now. I can just see a slight haze in the mirror when booted, more noticable at night when a car is behind and you can see it in the headlights.

Not really sure if is worth paying the extra 2-3p/litre, but I tend to always fill up at BP anyway so it is convenient.

 

[paulfoel]

I have been using BP Ultimate Diesel since the end of September, the car is noticably quieter, performance may be slightly better and MPG is the same, maybe a bit better.

The most noticable difference is the reduction of black smoke that my chipped diesel turbo used to chuck out the back, hardly noticable at all now. I can just see a slight haze in the mirror when booted, more noticable at night when a car is behind and you can see it in the headlights.

Not really sure if is worth paying the extra 2-3p/litre, but I tend to always fill up at BP anyway so it is convenient.

Surely if BP claim better performance this should mean better MPG. (Less effort required to reach a speed etc.)...

 

[kusanku]

I've only tried 1 tank of BP ultimate diesel in my c-class, and I put that in by mistake. Can't say I noticed any difference in performance or mpg - but that was only 1 tankful.
I have tried several tanks of Ultimate unleaded in my 500SEC, and was not impressed. I normally use Shell Optimax, which is 98 RON, and the car runs perfectly. When I use BP Ultimate, which is 97 RON, the car does not run anywhere near as well. Not as bad as regular unleaded, which causes intermittent misfires and roughly idle, but definately not as good as Optimax.

 

[Jukie]

Not sure if this was posted today or not:

http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=uk-en&FC2=/uk-en/html/iwgen/shell_for_motorists/fuels/zzz_lhn.html&FC3=/uk-en/html/iwgen/shell_for_motorists/fuels/diesel_extra_main.html

According to this announcement, it's only available here up North.

Who's going to be the first to try it???? (I can't as I'm not yet converted to oil-burning!)

 

[lordofthenazgul]

wow, never really noticed different fuel suppliers made all the difference (apart from the really cheap & nasty like save,Jet etc)...Well I'm as bad as I usually fill up at my local supermarket...Does the difference have as much of an effect on petrol cars (assuming I put petrol not diesel in the tank eh?)

 

[jimmy]

wow, never really noticed different fuel suppliers made all the difference (apart from the really cheap & nasty like save,Jet etc)...Well I'm as bad as I usually fill up at my local supermarket...Does the difference have as much of an effect on petrol cars (assuming I put petrol not diesel in the tank eh?)

Yes, apparently there is differences between fuels from different suppliers, just like McVities Digestives and Tesco's own brand - I know which taste nicer.

I think it is more to do with the additives that they use rather than the actual fuel, the raw material probably all comes from the same refinery anyway.

I always thought Q8 diesel made the most difference to any car I have had, but there are not any local to me.

 

[Satch]

wow, never really noticed different fuel suppliers made all the difference (apart from the really cheap & nasty like save,Jet etc)...Well I'm as bad as I usually fill up at my local supermarket...Does the difference have as much of an effect on petrol cars (assuming I put petrol not diesel in the tank eh?)

Yes. Shell Optimax has produced a very clear difference for everyone I know who uses it. Engines seem to run smoother with better mid range pickup. Not just the Octane increase which does it, but various changes to the composition alter combustion characteristics.

BP Ultimate diesel & now the new Shell Diesel is really aimed at modern turbo diesel drivers and have a higher Cetane rating so they ignite more easily. But again some chemical engineering is used to alter the way the fuel burns in the engine. Also it does not seem to stink quite so much as the ordinary stuff

 

[jaymanek]

never really noticed different fuel suppliers made all the difference (apart from the really cheap & nasty like save,Jet etc

Actually youll find that jet, save etc usually buy the fuel with the additives already in it. Their tankers park right next to shell, bp etc to fill up straight to deliver to the garages. Most save garages actually sell texaco petrol and jet used to sell bp petrol i think.

Jay

 

[Satch]

Actually youll find that jet, save etc usually buy the fuel with the additives already in it. Their tankers park right next to shell, bp etc to fill up straight to deliver to the garages. Most save garages actually sell texaco petrol and jet used to sell bp petrol i think.

Jay

It is true that most fuels are pretty much the same and just get distributed differently but these "premium" fuels are very much confined to the makers outlets.
Not sure if the new Shell fuel has it in, but there is a new additive based on Cerium Oxide nanoparticles which is being used in trials by some big fleet operators. It is claimed to increase diesel fuel efficiency by 10% at a concentration of only 5 parts per million. Good if it is true!