Best Diesel fuel!!!

jaxkxx

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Location
IL
TDI
Q5 TDI
Which gas station in your guys opinion sells the best quality Diesel fuel for CR TDI??

For example
1.BP
2.sPEEDWAY
3. Shell ETC...
 

Joe_Meehan

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Location
Ohio USA
TDI
NB TDI, 2002.5, Silver
The one with the most customers.

A station with few customers is either overcharging or has poor quality and turn over. Fresh fuel is good and a station that does little diesel traffic indicates it is not fresh.
 

Windjammer

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2006
Location
Cinti, OH
TDI
MK4 & Mk5
There is no such thing as best. I like Speedway. I also try to use Loves when I travel. They have diesel at every pump.
 

JSWTDI09

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
Diesel fuel is diesel fuel. It all comes out of the same pipeline. That said; different retailers add differing additive packages to their basic diesel fuel. The problem with recommending a certain "brand" over another is that these different additive packages vary a lot from one part of the country to another and sometimes from one truck load of fuel to another. In general the major brands are probably a little more consistent than mom-and-pop type retailers - but even this is probably variable.

In short, there is no easy answer to your question. It really depends mostly on your local suppliers and the quality of the additives they add. Here in the west Chevron and Shell have pretty good reputations, but that may not be true where you live. I would recommend a major brand and (as stated above) a station that sells a lot of diesel fuel. This helps to assure that the fuel is fresh and relatively water free.

Have Fun!

Don
 
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sweetjeep

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Location
North Central, MA
TDI
2002 Jetta
Also.. diesel takes a loooooooong time to "go bad". It's not like gas which can go bad in a matter of days if you don't store it correctly. Gas, if stored nearly perfectly can really only expect a shelf life of about 6 months. Kept in the dark, cold, steel can with low humidity etc.

I don't know the shelf life of Diesel, but if you store it "perfectly", meaning you keep algae and water and out of it, I would suspect years and years.

Though I agree, a higher turnover location is less likely to have things like water, dirt and other crap in it.
 

tditom

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Jackson, MI
TDI
formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
Diesel fuel is diesel fuel. It all comes out of the same pipeline...
Not true. For example, BP has a refinery in Whiting, IN that only produces their Premium Diesel products (per the owner of a station I used to frequent in MI). As far as I know, the refining process is one way of upping the cetane.
 

john.jackson9213

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Location
Miramar, Ca. (Think Top Gun)
TDI
1996 B4V
TDITOM:

Not to be the back side of a donkey: BUT "premium diesel" means nothing at all.

It is just a "word" marketing types think is a good buzzword for consumers. Kind of like "New and Improved" or any of a bunch of other words that mean nothing in reality.
 

tditom

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Jackson, MI
TDI
formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
TDITOM:

Not to be the back side of a donkey: BUT "premium diesel" means nothing at all.

It is just a "word" marketing types think is a good buzzword for consumers. Kind of like "New and Improved" or any of a bunch of other words that mean nothing in reality.
I agree that premium diesel signs don't always mean a different fuel, but BP does in fact refiine and sell two grades of diesel that have "premium" attributes.
Have a look here: http://mybpstation.com/fuels/diesel/bp-supreme/

I've yet to find any other major oil company publish specs on their "premium" diesel. :(
 

aja8888

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Location
Texas..RETIRED 12/31/17
TDI
Out of TDI's
Not true. For example, BP has a refinery in Whiting, IN that only produces their Premium Diesel products (per the owner of a station I used to frequent in MI). As far as I know, the refining process is one way of upping the cetane.
The Whiting refinery produces the whole slate of motor fuels and asphalt (8% 0f US supply). It is currently going through a $3.8 billion expansion to better handle heavy Canadian crude and ultimately be able to produce more gasoline.

Major upgrades include:

o Gas oil hydrotreater

o Sulfur recovery unit

o Petroleum coker

o Distillation Unit
 

jaxkxx

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Location
IL
TDI
Q5 TDI
My local BP station sell Biodiesel. I think the label show B20. Is that safe fuel to use in 2010 TDI?
 

boertje

Veteran Member
Joined
May 24, 2002
Location
Coeur d'Alene, ID
TDI
'01, '01, '03, ‘06 NB - TDIs all.
I spent a few months researching what Aaron had on various stations' cetane ratings. No one here in the Coeur d' Alene area has premium diesel over 40 cetane. Not even Chevron. Its just not here in this area anyway. What I do is go to the holiday station (they call it premium diesel for what its worth) which is the cheapest in town and has a high turn over and then add power service and call it good. Getting 46 in town after my mods and 50 on the highway going 70+ in the mountains on winter fuel so I can't complain.
 

tditom

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Jackson, MI
TDI
formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
My local BP station sell Biodiesel. I think the label show B20. Is that safe fuel to use in 2010 TDI?
Do you care about warranty coverage? What does your owner's manual say about using biodiesel? Read up on the concerns and make your own decision. Lots of discussion on this site.
 

BleachedBora

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Location
Gresham, Oregon
TDI
'81 DMC-12, '15 GL350 CDI 275 hp/448 tq - '81 Caddy CJAA, '05 E320 CDI 250hp/450 tq, '23 ID4 AWD Pro S Plus
The numbers I have are from corporate emails and usually have two sources to back them up. However, with rising prices I'm hearing of what appears to be more and more small (local one owner) branded stations sucumming to the temptation to use an off brand supplier to save $$ and compete.
 

Dieselfitter

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Location
Edmonton Alberta
TDI
2009 JSW TDI with DSG
Best diesel fuel is any 'gas' station in Europe !

The Title says 'Best Diesel Fuel', not 'Best Diesel Fuel in North America'

Well?
 

sweetjeep

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Location
North Central, MA
TDI
2002 Jetta
Not true. For example, BP has a refinery in Whiting, IN that only produces their Premium Diesel products (per the owner of a station I used to frequent in MI). As far as I know, the refining process is one way of upping the cetane.

Sorry Tom,

BP does have a refinery in IN (I'll assume you're correct there). But oil products often change hands between 2 and 5 times between production and delivery.

I have a friend who runs tug boats that bring fuel oil and lube oils from Texas to the east coast and they receive different orders of where it's going as much as 5 seperate times during the trip as to who currently owns the product on board. So Shell or BP may have refined it, but the oil companies trade product kids at a lunch table trade snacks.

Additives are generally added locally as they are frequently dependent on the region. For example - no one in Florida has probably ever heard of "winter" diesel.
 

aja8888

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Location
Texas..RETIRED 12/31/17
TDI
Out of TDI's
Sorry Tom,

BP does have a refinery in IN (I'll assume you're correct there). But oil products often change hands between 2 and 5 times between production and delivery.

I have a friend who runs tug boats that bring fuel oil and lube oils from Texas to the east coast and they receive different orders of where it's going as much as 5 seperate times during the trip as to who currently owns the product on board. So Shell or BP may have refined it, but the oil companies trade product kids at a lunch table trade snacks.

Additives are generally added locally as they are frequently dependent on the region. For example - no one in Florida has probably ever heard of "winter" diesel.
True, refinery products get traded like baseball cards. All additives (for gasoline and diesel) are added at the product distribution terminal.
 

tditom

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Jackson, MI
TDI
formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
There is a pipeline from the refinery at Whiting that goes to a terminal in Napoleon, MI. Wacker Oil has their own truck picking up 50 cetane diesel from Napoleon and bringing it to their tanks in Manchester, MI.

Sure, additives are applied at the loading rack in the terminal, but the higher cetane number comes from the refining process.
 

vwthingguy

Active member
Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Location
South western Illinois
TDI
2010 Jetta w/DSG, 2005 Beetle (traded off)
For those of us who don't have an owners manual (mine was lost prior to buying at it new at the dealership 3 months ago, and yet to get one. The dealership says VW only prints 1 per car and no extras...) what DOES it say about biodiesel? My tank says "Ultra Low Sulfur", no mention about straight or biodiesel.
 

bluelineman

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Location
Viera FL
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI 6MT
For those of us who don't have an owners manual (mine was lost prior to buying at it new at the dealership 3 months ago, and yet to get one. The dealership says VW only prints 1 per car and no extras...) what DOES it say about biodiesel? My tank says "Ultra Low Sulfur", no mention about straight or biodiesel.
My 2011 Jetta manual says up to 5% biodiesel.
 

t1n0m3n

Active member
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Location
Chicago
TDI
2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel
I travel between Tulsa and Chicago a lot. I notice quite a bit of difference in MPG between Petro and BP fuel in my car. Also, by using BP, I stay away from the "it might be B5 or it might be B20, who knows!?" diesel around here.
Petro=I struggle for 37mpg
BP=I struggle for 41mpg
All speeds are a cruise controlled 65 mph on I55.
Both MPG figures have been repeated multiple times by both fuels.

However anecdotal my evidence may be, I am convinced through my methods that my car just likes BP much better. Each time: 1. I fill to the same spot in the filler neck every time. 2. I calculate MPG with my calculator.

Interestingly enough, I can guess my overall MPG because the car computer has never failed yet to be 1.1 to 1.3 MPG higher than actual MPG.
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
BP/Amoco is the only true "premium" (as in Amoco Premier Diesel) 47 cetane that I know of in the DC region. Shell sells both 45 cetane "premium" and 40 cetane "premium".
Everyone else (Exxon, Chevron, Sunoco, Liberty) I've noticed sells 40 cetane, and most of them call it "premium."
 

jbright

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Location
Indianapolis
TDI
2009 Jetta DSG
Here in Indiana we have CountryMark -- http://www.countrymark.com/pdr.cfm.
Their Premium-R diesel is 50 cetane and HFRR 460 (lower if you use the Premium with bio-diesel added that's sold at many of their stations). Nice, too, to know its made from crude that comes from wells in Indiana/Illinois, and is refined in Indiana and distributed by their own network. More jobs right here.
 
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tdipoet

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Location
hooksett, nh
TDI
'11 Jetta TDI
Irving diesel, sold in canada and new england, has a cetane rating of 48 and a wear scar in the mid 300's (latest test out of portland had a wear scar of 360).

that's in the dead of winter.
 
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