Propel Fuel in Souther California

gtveloce · Jun 14, 2011

Driving by a 76 gas station today and see a little banner saying Biodiesel will be available soon from Propel Fuel.

I used to fill up with B20 at Cudahy and was very happy with them, but that's so far out of my way since I have moved. Wonder if anyone here in SoCal have tried the biodiesel from Propel Fuel, and any comments on them.

Firestone Unocal 76
12042 Firestone Boulevard, Norwalk, CA

When I go to Propel website, I actually found another one closer to my home.
But it says B5 only.
Chevron
NOW OPEN - Arcadia
102 E Huntington Dr
Arcadia, California 91006

kooyajerms · Jun 15, 2011

holy crap! The Arcadia Chevron?!? I'll check to see if they are carrying it already. I'd much rather buy a gallon of B100...

I work around the corner. The diesel there is usually a bit expensive, in general.

Temple City huh? You should come out to a GTG some time =)

andytoby · Jun 21, 2011

I have been filling up at the Arcadia Location with my 03 Golf for the past few months and have had no problems. It has also been 10 to 20 cents cheaper than regular diesel.

kooyajerms · Jun 28, 2011

$4.25 a gallon today, just filled up 23 gallons.

The Propel "servicer/agent/rep" was there as I was filling up and he says they plan on making it a B20 fill up instead of B5 in about 4-6 months. Hopefully they won't change their price much.

Digital Corpus · Jun 30, 2011

Bio is typically more expensive that ULSD. Though since it's aready cheaper than ULSD at that location it should make the prices balance out if the price scheme matches what I pay at Downs Energy in Corona

gtveloce · Nov 30, 2011

Propel says they will have B20 in Arcadia pretty soon.
Drove by yesterday it is still B5 only

Digital Corpus · Jul 22, 2012

Sorry for the revival but a friend pointed out the on Raymond and Chapman in Fullerton, CA the Propel Fuels sells B20 now

NewTdi · Jul 24, 2012

B20 here in the Bay Area For $3.75/gal from Propel Fuels!

sydlexius · Aug 2, 2012

Digital Corpus said:
Sorry for the revival but a friend pointed out the on Raymond and Chapman in Fullerton, CA the Propel Fuels sells B20 now

Is your friend certain that the Valero at that location offers B20? Looking at the Google street view, they didn't even offer diesel in those pictures. Going further down Raymond to Commonwealth, there is a 76 that did offer Diesel.

kooyajerms · Aug 2, 2012

Propel offerings don't show on their regular billboard. You have to literally see a pump of theres as there isn't really any advertisement (last I checked).

Digital Corpus · Aug 2, 2012

The whole station is converted to a Propel Fuels station. Street view is out of date.

03Springer · Aug 2, 2012

Has anyone noticed a loss of MPG when using Propel? I filled up in Sacramento when I was visiting there a while ago and I lost 5+ mpg on my trip back, could have been a number of reasons other than the fuel. Since there aren't any B-5/10/20 anywhere convienent to where I reside I have to go to Corona every 3-4 months and get 5 gallons of B99 at Downs Energy and mix my own.

Digital Corpus · Aug 2, 2012

I haven't used Propel's B20 yet.

B99 has about a 10% lower energy capacity over straight D2. That would scale B20 to having 2% lower energy capacity. I noticed that while driving the past couple years on B20 that directly correlates to a 2% reduction in economy.

I would imagine that your loss was party economy and part weather, traffic, and road conditions.

romad · Aug 3, 2012

So Bio diesel only results in a 1% mpg drop per 10% of Bio. That is MUCH better than when the CPR mandated reformulated gasoline. With 10% of "Bio" (ethanol) added, they said to expect a 10% mpg drop. My Miata went from around 30 mpg to around 27 mpg.

coolvdub · Aug 10, 2012

I used Propel B5 a month or so ago. I fuelled up ith B5 in Roclkin on my trip up to Rocklin area I got 52.6 on D2 and return trip on B5 netted 50.9 mpg.

Don

MerkleTDi · Aug 11, 2012

what are the differences in fuel grades b5-b20 etc. and what should be the preferred fuel that i put in my 2012 jetta tdi?

romad · Aug 11, 2012

The percentage of bio-diesel. B5 = 5%, B20 = 20%

For your CR TDI, VW says no more than 5% bio-diesel, so you need to use the B5 pump.

01greenjetta · Aug 12, 2012

I use the B20 from Propel Fuels in Placerville (shell station at the corner of CA 49 and US 50)
The car sounds better and feels like it has more power on the B20, compared to the straight petrol diesel I get at closer stations. It probably is better quality all around than most. I also use their E85 almost exclusively in my 2001 Jeep Cherokee.

Digital Corpus · Aug 12, 2012

The car will sound a bit different, the exhaust will smell different too. It's not possible to Kane more power on B20 since it contains less energy. However, if youve been running it for a while, then you might actually have more power.

Biodiesel is a good solvent. If it cleaned up your injectors at all, then they're operatinga bit better and that would give you a power bump. You would also notice a simultaneous economy boost too, though.

Bob_Fout · Aug 12, 2012

Digital Corpus said:
The car will sound a bit different, the exhaust will smell different too. It's not possible to Kane more power on B20 since it contains less energy. However, if youve been running it for a while, then you might actually have more power.

Biodiesel is a good solvent. If it cleaned up your injectors at all, then they're operatinga bit better and that would give you a power bump. You would also notice a simultaneous economy boost too, though.

Timing is a factor, not just BTUs.

Some years ago, dynos showed more power past 2500 RPM with either B20 or B50 (I don't remember which). Higher cetane (timing). Below 2500 it was either the same or less.

Digital Corpus · Aug 12, 2012

The higher Cretans rating will result in a cleaner burn. Though if I remember the various threads on the club here properly, anything above 45 or something like that is negligible.

How does timing change with the fuel when the ECU will adjust timing if the fuel temp is hotter (and retard it). From what I understand, the timing would use to be adjusted by moving the pump or trough adaption

Bob_Fout · Aug 12, 2012

Digital Corpus said:
The higher Cretans rating will result in a cleaner burn. Though if I remember the various threads on the club here properly, anything above 45 or something like that is negligible.

How does timing change with the fuel when the ECU will adjust timing if the fuel temp is hotter (and retard it). From what I understand, the timing would use to be adjusted by moving the pump or trough adaption

Cetene is about how quickly and smoothly the fuel ignites. This may or may not relate to clean burning, but I see how it could. Higher cetane means a quick, even, smooth burn.

The timing change I mentioned is not from a mechanical change, it's due to the physical properties of the fuel. A quicker burn effectively advances the timing.

Digital Corpus · Aug 12, 2012

Ah, injection window changes then. Just like larger nozzles allow the same amout of fuel to be injected in less time thus increasing efficiency since its burn rate is fixed. I could see how that could change things, though I'd like to see a dyno as evidence.

Bob_Fout · Aug 12, 2012

Digital Corpus said:
Ah, injection window changes then. Just like larger nozzles allow the same amout of fuel to be injected in less time thus increasing efficiency since its burn rate is fixed. I could see how that could change things, though I'd like to see a dyno as evidence.

I'll try to find it, it was over 5 years ago on here.

Bob_Fout · Aug 19, 2012

Bob_Fout said:
I'll try to find it, it was over 5 years ago on here.

OK, posts 3 and 5 elude to something like we were talking about:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=145053

Digital Corpus · Aug 29, 2012

I think a test on a dyno, similar to how we run diesel purge through the engine to clean injectors, is now required for D2, B20, and B99...

Propel Fuel in Souther California

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