BP Ultimate Diesel ???

Question

Hi

I have been using Bp Ultimate Diesel for just over a week now in my Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi and I now have a full tank of it I am very impressed with the cars performance / economy as a result of this however I have a query which is this.

Before I started using ultimate diesel the maximum fuel capacity according to my trip computer was 535 Miles however last Saturday I filled it up from ¼ of a tank to a full tank and the trip computer read 584 miles since then I have topped it up from ¾ of a tank to a full tank and the reading was 601 miles does anyone know why this could be happening and do I have cause for concern

Kind Regards

Sean Sheridan

Answer 1

Many fuel companies offer a "super" diesel these days.  Shell V-power, BP ultimate, Repsol gold etc etc.  It is EU fuel law that all diesel should be a minimum cetane rating of 50 but this is not the whole story.  Shell V-power includes an additive from their GTL plant (gas to liquid) which enhances the fuel with a higher percentage of straight chain hydrocarbon molecules compared to aromatic hydrocarbon rings.  This gives a higher power density to the fuel and cleaner burning so you can get more power and lower consumption with the super diesels.  It is more expensive to produce but can be better value for money for the consumer as it attracts the same tax as normal diesel so a 6% premium on price at the pump can give up to 15% better consumption.  On normal diesel my tank will last me 900 km or so, on Shell V-power it can last well over 1000 km.  You can also find if you watch your fuel computer that is is more economical to cruise in a lower gear than a higher gear, yes strange but true.  In my case the best economy for cruise is at 2900 rpm so at the legal limit this makes 5th gear more economical than 6th and at just below the legal limit, 4th is more economical than 5th.  You dont have any cause for concern over this, you can save money and the cleaner the fuel burn the better it is for your engine.

Answer 2

If BP.UD is returning more MpG, why are they not only supplying that to the pumps, at the same price as normal diesel and stand the extra cost out of the billions of £s profit they make out everyone.

Answer 3

Maybe your computer is predicting your capacity based on your per-mile economy and not pure miles only.

You may have found that you are getting a better MPG with Ultimate Diesel than Regular Diesel your maximum capacity in miles on your fuel computer could go up.

I have a diesel car and also experienced a similar thing when I changed Diesel for a while.

Answer 4

The best way to evaluate this is by doing a miles per gallon calibration... fill up to the top, set the trip odometer, check the trip odometer at next fill up and the number of gallons to fill to the same level.

Repeat that a couple times to be sure you are not mismeasuring  full.

Your fuel capacity guage could be right or wrong, we can not calibrate it from what you gave us.