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**White One** · 26-02-2018, 03:58 AM

i use whatever is around ,providing the servo has a reasonable turnover and fresh loads. Living in a regional area i dont have much choice anyway. although we have 4 "branded" outlets the fuel is delivered by only 1 or 2 trucks so there is no difference anyways. I have used premium mixes in the past and found no difference in performance so cannot justify the extra cost. I have a 30 micron prefilter and check it quite often and have had small amounts of water show up in any fuel so stopping that is more important really.

**Spook1205** · 26-02-2018, 03:59 AM

Preferably one not contaminated with water or dirt..
all diesel fuel must be within a range of a specific Cetane rating. Higher the Cetane better ignition quality.
some fuel companies have an overall higher rating across the board than others.
personally I like BP but will use Shell or Mobile too.

**gbrought** · 26-02-2018, 07:45 AM

I was told by the truck driver who delivered mine to only ever use Caltex Vortex. Unless I am remote I use that or BP Ultimate, occasionally Mobil.

**Anthony** · 26-02-2018, 09:14 AM

I use BP as does my son. We're no experts & stand to be corrected, but both think we get better mileage with BP & the cars seem to run better.

That said, when on trips there aren't many BP servos around & then go for either Caltex or Shell, followed by whatever's available.

**Moffat95** · 26-02-2018, 09:47 AM

I have stayed with Vortex in my previous vehicle and now the Fortuner, but RACQ is now offering a discount on Puma fuel. Puma have plenty of outlets on the State. Other than the Puma website, which says their diesel is pretty good, does anyone have technical info or experience with it?

**Spook1205** · 26-02-2018, 01:01 PM

Out of curiosity I talked about diesel fuels and preferences to the truck and plant teachers I work with. Now these guys have been in the trade a long time.
general consensus was Caltex vortex gave poor fuel economy, due to cetane ratings being consistently lower. This was confirmed with a conversation from a prominent diesel expert at Baileys diesel, they get fuel tested and found this.
They guys all go for BP or Mobil if given a choice.

**borgna** · 26-02-2018, 03:48 PM

i to believe i get better fuel efficiency from BP which is my preferred choice

**borgna** · 26-02-2018, 05:49 PM

i live in a small populated town where there is no BP ultimate (diesel) or vortex diesel etc just the normal diesel here except if i go to cairns or townsville which are 1.5 and 2.5 hours away so i always use just the normal diesel except i prefer BP like i said above. I use to own an old GQ patrol and september last year I drove down and done a trip to fraser island. On the way i fuelled up the premium diesel where possible seem as though it was only 2c more per litre. I found that i got more km's out of a tank using the premium diesel. One interesting fact that I found which I believe could contribute to the reason of getting more km's per tank i had a 40l headboard plastic tank and when i filled it up, it would fill up all the way with an extremely low amount of "bubbling up" so i believe the main tank would "actually fill all the way up" as opposed to a talk in another thread where it was said that you will never fully fill your tank up.

In terms of the higher cetane rating i believe for my patrol there would be no benefit for that vehicle as it was a 1995 GQ patrol and the person that bought it off me now runs it off 2 parts cooking oil to 1 part diesel with 1ml e10 per litre and he gets the exact same efficiency, however our fortuners with a common rail engine i would think that the higher cetane rating there would be an efficiency benefit.

Just my personal thoughts

**Vulcan** · 26-02-2018, 06:14 PM

Interesting comments, folks. Keep 'em coming - gives some thoughts to consider for a newbie Fortuner driver like myself.

**Spook1205** · 27-02-2018, 02:29 AM

In Australia all diesel fuel must have a minimum on a Cetane rating of 46. Diesel fuels no matter the brand will vary, most sit between on average 48 up to 55. It’s really like a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to get. But some will have generally more cherry ripes than others.

Now the interesting thing about a Cetane rating is it’s based on ignition quality, higher the Cetane rating the faster or less time delay the fuel will ignite. This in s nutshell results in better combustion.

Cetane rating has nothing to do with amount of energy per litre of fuel.....

Premium diesels will have additives that normal truck diesel won’t. Anti foaming, dirt busting advertising type stuff.
Even though I know all this crap I still feel good after filling with BP, why I don’t know it’s like buying a red bull rather than a V or monster energy drink. Reality same stuff different can different taste but all full of caffeine and sugar.

Now forgive me for talking about petrol but lots of voodoo there too.
Petrol has a Octane (RON) rating which means a higher rating has more resistance to knocking or self igniting under higher pressure / temperature. So can be used in a higher compression ratio engine.

Octane rating has nothing to do with the amount of energy per ltr....

But it just happens when you buy a premium petrol with a higher Octane rating of 98 or 95 it also has more energy per ltr of fuel.
Unless you get a Ethonol blend because Ethonol which is just an alcohol has less energy per ltr than petrol but has a way higher Octane rating of 113.

Sorry to rant on but hoping someone may learn something new about fuels.

**Anthony** · 27-02-2018, 02:55 AM

I like knowing a bit about this stuff. Not being a mechanic or anywhere near even being a "backyard" mechanic, its interesting to me.

Spook; sorry to ask, but now the dumb question. Re the Premium diesels & their additives.... are these harmful in the long term to the more modern diesel 4WD / car motors? I've stayed away from them (rightly or wrongly), thinking Premium diesel is only suitable for the 25+ yr old big rig trucks with less engine technology.

**Spook1205** · 27-02-2018, 03:11 AM

Diesel fuel itself is the lubricant for the internals of injector pump and injectors

**dandin** · 27-02-2018, 10:23 AM

This topic was discussed last year. No one in this thread has stated that the manual states a minimum Cetane rating of 48 for our Fortuner.

Here is the thread - https://www.fortunerforum.com.au/for...and-do-you-use

TLDR
- BP Ultimate contains an unspecified "performance additive", has a Cetane index of 46 as a minimum but is typically 51.
- Shell Diesel Extra contains a "unique high performance multi functional performance additive package", & has a typical cetane index of 49.
- Mobil doesn't have a lot of information available, just states that the Cetane Index is a minimum of 46.
- Caltex has a rating of 55

So you're safe with most of the big brands except Mobil.

**Spook1205** · 27-02-2018, 12:34 PM

I think Caltex are stating their upper limit as typical not what you will always get, Mobil stating lower limit and not what you will always get.
Would be good to find out why Cetane ratings will vary so much in production.

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