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Member since:20.06.2004
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With apologies to the expert who wrote superbly on "true" alternative fuels in this category, I'd like to recall my experiences using BP Ultimate fuel over the last 15 months.
You may offer an argument that petrol and diesel, however brewed don't qualify as "alternative fuels" and yes I'd agree with you.
However we are in the real world here, most of us who drive have to fill our cars with petrol, diesel or, in the case of an increasingly large minority, LPG (Liquid Petrolium Gas).
Like the government energy adverts say what difference does one person make? From my own experiences using initially BP's Ultimate Unleaded petrol, latterly Ultimate Diesel I can tell you that we would all be capable now of making a difference - most importantly at no cost financially to ourselves. For me with two
very diverse cars, this fuel has proven in use to provide a "win win" situation.
As a driver who covers 30,000 miles or so a year, a mixture of business and pleasure, not only do I and my company shoulder a large fuel bill, but we also inflict a higher than average toll on the environment. Sure in certain respects we do pay for this in taxation.
I also did my bit last year by trading a 170bhp 6 cylinderpetrol car, which had a CO2 rating of 253 for a 140bhp diesel which at 143 CO2 is vastly kinder to the environment. Real world fuel consumption comparisons obviously support the argument in favour of the diesel, V6 petrol consumption over 105,000 miles was 27.2mpg - 4 cylinder diesel over 31,000 miles = 42mpg.
However, assuming that you are not in a position to swap cars like this, how do you ensure that your car is giving you the best possible fuel consumption and also that the lowest possible emissions are puffing out of the exhaust.?
Regular and proper servicing are paramount with any vehicle of course, but the majority of drivers give little thought to the liquid that actually powers their vehicle.
Think about it for a moment, do you: a) fill up at the local supermarket because it's convenient? b) fill up with the same brand every time because of "habit" or brand loyalty? c) use the cheapest fuel locally available? d) fill up anywhere (don't care because company pays!)? or e) seek out what you think is the best quality fuel?
During my 25 year motoring history I have fallen into all of these categories APART from d) which is indefensable under any circumstances - motorway service stations must be avoided at all cost!
Along with, I suspect, the majority of clued up drivers, I was very suspicious of BP's "Ultimate" advertising campaign, especially its' claims of 10% improved consumption and a 10% reduction in emissions. However I had been running my petrol Omega on 98 Octane Aral "Super" petrol in Germany and Poland and had found marked benifits in terms of performance and economy - certainly well in the realms of a 10% reduction in fuel consumption - that in de-restricted Germany too!
I then read that BP had taken over Aral (an East German fuel company originally) and had very quickly started marketing a new fuel - "Ultimate".
Having used Shell 98 Octaine which provided a marked improvement in performance but INCREASED fuel consumption I swapped to BP Ultimate and never looked back. At over 100,000 miles when you would expect an engine to start to use more fuel due to sheer wear, mine started to use less, gradual to start with but after around 1500 miles I was getting about an extra 1.5 to 2 mpg, pretty close to BP's claimed 10% improvement.
On taking delivery of the new diesel, it was run from the outset on Ultimate diesel. Whilst it has never come close to the manufacturers claimed fuel figures, the experiment in this case had to go the other way, last summer in Belgium, Germany and Poland, BP Ultimate diesel was very hard to find and running the car on ordinary diesel - sticking with BP and Aral, there was an equivalent increase in consumption - remarkably close to 10%!
These figures may look on the face of it small, on my 30,000 miles a year they are not. If Ultimate fuel was 10% more expensive than regular BP then you would still be doing the environment a favour at no cost. However, and this is the good bit, it's not 10% more expensive, depending on the garage it tends to be no more than 5% more costly.
Think about that for a moment. Yes, it looks expensive when you see the price on the pump, however you're getting back twice what you pay for. On top of that you have a cleaner running car, which has noticeably better performance than before. If it is a new car, or a five year old one with over 100,000 miles up, in my experience the benefits have been just the same.
Fortunately BP have now made Ultimate far more widely available throught Europe, diesel Ultimate is more easy to find in Poland now than in this country!
That from my experience has actually been the only drawback, BP stations advertising Ultimate quite often do not stock Ultimate diesel. If it is a problem in your area, then BP do have a website listing all their stations and what's available and where.
Alternative fuel? No not really, but it is a viable alternative that every one of us can use to the good right now, after all if we all switched off just one light bulb...............
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Very interesting opinions in this one. Thanks for sharing. ^_^
Dan_ep 31.08.2006 23:35
Hmm interesting. Firstly, great review. Im about to trade in the Tube for a job which i need to drive for. I really didnt mind using public transport and dont want to pollute the environment, so Im a bit annoyed i have to drive (50 miles a day!). My car is only 1 year old and petrol, so I wonder whether ultimate will make a difference. Will have to try it and see. Dan.
very helpful by (100%):
