Driving along yesterday, I saw my normal place to get fuel, Shell, at $2.38 per gallon. 5 blocks down the road there was a Texaco selling "Premium" diesel for $2.55 per gallon.


Is there really such thing as Premium diesel?

Yes, and it is sweet. Put some in this summer while pulling the trailer, mileage went up and trans hunting went down. All stock truck. I think it ultra low sulfur and higher cetane rated.

I was thinking about trying some if it's the real deal. I just went hunting and now am on empty. Average mileage went up by 1.5 MPG during my trip. The average is now 16.7, my last tank was 18.8 by hand.


Exited to calculate my next tank if a 340 mile trip made the average go up that much.


Think I'll give the Premium a try, a little extra money, but maybe it'll be worth it.Edited by: jpekarek

I use Shell pemium and it gives me a little better performance .Think its 3 cetane more than the regular.

I use Shell premium diesel on a regular basis if the price it right. Usually see at least 1mpg gain with the premium and the engine is quieter and smoother running. Also notice the fuel doesn't foam as much during refueling.


MikeyB

Doesn't foam as much? That's interesting. I'm getting a little tired of having to wash the side of my truck below the fuel door from diesel foam running down the side.


If you guys are getting 1-2 mpg differences, I think I'll try a tank today.





Thanks

Keep us posted if you notice any difference in MPG?


Ben

Just a quick note on a similar subject of fuel mileage. After I started using stanadyne at every fillup, I have gained, at a minimum, 1 mile per gallon. I pay $3.33 per premeasured bottle of stanadyne, including shipping from an internet site (I know it is expensive this way, but man is it convenient!). Anyway, if I save 1 mile per gallon and I hold 26 gallons, I am getting roughly an extra gallon per fillup at a cost of $2.20 per gallon. I figure it is only costing me ($3.33-$2.20) about $1.13 for the use of the stanadyne and the benefits to the fuel system are well worth it. Hope folks can follow that!http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley17.gif

Guess I'm lucky where I live, Mobil station has their diesel labeled "Diesel +" and next door at the Gulf station it's just "diesel". Competion has them both at the same price per gallon. Been buying quite a few tanks of Diesel + and truck does seem to run smoother and is getting about 1 mpg increase and it does not seem to foam like other stations' diesel fuel either.

Premium Diesel (http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/diesel/L2_5_2_fs.htm) has a cetane rating of 47 or higher per Chevrons website...

Diesel Fuel - Technical Review (http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/diesel/)

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley23.gif

Premium Diesel (http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/diesel/L2_5_2_fs.htm) has a cetane rating of 47 or higher per Chevrons website...




...but it doesn't have to. Not all "premium diesel" meets the same criteria. All they have to do is meet two of the five criteria and they can call it "premium". Simply blending for winter lets them meet the "low temperature operability" criteria. All they'd have to do is meet one of the remaining four and it's "premium". I tried a couple of different brands... Texaco premium diesel was horrible... more prone to "ping" and gave me 16.5 mpg. BP/Amoco was the same. I've been using regular ol Citgo diesel that I buy at a truck stop (it's not labeled as "premium") and getting 17.5 mpg with no pings.

It should all be "premium" for the price we're payin! $2.15 is enough, I ain'y pain more for "premium" she'll have to suck it up in the tough times like the rest of us--and run on the cheap stuff!

No kidding. Here in the Portland/Vancouver area, we are paying $2.39 to $2.55 per gallon! I can barely afford to drive this SOB anymore.

The fuel oil dealer said that the Texaco Premium diesel is just #1 diesel. I used it for a while in my M-B but never saw any improvement. I won't pay that for no gains.

Got that right. I think I will just stick with the normal stuff for now. The premium costs .16 cents per gallon more than regular. At 30 gallons or so per fill up, that's almost $5.00 more for a tank! I can buy Stanadyne in the 1/2 gallon that will treat 8 tanks for $2.12 per tank and probably have better fuel.