BEST Unleaded Fuel: Shell, Petron or Caltex

**_Cathy_** · June 27th, 2014 01:30 PM

I am using Petron unleaded. I have been a Shell user for so many years but I had a problem with my Shell Citibank card which I cancelled. I now have a Petron BPI card so I had to make the switch.

I don't understand why Petron has 2 types of unleaded? I think it is 91 and 93 Octane. I chose the 93 octane because I think the unleaded of Shell is 93 octane? Does higher Octane mean better fuel?

My FC has improved recently. It was steady at 9.7 km/l for the past few months then recently went up to 9.8 km/l then yesterday it was 9.9 km/l! I am not sure if it has to do with Petron's fuel. I have the same driving condition and destination (no traffic and office only).

**oj88** · June 27th, 2014 01:47 PM

In a nutshell, the octane rating pertains to the fuel's resistance to burn under pressure. Ideally, the fuel mixture should only burn when the sparkplugs fire during the piston's power stoke. During the compression stroke of the pistons, the air-fuel mixture inside the the cylinder are compressed. When enough pressure builds up, it can cause the fuel mixture to combust prematurely. When that happens, this can be heard/felt as a ping or a knock. Simply put, it's bad for the engine and bad for fuel economy.

You should follow the fuel octane recommendations stated by your car manufacturer (usually written on the manual or by the fuel door). Don't use octane levels lower than what the manufacturer recommends. Using higher octane is fine but may be unnecessary.

FWIW, I use Petron Blaze.... just for the heck of it.

**Manilablock** · June 27th, 2014 02:01 PM

bakit nakalimit lang sa big 3? sa car ko gamit ko TOTAL Protec

**_Cathy_** · June 27th, 2014 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by oj88

FWIW, I use Petron Blaze.... just for the heck of it.

Blaze is the most expensive, isn't it?

Originally Posted by Manilablock

bakit nakalimit lang sa big 3? sa car ko gamit ko TOTAL Protec

There's no Total near where I work or live. But my friend says Total is good nga.

**Syuryuken** · June 27th, 2014 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by Manilablock

bakit nakalimit lang sa big 3? sa car ko gamit ko TOTAL Protec

the best ang Total lakas ng hatak pinakawalang kwenta ang Shell (para sa akin) hirap na hirap ang makina.

**greenlyt** · June 27th, 2014 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by Syuryuken

the best ang Total lakas ng hatak pinakawalang kwenta ang Shell (para sa akin) hirap na hirap ang makina.

funny but yan din observation ko sa Shell
former Petron XCS user now Caltex Gold na ako

**1D4LV** · June 27th, 2014 02:59 PM

for me personally. i've tried the following variants.

Petron Unleaded 91 Octane
Petron XCS
Chevron Silver
Chevron Gold
Total Unleaded 91 Octane
Total Protec 95 Octane
Shell Unleaded 91 Octane
Shell 95 Octane (pula)

Best fuel consumption : Total Protec 95 Octane
Best acceleration: Shell 95 Octane
Worst Consumption : Petron XCS
Worst Idling and Acceleration : Chevron Silver and Chevron Gold

So I am now sticking with Shell 95 Octane (Pula).

Depende kasi yan sa feel mo, and quality ng fuel based sa gasoline station na pinakarga mo.

**lowslowbenz** · June 27th, 2014 03:01 PM

Im using Unioil for the cars now, gas and diesel. So far so good naman.

**jut703** · June 28th, 2014 11:59 PM

Originally Posted by 1D4LV

Depende kasi yan sa feel mo, and quality ng fuel based sa gasoline station na pinakarga mo.

All stations naman in Metro Manila have their fuel from Pandacan. They are served by the same hauler. Their tanks are all the same spec since these are all company-owned stations (whether Shell, Petron, Caltex, or small players).

So differences in fuel from different stations of the same brand is all placebo.

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**jut703** · June 27th, 2014 02:16 PM

Cath, your improvement from 9.7 to 9.9 km/L could very well be just because of slightly altered driving conditions. That's only a 2% improvement which isn't really indicative of anything.

Also, octane rating isn't a very good metric of your fuel's performance for your car. As long as the fuel you use meets the minimum, it should be okay.

More than the octane rating, the additives used are also different between the different fuel grades. Higher-end fuel has more detergent additives that cleans up deposits which could make your engine run better.

Of course, this is all theoretical. The claims of fuel manufacturers are true in a laboratory setting, but how it plays out in the real world with a lot of variables is a different story. I'm not saying they don't work, but I believe that customers should try it out first if they really observe a noticeable difference attributable directly to the fuel used.

You might want to note that only Petron and Shell have local refineries. This is important for me because it ensures that the fuel sold by these companies are consistent.

As for other brands, they import from different sources abroad. I'm pretty sure the bigger brands (Seaoil, Unioil, Total, Caltex) probably have some quality control measures in place, but since they get from different sources, I can't help but wonder if all batches of Unioil fuel are Euro IV, or perhaps they have some batches that aren't compliant since they had to get from a different supplier that time.

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