Tips on filling your car/bike

[cs363]

I had this email forwarded on to me from a mate in Aussie tonight, not sure how much truth there is to it though it does sound plausible (at least at this hour...) so I thought I'd throw it out there and see if anyone wants to give it a go (maybe if there are any KB'ers in the fuel industry they could comment on this:

I don't know what you guys are paying for petrol..... but here in Durban we are also paying high prices, up to
R 8.50 per litre. My line of work is in petroleum and has been for about 31 years now. So here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every litre.

Here at Marian Hill Pipeline where I work in Durban, we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24 hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel, the next day is jet fuel, and petrol, LPR and Unleaded. We have 34 storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 litres.

Only buy or fill up your car in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold..

Remember that all Service Stations have their storage tanks buried beneath the ground. The colder the ground the more dense the fuel. When it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or evening .......... your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products play an important role. A one degree rise in temperature is a big deal in this business but the Service Stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you are filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode.

If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages; low, middle and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimising the vapours that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes into your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your tank is HALF FULL.

The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in you tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimises the evaporation. Unlike Service Stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every litre is actually the exact amount.

Another reminder. If there is a fuel truck pumping into storage tanks when you stop to buy, DO NOT FILL UP. Most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered and you might pick up some dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Hope this will help you get the most value for your money. Remer to always fill your car when the tank shows 'half'. Always fill up in the early morning. Always fill up in slow mode.

The person that had sent this e/mail on had added a 'rider' which said the following. This actually works. I tried early Saturday morning before I came to work. $30.00 from 1/2 tank filled up my car. Usually it is $55.00. Amazing. This has got to be the most useful e/mail I have received all year.


I'm a bit sceptical about this last bit, I'd imagine there would be some savings, but that's almost 50%!

[Jerry74]

Very true, have heard this from a few people now... it is all correct, why give 100 mls of your litre back to the money hungry "lets rip off the world and hold em to ransom" fuel companies....

Cheers.

[Ocean1]

The South African gentleman is perfectly correct.

The Australian gentleman, however, needs more schooling.

The benefits described are real, but probably amount to about 0.5%, at best.

[Tank]

Get a fuel card and save a shitload more.

[Gremlin]

Get a fuel card and save a shitload more.

urrr.... make sure its not a BP one

I swear BP are crocks with their fuel, we switched away from BP after admin issues with their fuel cards, and I have been filling up with Shell in the hornet. Either it really likes it, or its better than BP, as I have gone from around 230km to a tank to 250-260.... hmmmmmmm

[Monsterbishi]

and I have been filling up with Shell in the hornet. Either it really likes it, or its better than BP, as I have gone from around 230km to a tank to 250-260.... hmmmmmmm

I concur on this point, ever since they introduced their V-power blend, I've been getting a extra 20k's out of a tank, quite a change when I only used to get 174k's until the fuel light came on, now I get almost 200.

[portokiwi]

That was quite interesting. Thank you.

[cs363]

That was quite interesting. Thank you.

Not quite as interesting as some of those pics on your profile though.....lol

Nice

[portokiwi]

Which ones

[cs363]

The South African gentleman is perfectly correct.

The Australian gentleman, however, needs more schooling.

The benefits described are real, but probably amount to about 0.5%, at best.

Agreed. Whilst I would also agree that the bloke that added the rider at the bottom is in need of some further edumacation, I would hasten to add in my mate's defence that it wasn't him, it was some Aussie bloke that forwarded it to him before he sent it to me... (besides, even though he lives in Aussie, he's a Kiwi so is adding to the collective intelligence over the ditch, lol)

[cs363]

Which ones

Don't you play the innocent wiv me....

[nico]

ashamed to say i work for bp well air bp neways but will never buy fuel from the crooks i anways fill up early in morning and use slow mode this does work have been doing it for years now i must saved at least a couple of $$ and 1 ltr by now lol

[Forest]

I concur on this point, ever since they introduced their V-power blend, I've been getting a extra 20k's out of a tank, quite a change when I only used to get 174k's until the fuel light came on, now I get almost 200.

I hate to tell you this, but almost all of the petrol used in NZ comes out of the same plant. The Marsden Point oil refinery in Whangarei.

The only real difference at the pump is the customised additive package that the petrol companies blend into their fuels.

[Greyham]

very interesting, i will give it a go

[Monsterbishi]

I hate to tell you this, but almost all of the petrol used in NZ comes out of the same plant. The Marsden Point oil refinery in Whangarei.

The only real difference at the pump is the customised additive package that the petrol companies blend into their fuels.

So your point is v-power has a better additive package?

My results are very real, after 3 years of 174k's before my fuel light comes on, it suddenly jumps up into the high 190's and low 200's.