I have to digagree with Geordi
Early last fall I spent about an hour talking with a delivery truck driver for a local fuel distributor. A large computer site was running on diesel power while their main power feed was being replaced after a lightning strike. He showed me a 2 or 3 gallon jug of addative that he added ounces of to his load to provide lubricity and cetain to each load of fuel. The stuff in the jug smelled like power service but I'm sure was much more concentrated. That load, being early fall, was winterized with 30% kerosene at the source. I don't remember where the red dye was added for off road. The responsibility for adding lubricity to ULSD has been put squarley on the shoulders of the delivery person. That is the bottom guy on the totem pole and is a prime example of passing the buck
I've been driving diesel powered cars since 1978 and have been tracking fuel mileage too
I've found that different areas of the country consistanty have good or bad diesel fuel. Central Ohio is and has been a bad place to buy fuel. As someone has pointed out it all comes from the same pipe. This was explained to me by a person trying to sell B100 to the different distributors in the area. Between types of fuel, say regular unleaded and D2, there's a certain amount of fuel that that is not fit to sell and goes to a company that seperates them. The less that goes to them the more that is sold to us at a profit:dizzy: We have a larged tank farm located along the pipeline where at one time all the different oil companies had their own tanks and this BIO dealer is right in the middle of them. So at each different facility in a small hut where the valves are located watching various instruments monitoring what is flowing down the pipeline. When the product is considered 90% pure they open the valves and fill that vendor's tanks. So it matters a lot who the person that is opening the valves works for and or who is watching him as far as what goes in our tanks.
Passing by the various tanks at any one time you'll see most all brands displayed on the trucks getting fuel at the same place. You'll also see a lot of unbranded trucks too. The tanks themselves have lost the familiar logos too.
The one hold out is the large BP tank farms. You'll also see trucks of various brands there too. Before retirement I was at the BP facility often repairing computers keeping tract of what truck got what and when. The manager there told me there was no premimum diesel in Columbus, Ohio
So any station claiming otherwise is getting their fuel from outside the area or is misadvertising their product
I stated above different areas have better or worse fuel. Over the years I have made many trips to the Tampa area of Florida from Columbus Ohio and back. Various cars over the years have had different ranges due to tank and car size. I have found that Kentucky's fuel is no better then what's in Columbus
But as I got into Gerogia my fuel mileage started going up. Keep in mind when you fill up you still have some of the previous fuel left. On the trip back when most of the fuel came from Florida and Georgia is when I've gotten my best figures. On a 99.5 Jetta tdi I got 70 and 72 MPG two tanks in a row
Anyone who tracks their fuel usage knows that two tanks in a row is not caused by over/under filling
For the past two years my highway mileage has been towing a 3500# camper to the Outter Banks of NC with my CRD. That trip is 700 miles each and I get the best mileage from fuel bought in Virginia. I found a Flying-J truck stop that had "Minimum 45 Cetane" posted on their diesel tanks. We made that trip 2 times last summer and stopped at that station both coming and going. The first trip was before GDE and the second was after. Same roades, same temperatures, same driver and with the GDE tune my mileage is about 3 more and one tank I got 20 MPG
Anyone who tows a trailer knows this is not a small feat and I don't drive to get good fuel mileage either
Over on the tdi club aorund 2000 I was one of the first to report very high fuel mileage. Most initially ignored me but soon others started getting similiar results. There's a poster there who gets his fuel samples analized and was sick of what's in the pumps in the Columbus area and finally put in his own tanks and got a load of what was supposed to be BP's "Diesel Supreme". When he got his results back he was sick! BP picked up the fuel and refunded his $$. Not only was it low quality it had large amounts of water and dirt in it. This guy's main thing in life was to get good fuel for his TDI and he was not successfull.
I believe the fuel for this area of the country comes from a refinery in the Toledo Ohio area. My son has my last tdi and is often in that area and fills his car there. With that fuel his mileage is in the 60's
The further from the refinery the more the fuel getts diluted in the pipeline
This subject has been brought up here many times and the conclusion is the same. Also basing any conclusions on what your fuel guage says is pure guess work. Fuel mileage must be tracked long term over many tankfulls. With my GDE tune, winterized fuel, 12" of snow, full time 4x4, short slow trips I'm averaging 20 mpg for three tankfulls. that's 3 mpg better then last winter and we didn't have near the snow
So it matters a great deal where you are as to what fuel quality you get
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
I would be genuinely surprised to see a decrease in mileage with the tune (all other factors remaining constant).
