which 95-96 octane gasoline is better from the "big 4"

[niky]

Can't really say anything about Infiniti... only go to Total for LPG. And since there are only two stations near me (near meaning they're within 20 kilometers), I don't fill up there regularly.

The problem with gasoline is that everything comes out of the same refinery, 92, 93, 95, 96, etcetera.

What differs is the additive package. The lower the octane of the gasoline, the less additives there are to boost the octane. Sometimes the quality and mixing of the boosters isn't consistent from batch to batch... which is why some owners of high performance cars that require "95 octane" complain about fuel quality. In fact, some manufacturers have complained about the purity of certain "high octane" blends from the major players.

There really is no "magic" gasoline that's best for all cars. It's all trial and error... and you have to consider the batch to batch difference in blended gasolines (93-96 octane).

I really had a big problem with this variability... that's why I ended up with V-power, because the blend seemed more stable than with Blaze, which lost me some midrange power on the dyno mid-session when we topped off the fuel tank when we ran low during tuning. I was aghast, because I was a fan of Blaze, and I used to use it a lot.

But if your car runs better on Blaze, that just means it likes the additive package better. Your car always has the final say on what gas is best.

[paolorenzo]

OT - Is Total the official 4th big player? I always thought SeaOil is ahead, because of their agressiveness and innovation.

[1D4LV]

Among the Big 4
Shell V-Power
Petron Blaze
Caltex Gold
Total infinity

in terms of
1.fuel consumption
2.the noise of acceleration(because i heard shell v-power is noisy when accelerating hard but burns good fuel)
3.speed(kasi minsan nanginginig yun steering wheel kapag overspeeding mas ok kung slight lang yun nginig).
4.advantages

iba iba kasi mga additives nila kaya iba iba din yun result/performance(like what i heard mas malinis daw yun total from singapore kasi and it's new).

I'm currently using Shell V-Power for my nissan teana but would like to try Total Infinity or the other 2. is it a good move or stick with V-Power? can i expect less noise accelerating? is total infinity a good oil for v6 engines?

thanks.

i've tried three out of the four before (nung mura pa ang gas...)
best for me is shell v-power, second is caltex gold and the third is petron blaze.

[tidus1203]

I think its Total, afterall its foreign...

[niky]

Total's investment locally is big, and they've apparently got high-level backing. SeaOil has been in, longer, but they're at the fringe of the "Big Four".

But yeah, with SeaOil's aggressiveness in marketing and its push in being an early adopter with biofuels, its market share should increase.

[webmiester]

I think Seaoil is bigger than Total Oil. We shouldnt always consider foreigners bigger just because they're foreigners.

How about SeaOil's premium fuel (I think it was with GTX or something like that)? It used to have the highest octane rating at 97+. Its also the only premium fuel that has 10% ethanol blend

[niky]

I think Seaoil is bigger than Total Oil. We shouldnt always consider foreigners bigger just because they're foreigners.

How about SeaOil's premium fuel (I think it was with GTX or something like that)? It used to have the highest octane rating at 97+. Its also the only premium fuel that has 10% ethanol blend

I'm not assuming they're bigger because they're foreigners. Total is just bigger.

SeaOil has a lot of stations thanks to an aggressive franchising program. I was musing about getting one before for placement in the provinces (as low as 1-2m worth of capital investment...) but I never got around to seriously looking.

Seaoil has about 112 stations (Petron: 1200, Caltex: 850, Shell: 800). I can't find the exact number for Total, but it already had 98 gasoline stations and 8 LPG-specific stations last year (so about 106 stations), with a further investment planned of 30 more stations (as of last year... no word on how many of those opened since). There's no data available for the current number, but still, they're bigger, with a total investment in terms of service stations and refinery capacity in excess of 3.8 billion pesos.

And their market share is bigger than SeaOil's:

http://www.doe.gov.ph/OPM/oilsd%20re...0narrative.pdf

This data is from last year, since we don't have a 2008 report yet, but it puts Total's share at 2.9% over SeaOil's 0.9%. Don't mind Liquigaz... it's an LPG firm involved in bulk sales of LPG.

SeaOil is very visible in the metro, yes, but it's not a "big four" or "big five" player. Not just yet. That's why they have aggressive pricing, franchising and promos (like the guaranteed value card) to draw in more customers... they need to expand.

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Whoops: EDIT: SeaOil now claims that they're at about a 3% market share.... which means they've overtaken Total... but I'll wait till the numbers come in at the end of the year.

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As for GTX, well... the problem is that the extra octane is from the alcohol content... which lowers the energy density of the fuel. Most cars will not see an improvement, while cars that require high octane might probably break even in terms of power and economy gains.

[haihuat]

i think this can prove it that total is the 4th big player..

http://siva-ph.jobstreet.com/_profil...rtiser_id=3598

[paolorenzo]

I'll take that with a grain of salt, since it came from Total. Definitive proof should be coming from a 3rd party group, such as the DOE site which Niky mentioned.

I have nothing againt Total (except they don't carry LPG in their Pasig-C5 station). Pare-pareho lang yan for me. Sabi nga ng friend ko, who used to work for Chevron Texaco (Caltex), sa kanila rin daw kumukuha ng fuels yung ibang small players (assuming they have a shortage with their real source). So sometimes hindi ka na rin nakaka-sigurado.

[uls]

Yup kumukuha ang mga small players sa local refiners.

Pag ubos na stocks nila at di pa dumadating imports nila, bibili sila sa local refiners.

Even if the local refiners shut down their retail business, mabubuhay sila sa refining and wholesale.

Yan ang hindi magagawa ng small players.